We have many problems with rot and wood destroying insects in this region. A few months back, I was inspecting an older house that had a number of issues with wood destroying organisms. Since many of the insect pests are attracted to wet and decayed wood, it is common to find wood destroying insects living in rotten and wet wood.

At this particular crawl space, the first thing that I noticed, when opening the hatch, was frass or shavings from carpenter ants.

Honestly, that was no big surprise, since I had previously seen the little devils crawling around at the perimeter of the house.

In addition to the carpenter ants, once down inside the crawl space, there was an ongoing infestation of wood boring beetles -- the anobiid beetle that is so common here in the northwest. The pest leaves tiny shot-sized exit holes and causes massive damage to the afflicted lumber.

 

The problems at this home were, in part, caused by high moisture levels in the crawl space, the result of a missing vapor barrier over the earthen floor. The solution to the infestation, which can be expensive to repair, is to have a contractor come in and locate all of the structurally damaged wood. Rebuild the substructure in a professional manner and eliminate the conditions that were conducive to creating the problem in the first place. Finally, have a licensed pest control operator apply a chemical treatment that will control the wood destroying insects.

        

        

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20 Comments on Bellingham WA Home Inspector (King of the House) Bugs by the Number

OCT
23
2011
156,802 Points 1 Featured Post

Thanks for posting. Your blog is a good illustration of the damage these insects can cause.
1:12am • #1
374,478 Points 10 Featured Posts Outside Blog Hit Router Called Shot Master

Wow that is nasty. AND the reason ALL should hire a quality inspector to KNOW the home they are buying is sound.
1:17am • #2
656,532 Points 2 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Nice pics of the wood destroyed.  Yuck that would not be a fun home to fix.
1:19am • #3
974,161 Points 349 Featured Posts Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Steve (or Mason, as the case may be) - is that pressure-treated wood?  And if so, what other defense do you folks have up there against this infestation?  Again, and if it is pressure treated, does it lose potency over time such that the insects find it more palatable?  Did they ruin pressure-treated wood when they removed the arsenic?
5:18am • #4
1,242,513 Points 158 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Good morning, Steve. I thought we had problems with WDO's. We don't hold a candle to what y'all have...
6:17am • #5
567,660 Points 140 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

We have little problem with wood boring beetles here mainly due to the scarcity of crawl spaces. Termites are a much bigger and more common problem in CT. 
8:17am • #6
231,678 Points 8 Featured Posts Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Bugs are everywhere and treating them is part of the maintaince of the home ownership.
8:31am • #7
730,035 Points 15 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Steven, we carpenter ants and termites in our area. Haven't seen any wood boring beetles.
9:14am • #8
227,197 Points 8 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Yikes. Just another reason that inspectors are worth their weight in gold. 
9:38am • #9
478,496 Points 11 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

WOW - it's amazing what those creatures can do!  I am so glad for inspectors like you that can "show" us where our homes need help!
10:14am • #10
146,343 Points Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp

These photos should be convincing enough to make anyone want to get a home inspection. Great photos!
10:20am • #11
838,140 Points 69 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

We are not the only ones with an agenda for life....these guys set good examples for keeping busy and focused
10:53am • #12
177,169 Points 7 Featured Posts Called Shot Master

Wow I guess I didn't know there was more then just termites that ate houses. Well now I certainly do! I don't believe what kind of damage those bugs cause!
10:59am • #13
1,150,556 Points 53 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Based on my experience up here, I would say that next to rot, the anobiid beetle is problably the pest I see the most often and the most destructive. At least with carpenter ants, they usually see them wandering around. With the beetles, they have no clue. Jay, not pressure treated at all, real old house. Most anobiid infestations are in older houses, it takes the pest quite some time to get a lifecycle going to cause massive damage. The larvae is in the wood about 5 to 6 years. Many of the worst houses I see are from the 1930's and before. But I have seen it in newer houses, as late as the 70's. Some poorly crafted repairs had been made there so there might have been a few sticks of pressure treated.
11:42am • #14
1,150,556 Points 53 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Jay,

Sodim borates, such as TIMBOR, will wipe out the pest. It takes a few years as it kills the larvae laid by the insects when they exit. Nothing kills the insects deep in the wood, but borates gets them over some time. The head enforcement guy for WSDA in our state, Dr. Dan Suomi, is the world's leading expert on the pest and the treatment for it so we can get some pretty good advice. He says that, if when a new house was built, they would treat the substructure, prior to insulating, with sodium borates, it would pretty much eliminate the problem. The exception being if the crawl space flooded, it can be washed away. Otherwise, one treatment is all that is ever required. Builders are, of course, resistant to doing so as it raises costs.
11:50am • #15
300,008 Points 7 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp

Big yuck factor here, but interesting all the same. Glad it is you, not me, finding these "little devils."
2:06pm • #16
462,537 Points 2 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Not looking too swift up there. I just don't do bugs at all. I've seen enough during Inspection to last a lifetime.
6:56pm • #17
916,723 Points 178 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

Steve, I think Anobiid's are my favorite---they sure love the NW :)
7:00pm • #18
1,150,556 Points 53 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Charlie,

You have a mutual admiration society going with them.
8:37pm • #19
124,250 Points 3 Featured Posts

Thanks for sharing this. I have a new found respect for insecticides. I will be encouraging all my clients to use them wisely and to keep an eye on their foundations.
9:51pm • #20

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Steven L. Smith, Bellingham WA Home Inspector

Bellingham, WA

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King of the House Home Inspection, Inc

Address: Bellingham, Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine, Sumas, Nooksack, Lake Whatcom, Lake Samish, Anacortes, Mount Vernon, Whatcom County, Bellingham, WA, 98225

Office Phone: (360) 676-6908

Cell Phone: (360) 319-0038

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Steven L. Smith, King of the House Home Inspection, provides information for real estate buyers, sellers and real estate industry professionals. Blog posts emphasize issues commonly found in Bellingham, WA and Whatcom County. Smith is Washington State Licensed Home inspector #207, a state licensed structural pest inspector and one of the most experienced inspectors in the northwest corner of the Pacific Northwest. Steven L. Smith is lead instructor of home inspection at Bellingham Technical College and teaches classes for Washington State University and the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Steve was a two-term member of the state licensing board.


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