Termites arrgghh

I scored a trailer full of wood at work a couple weeks ago and today I got it all cut down to length so its ready to be split tomorrow morning. I found one piece that was rotten in the middle and had signs of termites so I tossed it to the side to trash it but when I was all done and sitting on a round having a smoke I pulled some bark off of a piece of oak and found termites under the bark I think and please correct me if Im wrong that if I pull all the bark off and theres no termites in the wood itself I should be good to go right? Im going to have to pull the bark off of everything now and check for termites The thing that really bugs me (get it ) is that I was checking everything at the sight pulling bark off and making sure it was all good but I think the guy that was helping me got a few pieces that in the trailer that I hadnt checked.

 

My uninformed and amateur opinion is that you can still burn it... Stack it, top cover it and when it's dry, take it directly from the stack to the stove... If the moisture is a little high, you can mix it in with some of your drier wood... If you're concerned about stuff falling off the splits when you bring them in, start asking for paper bags when you go shopping so you can just put a split in a bag before bringing it in the house and straight to the stove... Frustrating, but not the end of the world... Again, just my opinion.... Others' life experiences could prove me wrong..

http://www.ehow.com/how_4828141_kill-termites-firewood.html

 

Matt, is the entire trailer you have in question or just parts of it?
What i was going to say is, that wood from the trailer or just the wood you know is in question
should be quarantined. I would stack that wood away from anything else you have drying now.
and I agree with stuck, right from the stacks to the fire, mix it in with other woods if you need
more heat along with questionable MC.

 

Theres just a few rounds that are in question not the whole load but I am going to go over the whole load just to make sure. A few of the rounds are just going right in the dumpster and any others that have any termites or signs of them will be segregated and maybe if its just one or two rounds Ill just throw them in the outdoor burn pit. I just dont want the rest of my stacks to get infested with them I am constantly checking for them as they are prevalent in my area. My biggest worry about having 3+ years of wood on hand is termites and rot but its all stacked up off the ground in the sun so hopefully it will be good.

 

As far as I know termites have to have earth to survive. That is why they build mud covered tunnels, are you sure you have termite problems or is it carpenter ants ?

 

I have had the same problem didn't know until I started to move the rounds around found them under the rounds.I have some concentrated chlordane that I mix to treat the rounds and ground under and around the area.I ve found it works great after I split let the rain wash the chemicals off.I hate bringin em home so now I cut and split on site before I bring it home.

 

I had a bunch of termite wood last year that I knew when I brought it home had termites I scraped off all of the bark and it was good to go but now this has me wondering did i maybe possibly transfer termites to my property right where I stack rounds to be split????? I think Ill have my pest control guy spray around the area for me and one of these days Im going to have to get the out buildings treated for termites.

 

Matt they have to return to the ground or have consistent moisture to stay in the wood.
I wouldn't worry about peeling bark - just get it stacked off the ground, on treated lumber or bricks under pallets. As the wood dries they will leave.
Get some Bayer Advanced Carpenter Ant & Termite concentrate - mix accordingly and spray around the timbers before stacking.
http://www.bayeradvanced.com/insects-pests/products/carpenter-ant-termite-killer-plus

It's not cheap but the concentrate makes a bunch of gallon pump sprayers - and it works great for Fire ant mounds

 

First, just poison everything as a matter of habit but you must assume that the wood will remain infested. Actually it is safe to always assume the firewood has termites.

Secondly, as you split the wood try and dump the rotten parts off into a trash pile. The termites will be dense in the rotten wood, they'll be in the solid wood, under the bark, little ones will be boring out so you'll never be able to be certain that you have removed them.

It is a myth that dry wood has no bugs or termites. I have split apart ultra dry doug fir (making kindling) to find tunnels and live termites on well seasoned dry wood.

Do your best to prevent movement from the firewood to your home. That means not stacking firewood against your house.

 

I found better poison on the net. Order yourself some termidor or it's generic equivalent taurus. It is a liquid for ants and termites. Really good stuff and much stronger than what the "public" is allowed to buy.

 

I'm going to look into that @Highbeam is that something I could also use to treat my house and outbuildings? I have my firewood stacked on pallets and treated timbers about 4 foot from my barn and I would like to get termite treatment around the barn but the pest control companies make it rather expensive.

 

It crossed my mind to recommend it as I used Termidor to treat my garage and a retaining wall after the guy I have my Termite bond with used it to retreat areas of the house.
He tried some on a small fire ant pile and it didn't kill them (could have been the mix rate) like the Bayer does.
IIRC it works like a fungus that infects the entire colony

Yes Matt Termidor/Taurus is a good residual product for outbuildings

 

Termidor/taurus is freaking awesome. It has a 10 year residual life and it doesn't work like you might expect. The critters contact it and it sticks to them but the critter doesn't realize it until maybe a week later when it dies after having already gone back to the colony and infected them who then die a week later after having spread it around some more. Not an instant kill pesticide. The best pesticides don't try and kill the bug instantly, they try and kill the colony.

When you call a termite or ant control company there is an excellent chance that termidor/taurus is what they will use.

Apply it per the directions twice per year as a permimeter treatment. 45$ gets you 25 gallons of the stuff.

http://store.doyourownpestcontrol.com/taurus-sc-insecticide

 

Thanks highbeam Im going to have to look into this. My pest control company wanted almost $3000 for the treatment of my house and two of my sheds along with the annual checkup for $150 I just couldnt do that I think I can swing this though.

 

The annual $150 is a bond that will allow you to sell the house if you ever have to without paying for another bond.
From what I recall in my property ventures in - NC has termite protection clauses as a law in real estate sales .
Termite company would be on the hook for repairs/future guarantee should they be found before closing a sale - and a new bond/treatment will be on the existing homeowner and transferred to the new homeowner if the sale goes through.