Avoiding Termites

[teutonicking]

I'm dealing with a small yard and don't have a lot of room to put my next stack. It would be on pallets in the open CSS. If it is about 5 feet from the house and I mistakenly bring homw wood with termites can or will they make it to my house? Someone at work said not to stack too close to the house or the termites can make their way into and start damaging the house. Let me know if you have had any experiences with these nasty bugs. Thanks much!

I have a similar problem as I don't have a lot of land to work with in my backyard. I make sure that any firewood that I store near my house is elevated and placed on metal racks. I have read that termites don't really like walking over metal. I put all of my less expensive wooden 2x4 racks on the perimiter of my property at least 25-30 feet (or more) away from the house. There are a lot of termites where I live, but I have never seen any on wood in my racks (wood or metal). I have seen them on stray pieces of firewood that are left in direct contact with the ground, where it is moist.

 

[Catfish Cleatus]

I have a similar problem as I don't have a lot of land to work with in my backyard. I make sure that any firewood that I store near my house is elevated and placed on metal racks. I have read that termites don't really like walking over metal. I put all of my less expensive wooden 2x4 racks on the perimiter of my property at least 25-30 feet (or more) away from the house. There are a lot of termites where I live, but I have never seen any on wood in my racks (wood or metal). I have seen them on stray pieces of firewood that are left in direct contact with the ground, where it is moist.

Good info from everyone. I was thinking of putting the new stacks that would be 5-10 feet from the house on wood pallets. But the more I learn about termites they can start eating the pallets just the same as if the wood was on the ground. I like the idea of metal racks. Being somewhat of a cheap skate I really don't want to buy metal wood racks rather use the free pallets instead. Maybe putting the pallets on pavers and treating the area with termite solution would be cheaper. Probably more than enough of a deterent to the termites.

 

[JoeyD]

I started stacking on plastic pallets, out of the 23 stacks I have only 7 are still wood. I got tired of having to deal with getting rid of pallets after every burning season. I have to pay for the plastic but I am hoping I get more then one three year cycle out of them, if not the plastic will be more trouble then the wood pallets. I'll post back when I find out.

 

[Nixon]

I started stacking on plastic pallets, out of the 23 stacks I have only 7 are still wood. I got tired of having to deal with getting rid of pallets after every burning season. I have to pay for the plastic but I am hoping I get more then one three year cycle out of them, if not the plastic will be more trouble then the wood pallets. I'll post back when I find out.

Where are you getting plastic pallets ? TIA , John

 

[JoeyD]

Where are you getting plastic pallets ? TIA , John

There is a place that makes pallets near me. They sell the plastic pallets to customers who are shipping out of the country who don't want to treat them for insect control. I paid $5 a piece last year and $6 this year but I have all I should need now. They are used but in good shape.