Termite advice

[vinny11950]

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I posted here. I have been lurking and trying to stay connected to the group.

I need some advice on how best to treat a termite/carpenter ant issue in my front porch.

As you can see, the concrete was poured right up to the T1-11 siding. I think this is the original siding and concrete, so 52 years old.

So I busted out the concrete along the edges, making enough room to give me space to work. I was hoping it wasn't going to be too bad but no work to this house goes easy.

The far wall was a mess. Sill plate rotted out with water and what I think is termite damage. I also think there is carpenter ant damage because I always see one or two in the porch in the spring.

The sill plate came out with no problem (no concrete anchors, just some faint rust marking of what I think were nails or screws in the concrete). Rim joist also had damage on the lower half and came out with no issue. I don't think they used PT lumber for the sill plate. They put a shingle like material and metal flashing below the sill plate, and under all of it, a thick white paste/dust treatment which I am guessing is some sort of borax. Anyway, lucky for me that wall is not carrying too much weight and I can work freely.

So what's the best treatment for the termites/ants to kill the ones still there and to prevent future issues?

I was looking at Boracare but I am not sure. I was also thinking of using the HD stuff for now.

 

[zrock]

Midaswell bust out the rest of that concrete and get it below the siding as that's what started your issue all the water running that direction. Needs to be lower and sloped away from the foundation. Once you get rid of all the rot the termites and ants should leave on their own.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I don’t see any termite damage there or any mud tunnels, was it cleaned up?

Fix the rot, fix the drainage issue.

You can’t legally buy Boracare in NY without a 7c pesticide license.

 

[Starbrightsteve]

Timbor is available through Amazon. $17 for a 1 lb package.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

You can’t legally buy that without a 7c license either. NY isn’t thrilled with sales of pesticides.

 

[stoveliker]

All I can say is that Amazon doesn't keep their own rules. I (ahem, accidentally) bought something that I later saw had a remark on the product page of Amazon that it couldn't ship to NY (and one or two other states).
Yet it arrived nicely in 3 days...

Do be careful with chemicals. Read all instructions.

 

[vinny11950]

I don’t see any termite damage there or any mud tunnels, was it cleaned up?

Fix the rot, fix the drainage issue.

You can’t legally buy Boracare in NY without a 7c pesticide license.

I can't tell the difference between carpenter ant or termite damage. But I do remember cleaning up some weird insect shells, that thinking on it were probably termites. This is the underside of the sill plate.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

That’s just rot. I can see why you’d think it was termite though.

The first indicator that people have termites is usually a bunch of wings in the windowsill. When the colony sends out their queens they try to fly out the windows, then drop their wings.

The second is mud trails. Termites like really high moisture. The way they get this is to create little tunnels up a wall, foundation, etc made of mud and other stuff. It allows them to travel outside without drying out.

The damage they produce is eating all the spring wood while leaving the winter wood. It’ll make the 2x4 look like a deck of cards but missing every other card.

Your good. Fix the rot.

 

[Motor7]

Fix it, then have a Termite company come in and do their thing. Carpenter ants only eat wet/damaged wood, so they will be gone once you do repairs.

 

[all night moe]

That concrete needs to go. Like said, it's much to high. You could put a roof system in that would help but, you'd still get wind driven rain on occasion. Besides lowering and pouring new crete, consider pavers, with the right substrate that will pass water.

 

[vinny11950]

Thank you for the advice, everyone. Let me see how I get all this work done in between the holidays.

 

[bigealta]

Metal flashing, under the sill plate, bent correctly is supposed to act as a termite shield.