On the stash i got from a friend. I found two pieces that resemble to have some kind of but eating the wood. I really dont want to be stacking wood that might potentially bring bug and probably infest my home. See for yourself and please advise.
Why do i get a bit paranoid when i see wood like this!
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Just looks like rot to me. Many of my deciduous trees are somewhat hollow and stained from the inside out. Do you see grubs or boreholes?
- Jun 12, 2006
- 1,053
Not to worry -
Bring it into the house, walk to the stove, and burn it. Repeat as needed! I've found ant nests in logs, but they seem to leave once disturbed.
I am more careful with wood that's soft, or has obvious insect issues, Powder poast beattles for example.
I try to leave the wife nice, clean splits for the daytime hours when I'm away. Trashy, ugly, bend stuff I use up when nobody will be bothered.
ATB,
Mike
Bring it into the house, walk to the stove, and burn it. Repeat as needed! I've found ant nests in logs, but they seem to leave once disturbed.
I am more careful with wood that's soft, or has obvious insect issues, Powder poast beattles for example.
I try to leave the wife nice, clean splits for the daytime hours when I'm away. Trashy, ugly, bend stuff I use up when nobody will be bothered.
ATB,
Mike
Reason number 33.49 to leave the wood outside until it's time to go in the fire....
Reason number 17.88 to stack wood a good distance from the house during the summer until you start having regular/hard frosts....
Reason number 17.88 to stack wood a good distance from the house during the summer until you start having regular/hard frosts....
If you're worried about termites- try the obvious, knock the wood today and see if any scurry out. Take a suspect piece of wood and split it smaller and see if you can find any bugs or clearer evidence such as bore holes.
Otherwise, just burn it.
Otherwise, just burn it.
Carlos said:
Wood stored above ground contact should not have a termite risk. Use pallets, bricks, block, stone, ties, etc. to build and rack up your fuel wood stash. For covered and outdoor storage, I prefer to use pallets. They are free and plentiful.
Insect critters like long term ground contact with your wood plies. As far as your picture goes, split it, season it and then burn it.
I've cut a lot of wood like that over the years...no big deal. Yeah there's bugs in 'em but as they dry the bugs leave for greener pastures. We don't have termites around here so I can't address that. We live is structures made of wood and so do the Lords lesser creatures...that's just the way it is.
I wouldn't worry about that either. Grubs don't seem to bother anything, just get beetles running around during the summer. Usually fall into the pool. I worry about ants. I know the ants will scurry off once disturbed, but I don't want them scurrying to my neighbors house. Before I bring the wood home if it's loaded with ants I don't take it. If when I'm splitting I find them I'll put powder on them to kill them. Usually they're Black Ants. If they look like Carpenter Ants I'll put the wood into plastic bags and take to the dumpster and throw away unless it's winter - I'll burn them.
spray them with soapy water and you will be okay
termites need moisture once you start splitting they will run out of moisture... if you see them or ants or what ever spray area with soapy water...
i spray my wood area with a boric acid mix (with water) and it seems to work well of course spiders are everywhere
termites need moisture once you start splitting they will run out of moisture... if you see them or ants or what ever spray area with soapy water...
i spray my wood area with a boric acid mix (with water) and it seems to work well of course spiders are everywhere
Looks like a bunch of the cherry I took out of my yard.
Like said above split it and burn it.
If there is bugs it's ok they just add
a little protein to the fire.
Like said above split it and burn it.
If there is bugs it's ok they just add
a little protein to the fire.
I agree with Highbeam . . . from the pics it looks like core rot. The wood I'm cutting up for 2010-2011 came out of a wet area . . . a lot of red maple and poplar. I've found quite a bit of this wood to have rotten or spongy cores . . . no big deal since the wood was free and the majority of the wood is good. In any case I split and put the wood on the stack . . . figure it will be dry and ready to go by next Fall/Winter.
As for bugs . . . also no worries. I tend to split wood around this time of year which means most bugs (and the dreaded carpenter ants) will vacate the wood rather quickly . . . or will die in the process. Heck, this past weekend I was cutting up some very old pine that was loaded with ants. Even though it was quite warm out for this time of year you could see the temp was affecting the ants as they were already a bit sluggish vs. what they look like when you split a tree in the summer as I have done in the past.
That said, I do tend to keep wood with ants pushed aside before stacking . . . figure I'll give the buggers a chance to go find another home before reintroducing them to some new potential homes.
As for bugs . . . also no worries. I tend to split wood around this time of year which means most bugs (and the dreaded carpenter ants) will vacate the wood rather quickly . . . or will die in the process. Heck, this past weekend I was cutting up some very old pine that was loaded with ants. Even though it was quite warm out for this time of year you could see the temp was affecting the ants as they were already a bit sluggish vs. what they look like when you split a tree in the summer as I have done in the past.
That said, I do tend to keep wood with ants pushed aside before stacking . . . figure I'll give the buggers a chance to go find another home before reintroducing them to some new potential homes.
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