Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [termite]

65 questions
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Are these brown finger-like things on the outside of my house caused by termites?

Is this ground termite? This is on the outside of a wall in the backyard. This is the only occurrence of this thing. Should I be worried? Should I call someone to look at it? OR can I fix this myself?
hari
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How to fix eaten/rotten rafter

I need to repair some rotten 5"x3.5" (actual size) rafters (the one in the pic is the worst). I'm thinking about using a pair of unequal length 2x6s to create a sort of half-lap joint with the cut-back timber, and adding a trim board. Is there a…
Phil Esra
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How can I stop mortar plugs from popping out of slab holes?

Our termite people plugged their dozens of chemical insertion holes using a regular grout and a putty knife. Needless to say the plugs are popping out left and right. (They tell me that is normal, the plugs pop out in all their jobs). How would…
Bryce
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How to pour a concrete walkway directly up to a T style foundation

This is a side cutaway drawing of an existing 1930's stucco wall, showing the stucco in red and the original foundation. There is no weep screed, and originally the stucco was troweled right up to the then-current ground level. This is a…
Bryce
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What exactly is a wall void?

A termite insecticide (fipronil) is not to be used indoors, except in wall voids. If a hole was drilled in a baseboard or wall and the the foam was delivered through the wall, is this considered delivery to a wall void?
gatorback
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Are these termites?

Background: I recently purchased a house in northern New Mexico, and as part of the purchase, a termite inspection was performed and a prior termite infestation was found, as well as evidence of prior treatment (holes in the ground around the…
iLikeDirt
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What can I fill a trench around my house with to avoid creating a drainage issue?

I am planning out my footing insulation job. Right now it's a pretty standard floating slab-on-grade with footings extending down a few feet, and the footings are uninsulated. A ring of concrete was, at some later point, poured around the original…
iLikeDirt
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Could I cut out the affected area in a termite damaged joist or would I need to replace the whole joist if it's rotted at the end

So I have a 2x10 floor joist that's only about 5 feet long (short because it only spans a rounded part of my house) which has termite damage at one end for about 1.5 feet. The damage is on the outward side of the joist making it much thinner than…
MonkeyBonkey
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Do termites stay in the wall?

I feel a need to double check this. I found a couple mud tubes going into a wall along with some minor damage to some paneling inside. I removed the paneling, sprayed some termite killer in there and scraped off the mud tubes. My belief is that…
Rob
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What kind of jacks are used for lifting of framing in various situations?

I have two vertical house jacks from the local tool library, which I've used to support framing during extensive dry rot and termite repair: I'm into a section where the house jacks won't work. I need to support, and then slightly jack up, a load…
Bryce
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are these mud tunnels from termites or carpenter ants?

I found some (apparently now vacant) "mud tunnels" in a wall void behind some drywall, in an area where water damage had occurred "over a winter." (This is in Utah FWIW--apparently we have both termites and carpenter ants present). Any guesses?…
rogerdpack
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Replacing a top plate underneath a fireplace, with an attached exterior deck

Amateur here. I have a house where the chimney run framing extends to the basement (rather than simply sitting on a platform attached to the main floor). The only fireplace present is on the main floor. In the basement it's just an empty…
John
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What should I do about the insect larvae found on my ceiling?

Found 10 or so of these things on our ceiling this morning. I live in Central Oregon. Not sure what they are--is this an indication of worse things to come? Anything I need to inspect my house for, or shall I just throw them out?
Jeff.Clark
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Is this Termite or Carpenter Ant Damage?

I'm renovating a bathroom in my home in Maryland. I found this insect activity when I removed the drywall. Was it made by termites or carpenter ants, or hopefully, some benign insect? It doesn't look like there is damage to the wood, although I…
Laxmidi
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How to assess deal with termite damage

I am under contract on a house in AZ. There is obvious termite damage. The termite inspector found half a dozen spots (in rooms that hadn't been painted recently) near ceiling and top of walls where tubes where showing thru drywall. And, there's…
maplemale
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