I knew when I purchased my home, there was termite damage from a former infestation. Fortunately, it was confined to a small area in the master bedroom, along the back wall. Although the crawlspace wall under that room is several cinderblocks high, they had invaded the 2x4 frame of the access door, then got inside the walls and made their colonies on the back side of the drywall. This is why there was the peeling paper and cracked, crumbly drywall visible in the bedroom. The baseboard for approximately ten feet was destroyed; I could poke it with minimal pressure with my finger and it would go right through. Removing the baseboard and drywall revealed the majority of the mud structures had separated from the wall, breaking and crumbling as they hit the soleplate. There were still a few stuck on the back of the drywall as I removed it, and I was shocked at how much they resemble mud wasp houses. Surprisingly, the studs had incurred very little damage and didn't have to be repaired or replaced. Apparently, the insulation facing, drywall paper, baseboards and some of the crawlspace door frame was their sustenance and they were discovered before further damage could occur. The damaged materials were removed and everything thoroughly scraped and vacuumed out and new materials were installed. It seems comical that the only termite damage to this entire house was done in the new section that was added in the 1980s.
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| Larger section of interior damage. Baseboard hole can be seen in the lower righthand corner. |
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| Smaller interior damage |
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| Baseboard as it's being removed, along with crumbled colonies. |
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| Damage 4' high and 64" wide. Another 16" x 22" piece will complete the top patch. |
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| Insulation facing damage and stuck-on "mud" |
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| A piece of colony, still stuck on the back of some drywall. It's about 1' long, 8" wide and over an inch thick. |
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| Shopping at Lowes for replacement materials. (That's part of his leash behind him.) He loves riding on the lumber cart. I believe he thinks it's a giant skateboard. |
The sooner the termite damage is spotted, the better. This way, you can prevent the wall from getting even more damaged. Luckily, the colony did not spread throughout the whole wall. It would have been even more costly if you had to replace the whole wall!
ReplyDelete@ Lucile Lynch