OK, what does this look like to you guys (and gals)?
Old timber? Though the photo doesnt show emergence holes, I would look for them; may be powder post beetle damage, at least looking at what appears to be powder in the photo. Otherwise, I might say termites, though a single photo is tough to tell.
I vote beetles, but hard to tell from the pic
http://www.unexco.com/gallery/index.html#ppb
http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/termites/termiteinspectionpictures.htm
unofficialy it is consistant with powder post beatles. in fact i think i see Ringo in the top left.
Bark beetle damage
OK - I’m not a bug guy yet. Are bark beetles/powder post beetles as bad, worse, or not as bad as termites?
Joe, their one notch above a crab…
There all bad…:shock:
there’s one more little wood eater to keep in mind for the coming season, the carpenter bee. looks alot like a fuzzy bumble bee but more black. the males are very agressive and will hover in your face or even fly into you. but provided it is a real carpenter be from the eves, facia, and soffits, and not a bumble bee from the ground neat the foundation, it won’t sting. nope female carpenter bees are the only ones (of there kind) that can sting. but you won’t see them unless you go up and poke around in her little 1/4 bored hole. i had a huge infestation of them last summer at 2 of my building. look for greyish/yellowish droppings dripping out from under gutters and along facia boards coming from little holes. oh and the obvios “agressive” camacazy like behavior from the males. they dive bomb each other all the time and it’s kinda fun to watch.
Dale,
I’ve got some good info. on my site…
](Welcome! - Massachusetts Home Inspections)
That’s why I linked my websites to your site…
I leave the bugs to the bug guys, there isn’t any money inspecting for them here, there is a little treating for them, but I have better things to do. I don’t need any bug liability…for 40-60 dollars.
My termite inspector inspected a 36,000 sq. ft. building the other day for me and charged the customer $400.00, hardly worth even thinking about a bug in my opinion. Writing a termite report for a property with four buildings totaling 36,000 sq. ft. is a little ridiculous for that kind of money when he was there half the day, let alone doing the report and sending it.
Termite Info
Javalina back scratching joist.
You think I’m kidding. Ha. The margarita pies already have worn off.
Doesn’t look like termite damage to me, which would usually have visible groves in the wood, and I don’t see any penetration holes. What about wood rot as a possibility (or possibly that combined with pest damage), since that appears to be a crawl space. Was there adequate ventilation? (e.g. 1 s.f. of venting / 150 s.f. of crawl area)
Also looks like someone added a hack post in the damaged area instead of fixing the problem … :roll: