Best Way to Fix Pest and Termite Damage to Your Home
Subterranean termites – which are found in homes in Salem – cause more than $1 billion in damage in the U.S. A homeowner’s expenses to repair major damage from termites and other pests can run into the thousands of dollars, and they are typically not covered by insurance.
- The sudden appearance of winged termites emerging from a structure.
- Termite-infested wood.
- The presence of termite shelter tubes on wood surfaces.
And if you have dry rot in your home, that will tend to encourage more termites to invade your home. Arranging for dry rot repair as soon as possible could help to stem the tide of termite infestation.
3Rs Construction & Remodeling is your professional contractor in Salem, Oregon! Our team can ensure safety and precision when it comes to repairing major damage from termites and other pests.
What Pest Damage Can Look Like in Your Salem Home
Pest damage, in general, can be extensive. Even something as small and what you would think of as harmless as carpenter ants can unleash severe damage in your home. A carpenter ant infestation will look like small piles of wood shavings around your exterior. These are produced as worker ants tunnel into the surface of the wood.
Carpenter ants are most comfortable in insulation and inner walls; however, if their colony expands, they’ll make their way outward to exterior siding. They like moist, rotting wood. Their presence typically indicates a problem with decaying walls.
Carpenter bees are another pest that can cause damage to your home. They are tiny pests that look similar to bumblebees but with a much higher capacity to do damage. They like to tunnel into wood to create nests, and if you don’t eliminate them, they will inhabit them season after season.
You can spot a carpenter bee nest because it looks like a burrowed round, smooth hole in your exterior. You typically will be able to spot hovering bees outside the perimeter of your home or crawling inside of it.
Powder post beetles are another damaging insect. Depending on their species, they may attack softwood used for joists, wall studs, and other structural lumber or hardwood used for cabinets, furniture, floors, and interior trim and moldings. As the frames from most homes are built from softwoods, certain species of powder post beetles can cause structural damage to houses.
As with nearly all these types of pest damage, dry rot can make it even worse. That is why it is recommended that homeowners in these situations seek out dry rot repair services as soon as possible.
Need help repairing pest or termite damage in your home? Contact 3Rs Construction & Remodeling, your local contractor today!
How to Effectively Fix Termite Damage
The sooner you see the signs of a termite invasion, the better. Although not common, a termite infestation has the potential to affect your home’s structural integrity and cause aesthetic damage to furniture and carpets if not treated.
Let’s look at nine proven ways that you can address and resolve termite damage in your Salem home.
1) Apply Epoxy Treatment
This is a great option to fix your termite damage if it is minor in scope. If it is not too extensive, you could be able to restore structural strength to the wood using an epoxy treatment.
Epoxy mixes up similar to cookie dough and can be molded into shape while it’s damp and then carved and trimmed like wood when it’s dry. Once painted, the epoxy-patched wood appears as good as new.
The main advantage of epoxy is that it is extremely durable and completely resistant to insects. It is an effective solution for repairs on window sills, molding, door jambs, or exterior columns that are difficult to remove and expensive to replace. There might be some areas of your home where you could replace and repair the damaged wood using the epoxy filler to close the gaps.
2) Restore Your Home Foundations From Termite Damage
Before repairing termite damage, apply various types of termite treatments on the affected wood first. Then remove the rotten wood with a chisel, sand it down, and repair damage by adding wooden support, replacing the wood, or applying wood fillers or hardeners.
3) Treat Wooden Structures with Termite Control Products
While you might be repairing termite damage in the foundation, it is nonetheless best to initially reach out to a professional pest control company. They will have the expertise and the right equipment to properly treat termite infestation.
They will apply slow-acting insecticide, along with other treatments, such as liquid termiticide, termite bait, and others. They will also verify if your house or business establishment is free from termites and other pest infestations.
Looking for an experienced Salem home contractor to repair damage created by pests or dry rot in your home? Contact 3Rs Construction & Remodeling today for a FREE quote!
4) Use a Chisel to Remove Rotten Wood
For some homes ravaged by termites, the extent of termite destruction cannot be overstated. Termites can wreak havoc on wood structures and siding. And termite-damaged wood could attract more infestations.
Because of this, you need to remove the rotten wood initially using a chisel. You’ll be able to see a piece of ruined wood if it looks decayed or discolored.
5) Apply Wood Hardener
After you’ve removed the damaged wood from your home, you’ll see the cavities where the termites created their colonies and eaten off the part of your structures. Before patching these up, apply a wood hardener first to restore the remaining hardness of the wood.
To minimize termite damage, you may want to use a wood hardener alone to fill in the cavities. Be sure to choose a product that matches your type of wood and its level of damage. You may also need to apply wood sealants to suffocate whatever remaining termites that might still be in your home.
6) Repair Termite Damage
After you have prepped the wood with a hardener, you are left with several options for patching up the damage, based on its severity.
These options are the following:
- Fill the cavities with wood filler.
- Add wood to support the damaged wood.
- Replace the structure completely.
7) Apply Wood Filler
If your home has suffered a major case of termite destruction – the damage is severe enough that you can see the channels or cavities in the wood – patching it out using a wood filler is necessary. Wood fillers look like a wood putty or sealant that will fill in the gaps created by the termites.
Be sure to mix the wood filler thoroughly and apply them to the gaps a little at a time to prevent them from sagging. You may need multiple applications to achieve coverage, or so it blends in with the wood’s surrounding area.
You’ll want to want to observe the wood when the wet seasons arrive because new cracks may form in the wood fillers. You can prevent this by keeping it as dry as possible.
8) Add Wood Support
If the termite damage is so bad that you can’t fill the damaged wood with wood filler, you should consider adding structural support to the damaged wood. This provides less costly solutions that are suitable for both non-structural and structural repairs. Just be sure accurate measurements are taken for the woodwork that you may need.
9) Replace Damaged Sections of Wood
If your home has undergone severe termite damage, you may need to replace the damaged parts of your structures. Doing this might be more expensive and complicated. However, it will only be called for in cases where wood fillers and wooden supports no longer work.
The wood may have already been in poor condition, and the only choice is to replace it. This will provide the right support temporarily for the structure’s integrity during repairs.
If you feel capable of doing so, you could cut out this part of the wood on your own. However, it is best to leave this job to a professional contractor in Salem to ensure safety and precision.
Look to 3Rs Construction & Remodeling for Dry Rot Repair in Your Salem Home
At 3Rs Construction & Remodeling, we have the experience and expertise to repair dry rot in your Salem home.
Our team at 3Rs Construction will help you make informed and efficient decisions about how the dry rot repairs should be completed. As your trusted restoration contractor in Salem, Oregon, we are here to help you with dry rot, siding, and home repairs.
Call us at (503) 363-1059, so we can get started on your dry rot repair today!