Q&A about distinguishing rot, mold, and insect damage in buildings.

This article series explains how to distinguish between carpenter ants and termites, how we identify carpenter ant damage, carpenter bee damage, powder post beetle or old house borer damage and termite damage.

Q&A on Spotting, Evaluating, Repairing & Preventing Structural Damage from Insects

These questions and answers about insect damage at or to buildings were posted originally

at INSECT INFESTATION / DAMAGE - be sure to see the guidelines and advice given there.

On 2019-11-26 by (mod) - carpenter ant frass (sawdust) at a window top

Rose

I can't see much, but that looks a lot like carpenter ant frass - dusty sawdust left behind when carpenter ants are munching away at wood

On 2019-11-26 by Rose

Any idea what did this? Found it in two of my windowsills and have only seen ladybugs in that room.

They don’t eat wood, so concerned I have something going on behind the scenes!

On 2019-06-06 by (mod) -

Sorry, no I can't make anything out of the photos

On 2019-06-05 by Agbayaa

Thank you sir. Any thoughts on the photos that look more like rot and/or insect decay?

On 2019-06-03 by Anonymous

IMAGE LOST by older version of Clark Van Oyen’s useful Comments code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

On 2019-05-23 by (mod) -

Ag

The photos look a lot like termite damage.

See https://inspectapedia.com/structure/Termite_Damage_Identification.php TERMITE IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

On 2019-05-23 by agbayaa

last one i promise
IMAGE LOST by older version of Clark Van Oyen’s useful Comments code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

On 2019-05-23 by agbayaa

dry rot??
IMAGE LOST by older version of Clark Van Oyen’s useful Comments code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

On 2019-05-23 by agbayaa

one more..
IMAGE LOST by older version of Clark Van Oyen’s useful Comments code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

On 2019-05-23 by agbayaa

here is another photo to help with my issue:
IMAGE LOST by older version of Clark Van Oyen’s useful Comments code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

On 2019-05-23 by agbayaa

I am hoping someone can help me determine what is eating away at the structure of my home. We have had a moisture problem in the past so i am sure that is contributing to it. Is it rot? wood borers? Termites?
IMAGE LOST by older version of Clark Van Oyen’s useful Comments code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

On 2018-12-26 by (mod) - tiny holes - insect damage?

If the tiny holes look like the photos on this page it could well be powder post beetles or old house borers.

On 2018-12-22 by Charlene Wang

We have a wood log with many tiny holes just like the first picture in this article. There are some tiny, uniform and rounded small grains on the ground just below the log. We are not sure they are poops or wood grains.

We could not see any insects. Can you tell us what kind insects the wood has infected? Today, we also found the same kind "poop" at the corner of the metal ventilation wire outsidethe wall of the craw space. The insects should be inside the wires. So we can not see them.

On 2018-07-06 by (mod) -

One reason I use the Ortho Defense product that you'll see in this photo is that it dries quickly so I could spray I just a little bit on the vertical surface and it would dry have lasting effect and if used as directed it would be less likely to contaminate the environment.

this is not a specific product endorsement is just showing you what I found easily available. Inspectapedia has no connection with any product or service that we discuss.

On 2018-07-06 by (mod) -

Is another view from a little more distant perspective

On 2018-07-06 by (mod) -

Here's my photo.

You don't have to be a genius to see that there's water on this wall and probably a leak into it that needs to be repaired.

The brown muddy stuff at the bottom of the wall is carpenter ant frass that had been rained on.

On 2018-07-06 by (mod) -

Kevin

Yes it can be hard to find the actual carpenter ant colony. A licensed PCO sometimes uses a spray chemical that gets the ants so excited they come running out of their nest, showing its hiding place. But way back at an old building I worked-on nobody could find the ant colony even though they were taking over the kitchen.

Finally I tore open a most-suspect wall area below a kitchen window. There was the colony.

The ant expeller just wasn't reaching it. We vacuumed out the ant colony, repaired the framing, and fixed the leaks.

See CARPENTER ANTS

Having just done my own annual carpenter ant infestation inspection and amateur treatment I of course have an OPINION.

1. Avoid pesticides as much as possible since you're contaminating an environment already in serious trouble - (In China they've killed so many of their bees that fruit trees and crops are being hand-pollinated by human beings with cotton swabs - a desperate move IMO).

2. Apply ANY pesticide you choose by following the manufacturer's directions with care. No cheating.

I used a hand spray container of ant killer in an area where I saw carpenter ant frass outside and where we kept seeing ants inside the building. The manufacturer of the spray warned about spraying on horizontal surfaces where spray could wash down into the aquifer killing our birds or fish. We applied it as directed. Minimally.

The more-important step is to find and fix the water leaks into the building that are inviting ants in the first place.

I'll add a photo of where we treated what looked like the key point of outdoor carpenter ant activity just yesterday.

On 2018-07-06 by Kevin Baker

Any suggestions on which variety of poison or method is best for killing an existing colony of carpenter ants, when you don't even know where the colony is located? I see plenty of ants crawling around my front and back porch, but I don't know where they're coming from.

Obviously, there's a colony, but it might be hidden somewhere between the exterior and interior of my home. I'm wondering about a bait-type of poison, like Terro / boric acid, that they can carry back to their nest with them.

On 2017-12-15 by (mod) - not likely that pests that would invade a wood beam would be the same insects that would invade a pillow or mattress

Anonymous

It is not likely that pests that would invade a wood beam would be the same insects that would invade a pillow or mattress. There could be other, medical explanations for your complaint. You should start the investigation of your pest-disturbed sleep with your doctor.

On 2017-12-15 by Anonymous

my house was built in 1907 by my grandfather in BROWNSBURG CHATHAM, QUEBEC, CANADA, the foundation iis 12 to 14 inches thick. the top of the foundation is not flat. it slopes inward the wood wall of the house sits on the higher level of the foundation.

i removed the newer insulation and then continued to remove the very dirty older insulation . now i have somekind of infestation. i cant see anything but when i put my ear on my pillow i hear what ever it is crawling around in my mattress.

i bought a new matress , i vacumned regularly, i sprated with vinegar mixed with borax, i spread diatomaceus earth. i used a dehumifier. i wash the floors and walls, all the bedding regularly but no matter what nothing helps. i havent had two nights sleep in a row for almost ten moths,,
can you help.

On 2017-01-10 by (mod) -

Contact

You want to find a local pest control expert who may spot clues of even subtle insect invasion in your structure.
If that person finds evidence of insect damage to the structure, THEN it would be time to hire a civil or structural engineer to assess the extent of damage and to recommend or even design appropriate repairs.

I include the first expert because an engineer may be good at beam design but not so hot at finding wood destroying insect activity.

On 2017-01-10 by contact

hi can someone give me a contact to do beam inspections these are very BIG beams holding up a 3 story above. they're 12" x30" beams across a 18 foot span.

On 2016-08-04 by (mod) -

George you are welcome to send photos using the page top or bottom CONTACT link. I'm not as smart as an onsite pest control expert but I might see something; also you are invited to look through the photos in this article series; some types of insect damage such as termite, carpenter ant, old house borer are fairly easy to recognize.

Casings: meaning insect fragments: you might also put a few in a jar and take them to your local cooperative extension, agricultural service, or pest company to see if they can recognize them.

On 2016-08-03 1 y George in Houston

Trying to figure out the nature of our WOOD DESTROYING EVIL. Pretty sure it's whatever buggers are associated with the casings I find littered throughout the underside of the house but whenever I've had inspectors go through they insisted there is nothing active. How do I share photos with you, the impartial audience?

On 2016-06-08 by Mia

I live in Brooklyn, NY and new buildings have been going up all around me. I rent an apartment in a house that's 8 years old. However, for the past year I've been killing 3 to 5 waterbugs a day! My cats kill the rest. I live on the top floor and nothing is leaking in my apartment.

What is going on? My landlord says there's nothing she can do since its the new construction that's bringing them up. Is this true? My cats are in heaven, I'm living with anxiety! Thanks!

On 2016-02-06 by (mod) -

I can't guess from just your text, Anon, but if you search InspectApedia for


An Encyclopedia of Stains on Building Exteriors

You'll find a guide that may help you out.

On 2016-02-04 00:43:28.260947 by Anonymous

hola , aim buy a old home and have some stains outside the house look like dark smoke, what there are?

On 2015-11-27 14:58:09.279839 by (mod) -

Trish:

No not directly, termites are interested in wood, not sewage; however if there is insect activity, buried wood, roots, over the septic tank those could point to trouble including water leaking into the septic tank or worse, if there is a wood cover, an unsafe rotting wood septic tank cover that, if / when it collapses, could kill someone.

On 2015-11-27 14:23:27.138923 by trish

We have a septic tank under pavers gradually the pavers have been lifting we found what we think are termites - they are white in colour. We are yet to lift the pavers. Will termites damage the septic?

Question: can you identify the type of insect that appears to have infested this wood seen in our attic?

What kind of pest do you think makes this? - MJS 10/24/2012

Reply:

I can't say, MJS, but what is quite apparent from your photograph is that what appears to be insect activity, perhaps from a type of borer beetle, occurred before the tree was harvested and cut into lumber.

You can see that the flat sawn and planed surface of the wood has left cross-sectional slices of exposed, sawdust-filled voids in the wood. To me the damage looks like a type of wood boring beetle, powder post beetle or old house borer, but that's uncertain.

We publish your photo here to invite other readers to comment, and I'll also review our text library for some comparison images of similar wood damage.

Question:

(Dec 12, 2012) Jeri said:
I live in an old home.Recently I noticed black chunks of petrified [fill in the blank]coming out of the wall through a crack in the bottom of the wall neear refrigerator. I pulled out fridge and saw a slurry of these "chunks" in the fridge condensation.

Also, interesting were what I call "amoebas" They now appear in my fridge (probably via the fan) and now I see actual insects in fridge and freezer.The amoebas are now found in sink, on stove. they seem to just appear. No one seems to know what the black chunks are but all you need to do is bang the wall and it comes trickling out. I have been bitten by some insect and I think this is all connected in some way. Any Biologists out there?

Reply:

If you can send us some sharp photograps of what you are seeing, showing the refrigerator, wall, closeups of the crack, closeups of the slurry of "chunks" of debris of concern, we can comment further. Use the email found at our CONTACT US link seen at page top or bottom.

Depending on what we see I may ask you to send a sample to our forensic laboratory for further testing.

...

Continue reading at INSECT INFESTATION / DAMAGE or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Insect Damage Articles

• INSECT INFESTATION / DAMAGE - home
  • BAIT TRAPS for Termite Control
  • CARPENTER ANTS
  • CARPENTER BEES
  • INSECTS & FOAM INSULATION
  • MERULIPORIA FUNGUS DAMAGE
  • MOLD: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO MOLD
  • MOTHS, MOTHBALL ODORS
  • PESTICIDE EXPOSURE HAZARDS
  • POWDER POST BEETLES
  • TERMITE INSPECTION & DAMAGE
  • WOOD FLOOR, INSECT DAMAGE

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