Replies

1. 
   DanH | May 31, 2010 08:01am | #1

   It's a little like rot -- depends on the amount of damge.  (My preference is for dutchmen rather than bondo.)

   However, a problem with termite damage is that often the surface can seem sound while the interior of the wood is completely eaten away.  So you have to inspect things a bit more thoroughly than with a rot problem.  Probing with an icepick is one way to check things out.

1. 
   Mike_Mills | May 31, 2010 09:12pm | #2

   Thanks for the advice. 

   Does Dutchman = replacement wood?

   I think you're right about removal and replacement.  My first impulse was to just back fill with an inexpensive filler like Bondo.  Does that ever work?  Probably, every now and then but I always have my best luck doing it "right".

   We are going to have the house tented again, too.

1. 
   DanH | May 31, 2010 09:21pm | #3

   Lots of people swear by Bondo.  I'm just old school, I guess, and prefer to use solid wood.

   Most of the termite damage I've seen has been on old, poorly cared for buildings where the wood was totally hollowed out.  Replacement is the only reasonable option in such cases (though I've done scrape/paint/pray a few times).  Never really dealt with a "minor" case of termites to know how things tend to unfold there.

1. 
   MarkH | May 31, 2010 09:47pm | #4

   I've seen termite damage where about the only solid wood left is the fibers stuck to the paint.  It's always worse than it looks like it is for me.