Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 05, 2000 09:14pm | #1

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   Man oh Man.....

   Sounds like termites to me. You may not have a water leak anywhere......but they can get water off the copper pipes when the pipes sweat. Could also be something less serious. I'd open it up and have a look just to be on the safe side.

   Ed. Williams

2. 
   Chip_Tam | Mar 06, 2000 08:43pm | #2

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   Ed,

   Thanks for the feedback. I guess it could be termites but they're somewhat less common up here in Michigan than in the south. I've also looked on the foundation walls for evidence of their tunnels and can't find any. Later in the spring, I'll have someone out to take a look.

3. 
   Guest_ | Mar 06, 2000 10:47pm | #3

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   Do you have powder post beetles in Michigan? If so, get someone to look into the situation NOW!

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 06, 2000 11:34pm | #4

   *Ditto on Ralph's post for powder post beetles, Carpenter ants are sometimes found, but the powder is your key. Don't disturb it next time you find it, you should call in a bug specialist.

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 07, 2000 12:16am | #5

   *What's a powder post beetle? I guess we don't have that curse in Texas.Ed. Williams

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   Guest_ | Mar 07, 2000 12:32am | #6

   *http://www.cooks-termite.com/wdi.htmlHere ya go, Ed.

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 07, 2000 05:56am | #7

   *Chip, I believe it's powderposts as well... try:<a href="http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/entomology/factsheets/powderpo.html&quot; < powderposts

2. 
   Guest_ | Mar 07, 2000 06:36am | #8

   *Ditto on the powderpost beetles and it has been my experience, if limited, that one trait is a predominance of these critters to do most of the damage along the horizontal with little vertical travel. We discovered them in a balloon franed house several years ago and they only attacked the joists. Not an entomologist but this was my observation. Skip, out on the coast

4. 
   Chip_Tam | Mar 07, 2000 05:30pm | #9

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   Thanks to all for the information. George and Ralph, those are some great sites you sent me to... all that I wanted to know about critters and then some. Thanks.

   Powderpost beetles sounds most likely but they do seem big enough that I would have seen them. Still, if Skip is right about their horizontal travel and that they are staying between layers of flooring, I may not be able to see them.

   I'm going to get an expert to come out and take a look. Since one of the sites said that treatment is not always required or advisable I was wondering if you folks had recommendations for reliable national pest control companies which will not perform unnecessary work.

5. 
   Guest_ | Mar 07, 2000 05:41pm | #10

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   Hard to reccomend, they are only as good as the guy doing it, then it's the chemicals from there.

6. 
   Chip_Tam | Mar 07, 2000 05:41pm | #11

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   About a year ago, we begun to notice evidence of a possible insect infestation. In the basement below our bathroom we can see a very fine dry brown powder which looks exactly like coco. The powder is on the pipes coming from the bathroom and is spread around a 4x4 section of the basement floor. Swept up, the powder probably amounts to no more than a cup or two. I don't see any insects and there are no water leaks. However, the bathroom has not been remodeled in a long time and it is possible there was water damage in the past. Although the linoleum in the bathroom now seems a bit loose the floor still seems pretty solid. Our house is 120 years old and we live in the upper mid-west, if that is any help. Does anyone out there know what these insects might be or what else might cause this powder to appear?