Termites

[Kitty]

Can you bring termites into the house with the wood for the stove?  Are they lurking in the wood pile?

We had and successfully treated termites in the property that we bought (it was cheap because of the problem) and so I am on the alert.

[Patf]

I don't know about firewood, but I think I read once that if you have ,say, a dead tree stump outside which is infested, the creatures in their flying form can enter the house and install themselves. Have you done some research with Google? A neighbour at our last house found such a dead tree in her garden and was going to get someone to look at it. You can get a free inspection if you're worried.

[Kitty]

I did look at Google before posting and found out the lifecycle of termites etc but not if they lie in wait in the wood pile for unsuspecting house owners!  The wood that I am talking about is stuff that was delivered about 2 years' ago and which I haven't got round to using.  It's at the back of the hangar and so new wood deliveries get used first.  We do have dead trees in our garden as well as tree stumps (one stump is about 6 ft high) but I haven't cut them down yet - me and chain saws do not go together.

 

[Eos]

Cathy, I really have no idea but the previous owners of our house were adamant in their handover to us that under no circumstances should wood for more than one day/nights use be stored indoors.

Bit of a pity as we have a beautiful fireplace with built in storage where wood could dry off quite happily but I am content to defer to what I presume to be their superior knowledge!!

[Ron Avery]

If you have had your wood treated properly then you will not get termites from the ground, the air, tree stumps or logs brought into the house. It should have been pressure injection treated at both ends of each beam to get the liquid deep into the heart of the wood where the termites would enter, the treatment then soaks to the less vulnerable parts of the timber giving prevention from other wood boring insects like capricorn and wood worm.  If your beams were only surfaced sprayed this will not prevent termites from getting into the end grain.