Ralph,

If you've got an active infestation of termites, then you have rot 
everywhere they are working.  You might think of it as rot is what they 
create.  The little buggers are dragging mud and water into the wood 
parts of the house and eating and pooping the wood.  Rot organisms just 
love the juicy wet left-overs.

Note "IF" you have an active infestation.  Get an opinion from someone 
who has nothing to gain whether you do or not.  Also, identify where 
they have built their tunnels that give them access to the ground, 
water and your building.  They really don't often go to elaborate 
length to defy gravity and build long tunnels over long distances of 
inedible materials.

BUT, IF you have a real honest to God termite infestation, you are 
dealing with a delicate, but superior critter.  Don't underestimate 
your adversary.  In southerly climates they can eat a normal ranch 
house in a season or two.  Best defense...move north.

If you do have an infestation, you will have to identify how they are 
accessing the building and cut that access off.  With luck you can kill 
off the ones that have set up housekeeping in the house.  But, you will 
have to dig trenches and fill them with toxic materials to prevent new 
infestations.  You need to cut off their water supply.  Grading and 
redirecting you downspouts will help.  Get the damned vegitation away 
from the building and for goodness sake, don't store your scrap lumber 
and firewood beside the building.  The bait station approach makes some 
sense as a prophylactic.  But grading and water management are 
critical.

As for your real question...Yup.  Start taking the building apart.  
Better yet, do what the termite would do, find another victim.

-jc






On May 20, 2004, at 10:17 AM, [log in to unmask] wrote:

> It's technical question time again, this time more for the sawdust 
> fabricators than the gravel fabricators among us.
>  
> The ever-delightful Mrs. Ralph, in her capacity as the soon-to-be 
> ex-Mrs. Ralph, is in the process of buying a wood-framed 1954 split 
> level house. (Eeeeeeewwwww)  The house inspector, and some termite guy 
> she got from somewhere, report termite infestation in part of the 
> exterior wall above the block foundation, and apparently somewhere in 
> the ceiling/floor construction above the finished basement 
> (slab-on-grade).  The house inspector also reported a good deal of rot 
> in window sills and some at window heads, which is primarily visible 
> from the exterior.   The current owner has been there since the house 
> was built, and the inspector thought that the house had gone through a 
> (presumably long) period of neglect. Given the fact that the roof has 
> never been replaced, this seems like a reasonable assumption.
>  
> Because the house was built with some sort of (presumably cedar) 
> shingles, which were subsequently covered with aluminum or vinyl 
> siding, I am concerned that this rot is likely to have spread beyond 
> the sills and other trim that are now visible because this stuff 
> projects from the siding.   The presence of termites (which I believe 
> were reported to be swarming and/or had formed a 'castle', a term with 
> which I am not familiar, termite-wise) doesn't seem like an at all 
> good sign in the middle of the house.
>  
> Do any of you guys (or guyettes, since I would never refer to you as 
> gals) have any thoughts about the likelihood of the rot extending, how 
> far it might have extended, and whether there's any reasonable 
> alternative to stripping this goddam siding to see how bad the 
> original siding (and sheathing) have become.  And/or does stripping 
> this stuff seem reasonable, or am I totally off the wall (in this 
> regard only; I am not looking for comment on my global 
> off-the-wallness, but thanks for offering.)  And what about the 
> termites?
>  
> Ralph