Not to much experiance with termites, but if there is homosote under the original siding watch out, they love that stuff. I think they see it as predigested or like a tv dinner. Sometimes you can find damage from inside. Check wood trim- there can be only a layer of paint over the tunnels. Swarming is when winged males and females are produced by the nest to go out and find their own home to eat. This usually means there is a healthy enough (large enough) nest to support such activity, a bad sign. good luck ctb
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: [log in to unmask] 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2004 11:17 AM
  Subject: [BP] Foist Woims, now Toimites


  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