Kill bugs on concrete shop floor?

[Bill Tarbell]

I discovered what appear to be powder post beetles in my basement workshop. I'm going to pull all of the wood out and heat to 150F before bringing it back into the shop, though i'm concerned about any bugs that may remain on the shop floor during this process. It's a basement with concrete walls, so i'm mostly concerned about the floor rather than the walls.

I was thinking about mopping the floor with bleach or denatured alcohol to try to kill them. Does anyone have any experience with this or have a better idea? While they aren't allowed in the basement, we do have cats. I'd prefer to use a treatment that will not leave a harmful residue on their paws if they were to get down there.

[Lloyd McKinlay]

I'm a hard core DIY guy, very little around the home that I would hire someone else to do. However, if I found evidence of powder post beetles I would be talking to a professional exterminator that afternoon.

[Keith Hankins]

+ 1 on what Lloyd said. Get a pro. You don't want to short that one. Sorry to hear that man.

[David Helm]

Where do you live? It makes a difference in exactly what you are seeing.

[Bill Tarbell]

I live in Pittsburgh, PA. I tried to take video and picture of them tonight. They're fairly hard to find and they seem to avoid the light. I flipped over a handful of 12' boards and only saw them a few times. I've found them on oak, cherry, walnut, and pine plywood. My friend bought over some ash lumber a couple months ago that had these little bugs all over them. It was only in the shop about 10 or so minutes until i noticed and we removed them. His boards also had some larger black bugs on it that google images likened to powder post beetles. I'm far from an insect master so i'm not quite sure what these little white ones are.

video to show their movement pattern. [Turn on 1080p and Watch this in full screen]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZbZjS5bu4o

and here's an image to show their scale against a 1.3mm pencil lead. The ones i've discovered appear to range in size between .5mm and 1.25mm.
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and here are a couple extreme closeups i grabbed from the video.
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I'm starting to doubt that they're powder post beetles.. since they start off as a worm-like larva, right? Anyone have any clue what these bugs are? Are they benign or should i continue with an extermination effort?

[Robin Powlus]

They don't look like powder post beetles. Are there any worm holes?

[Justin Ludwig]

I use Cyper WP (http://smile.amazon.com/Cyper-Insecticide-Lb-Control-Spray/dp/B003C2ETI2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409918506&sr=8-1&keywords=cyper+wp) for pest control. I bought that container May 2013 and have sprayed around my house 4 times (twice a year has proven to be enough) and in my shop once. I'm about to spray my shop again. I gave my father about 10 scoops (for 10 gallons) and I still have over have the container left. It's the best insecticide I've ever used.

There is one down side to using it in the shop: you're gonna have dead bugs EVERYWHERE. I sprayed a light coat over all the concrete and sprayed it halfway up the interior walls of my shop. For my home, I spray the perimeter, siding and soffit. I use a leaf blower to clean the bugs off the porch.

[Bill Tarbell]

They don't look like powder post beetles. Are there any worm holes?
My lumber doesn't have worm holes, but his lumber did...

Some more to the story.. a couple months ago a friend brought over around 150' of ash lumber so i could help him with a project. We carried the lumber into the shop after it was dark. Once we were setting the last one down in the shop i saw a 1/4" black skinny bug walking around on the top board. Upon closer inspection i saw that it was accompanied by a great many smaller white bugs (like what you see in my pics). We carried the lumber back outside and abandoned the project. I kinda figured i'd end up with the same infestation, but waited it out until i saw proof. That day has come, but i only see the little white ones in my shop.

We had compared the black bug to google images and decided it was a powder post beetle. In doing more recent research i think i've come to the conclusion that the little white ones were a different type of bug rather than just young powders. I just am not sure what they are.

Either way, i'll still kiln all my wood to kill whatever is on it. I'm just not sure if i need to do any sanitation to the shop itself. Sure wish i knew what these little white ones are.

[John Vernier]

Those little white bugs look like book lice (AKA bark lice), very common and not particularly harmful to wood. Powder post beetles are another matter, as you know. I brought some of those into my shop last year, in a piece of ash furniture, and I've been on vigil ever since even though I got them right back out of the shop immediately.

[Bill Tarbell]

I hadn't heard of book or bark lice until now. Google indicates they're slightly different. The images for booklice do look very very similar to what i'm seeing. The great news of that is they do not actually eat the wood, so they're harmless in that regard. I'll research some more to see if i can be sure that's what they are.

[Greg R Bradley]

I use Cyper WP (http://smile.amazon.com/Cyper-Insecticide-Lb-Control-Spray/dp/B003C2ETI2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409918506&sr=8-1&keywords=cyper+wp) for pest control. I bought that container May 2013 and have sprayed around my house 4 times (twice a year has proven to be enough) and in my shop once. I'm about to spray my shop again. I gave my father about 10 scoops (for 10 gallons) and I still have over have the container left. It's the best insecticide I've ever used.

There is one down side to using it in the shop: you're gonna have dead bugs EVERYWHERE. I sprayed a light coat over all the concrete and sprayed it halfway up the interior walls of my shop. For my home, I spray the perimeter, siding and soffit. I use a leaf blower to clean the bugs off the porch.
It works great but based upon the info he provided about pets and not wanting to track pesticide into other areas, I wouldn't suggest it. In my state you need an exterminators license to buy it or to use it. There are 5-6 states that ban its sale or use completely.

[Larry Edgerton]

I use a 21 Mule team borax solution, about a cup to a sprayer full to discourage unwanted visitors. It was a suggestion by a pest control pro for PP beetles.

Larry