Beetles? Worms? Are they still alive?

[Eric Bong]

I recently purchased about 1000 board feet of 5/4 Red Oak. The wood sat in a barn for a decade or so. It was very dirty but straight. Now that I'm cleaning it up I'm seeing several boards that have small holes/tracks in them. I'm not worried about lost money (didn't pay the guy much) but I am worried about infesting my house. The pile is stacked in my garage and basement.

How can I tell if the wood still has active critters in it? What should I do to get rid of them?

[Dave Stuve]

Hi Eric,

I'd look for two things:

1) Are the holes round or oval? If the holes were there before the boards were sawn, then the openings will be ovals, if the holes are perfectly round then they were probably made after the lumber was cut - and they may still be alive.

2) Sawdust - little bits of fresh powder around the holes - that's also a bad sign.

Hopefully the lumber was kiln dried and the holes are oval - I'd bet the lumber is safe.

I've never done it, but there are treatments for lumber you think may have a bug problem.

Dave

[Gary Herrmann]

I'd look for sawdust. Sticker them outside over some ply or concreted for a week and see if there is any. If there is, I wouldn't bring it inside.

[David Keller NC]

First things first - GET IT OUT OF YOUR HOUSE! Red oak is notorious for being a favorite lunch for powder post beetles, and these guys can cause just as much, if not more, damage than termites.

Then, sweep each board off carefully and re-stack and sticker the wood outside, and cover the top with a sheet of outdoor plywood, or a tarp, being sure to stack the tarp out to allow air flow in and out.

After about 3 weeks, take a flashlight to the pile and carefully examine the flat surfaces. If you see more sawdust, you've got an active infestation. At that point, it'd be a really good idea to call an exterminator to take a look at/treat your garage and basement.

Afterwards, you can kill all of the suckers with one of several methods. One of the more effective is fuming with ammonia, though that will darken the wood a bit. Ammonia will kill everything, and takes about 12 hours. You can also fumigate the pile with a "bug bomb", though this may not be effective against already-laid eggs. Finally, you can make a plastic bag out of sheeting and double-sided tape, and enclose some oxygen scavengers (chemical packs). After about two weeks, anything living in the pile will be dead, including eggs.

[Eric Bong]

Ok, here is some more detail. When I purchased the lumber the guy had is flat stacked (no stickers) in an 8' by 8' pile by 3'. The lumber had lots of dirt, mouse poop, and chewed up walnuts shells, but, there was zero fresh sawdust. All of the wood is dark grey on the outside and the insect holes are the same dark color. That would lead me to believe that the bugs are no longer active, i hope.

Also the wood was kiln dried before he stacked it in the barn for a decade.