insects

[solda8]

Something is chewing the wood on the baseboard of my panelling in the basememt. They made a large hole and and leave what looks like sawdust. I can’t see what is doing it. I clean it up and a few days later I see somemore sawdust. I had water seeping into the foundation for a couple of years, but that has been repaired. What could be doing the damage and how can I correct it?

[Unregistered-Ant Killer]

That could be carpenter ants, termites, carpenter bees or any other wood destroying organism. A few more details would be helpful. Is the house on a slab? Any sort of dead bugs left behind to help identify what they are? Have you tried looking around after dark as sometimes they are most active then? If you have that much visible damage I’d get something done quickly and do an extensive inspection for hidden damage.

[Giddaymate]

Hi,
If it turns out its not insects, it could be a Rat or a Mouse. I had a Rat chew its way into my home and even chew my antenna cable right to the copper wire in the middle and then it started the chew though the power cable, likely I got to it in time. I first became suspicious when I was up late one night, everyone was asleep so it was quite and I heard noises behind the pantry.

Have a look around for rat droppings. Place some rat baits around and check to see if it’s been eaten. If it is rat or mouse, for now you can plug the hole with steel wool, (rats hate eating though steel wool) till you can get around to doing a permanent job.

Regards from Noelene

[Author]

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