What Did We Do After Termites Ate Our Wall?

As our window and door installer went about preparing to install a door and a window on this wall in our Florida renovation, he reported back to me, “I don’t like how that window hung.  It didn’t feel right.”  As he explored under the tarpaper, much to our surprise, there wasn’t much wall left. 

It turned out that the floor joist up in the corner had also been eaten. While the wall was opened up, I asked if they could find a way to work a new joist up in there.  To his credit, he was able to make it look easy; he sistered the joist to the existing good wood.  If you look carefully, the only good solid wood was below the window; there are a couple of nice boards down there, so it wasn’t immediately apparent that we had this much damage.  

What did we do? Well, we used pressure treated wood and the guys re-framed the wall.  We removed the old insulation and applied Termador to prevent new termites.  In a previous post, we’d had the house tented, as well.  Going forward, we used rock-wool, which is fire and termite resistant insulation, made from basalt.  We are also using cement board siding, which is not a major food group for termites. 

Below is a photo of the joist in the floor upstairs.  That joist is supposed to be resting on the board to the bottom.  Termites ate the lower segment of that board, leaving the nails behind, hanging in air.   

We sistered in a new joist before we closed up the wall, and finished with Hardie plank siding.  

This house is now treated by professionals, and the materials hardened up to prevent future termite infestations.  In some parts of the country it is said, "There are two types of houses: those that have had termites and those that *will* have termites."  I'm hoping to have termites in the rear view mirror!