Termites?! (help/opinions needed)

[bott]

Last night and this morning, there has been a sprinkling of fine sawdust atop of one of my fenders... curious, I may have wood-eating bugs on the loose.

The hull of the boat is made of that other, glassy-fiber stuff. But the rub rail and sheer are wood, laminated three layers thick. There is a gap in the bottom-most sheer band right above the fender with the sawdust on it and no other holes visible. One can only assume that there are bugs up in the gap and eating into the wood from there. crap.

So, I really want to kill these buggers (even being a vegatarian, don't *&^% with my boat!). My thoughts are to do one or both of these:

1) cram a bit of sponge up in the gap soaked in paint thinner or the like and try to "fume" them out.
2) smear the gap in the rail shut with a generous goober of roof patch. Trap them in there to die (either to never reproduce, or eventually suffocate).

Any thoughts on whether these would work? Or better ideas?

Attached is an diagram of the structure... for visual aid :cool:

Thanks!

http://staff.washington.edu//bott/hull.JPG

[TimH]

I would caulk them in......slimy buggars.

[Gary E]

Caulk them in and your going to have a WORSE problem.. just slamming the door on them LOCKS them in there, it wont KILL them..

Call an exterminator and either get the chemical from him or let him come see what you have and sugest a cure.

How hard is it to remove the rubrail?... I'd probably try that first.

[TimH]

they need oxygen too.

[ChrisBen]

Sawdust or droppings? Termites don't drop sawdust, they eat the wood. They may be carpenter ants. Whatever they are, they may be in the wood in other areas. Best to get an exterminator to look at it, maybe have the whole boat tented.

[bott]

sawdust... so its some sort of nontermite wood-eater then.

the boat is primarily 'glass, and there is little to no wood-to-wood access to other parts of the boat that the buggers could eat...

Plus I live aboard and am a poor grad student, so tenting the whole thing off and fumigating is really a hard pill to swallow.

[Jay Greer]

Aside from calling in an exterminator, been there, done that; it works.
Here is another alternative. if there is a freeze locker in your town, large enough to accept the boat and trailer, arrange to park it there for at least four days. Another successful approach is to seal the entire boat in visquene, suck out as much air as possible with a shop back and re-fill the bag with CO2 gas from a beverage service company. I have successfully killed powder post beetles, termites and other critters in antique furnature using these methods.
Jay

[Jay Greer]

If there is a freeze locker in your town large enough to accept the boat and trailer, park it there for at least five days. Another choice is to seal the boat in visquine, suck out the air with a shop vac and fill it with CO2 gas from a beverage service company. I have been successful with both methods. And, it is non toxic!
Jay

[tattooed john]

Why not just try the easy stuff first? Get the most horrible pressure pack insecticide that your supermarket or hardware shop sells and spray it in the hole. See if the sawdust is still coming out over the next few days. Probably only cost ten bucks or so.

[Captain Blight]

If there is a freeze locker in your town large enough to accept the boat and trailer, park it there for at least five days. Another choice is to seal the boat in visquine, suck out the air with a shop vac and fill it with CO2 gas from a beverage service company. I have been successful with both methods. And, it is non toxic!
JayBoth of those are f***in' awesome ideas. I was going to suggest a boric acid solution, but that doesn't penetrate very well.I am totally going to remember that for the future.

[boylesboats]

take an airhose with 175 psi of air going through it, clip on a air nozzle, then blast air up in there, it'll kill them and at the same time cleaning the nest gunks outta there.. And then caulk over it

[Gary E]

the boat is primarily 'glass, and there is little to no wood-to-wood access to other parts of the boat that the buggers could eat...

Plus I live aboard and am a poor grad student, so tenting the whole thing off and fumigating is really a hard pill to swallow.

Your a grad student??? You live aboard a boat that sits on a trailer???
Must be a dam big trailer, or your just a little feller...

Dont worry about it... the bugs dont eat much and by the time they get to the wood inside the boat you'l be graduated and off to a real job...

[paladin]

CO2 is expensive......tent the boat and seal well.....over and around the gunnel....buy a load of dry ice....pack it inside...lots of it....it will displace the oxygen...put a pin prick hole in top of the tent......cover all thru hulls....

[kc8pql]

the boat is primarily 'glass, and there is little to no wood-to-wood access to other parts of the boat that the buggers could eat...
Then why not just cut out the offending section of the rubrail so you can see what you've got. Keep cutting back until you find sound wood and scarf in a new piece. If it turns out that the whole rubrail is damaged, then think about tenting the boat. If you caught it early, just fix the localized damage.

[bott]

Haha... In my origional post when I said there was sawdust on the fender, I ment the rubber-bumber-keep-you-off-the-dock kind... not a trailer. :)

Thanks for the replys, tho! I think I am going to seal the area with a garbage bag and put a bug bomb or dry ice in there and see if I can't kill them that way... I can just moniter the sawdust coming out to see if they're gone.

When i got up this morning, there was a LOT of sawdust collected atop the fender... This has only been going on a few days, and they are sure on the move! :eek:

Thanks again... I'll maybe try to get some pics of my efforst.

[Jay Greer]

Both of those are f***in' awesome ideas. I was going to suggest a boric acid solution, but that doesn't penetrate very well.I am totally going to remember that for the future.
Been there, done that! Termites tend to imbed themselves beyond the surface treatments of most chemicals and pesticides. In the trade of boat building, I don't have time to "F" around! It you really want to kill those critters then go for what I suggest. Other wise, replace the wood or try waltzing around with the other suggestions. A comparison of labor and material costs should be the deciding factor.
Jay

[Vince Brennan]

Also the possibility of a borer bee (carpenter bee?). If you find a pencil eraser sized hole, that's probably the culprit.

Chuck's bag and CO2 trick is a very good one for not only insects, but groundhogs as well. Quiet, painless and very effective.

[James River Rat]

Sure they aren't carpenter bees?

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2074.html

http://unexco.com/carpbees.html

[Raka025]

Maybe it's a graduate school buddy playing a prank on you by sprinkling sawdust?

[S B]

Your lodgers have just moved in? Take a strand of wire and reeve it into the entrance as far as it will go. Chances are that the tunnels are not so complex at this stage, that you would not skewer the buggers in the process. If anything you will confirm the extent of damage.

[bott]

I seemed to have solved the problem... I tented off the area with a garbage bag and put a fogger in there. Left it for 4 hours and waited to see if any more sawdust came out.

There was none, so I sealed the hole. Mission accomplished :cool:

pics of the fume-bag-job:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/2604310261_46dcec3979.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2605139938_96f6f8a725.jpg

Thanks again all.