Termites Please help

16 years ago

I acquired a bunch of treated 6 ft 4x4 posts that were once used in a fence....The posts themselves are intact (except for a bunch of nails that I did not remove yet) and appear to be solid (appearance wise) but they had small sections of wood that was the railing of the fence still attached to the posts when I got them...

as I was removing the pieces of wood I discovered that the many of the railing pieces were infested with termites the wood used, appears to be just normal 2x4 lumber. after close examination of the posts themselves, they do not seem to be infested....

but here is my question....

Once the infested wood is removed, is there a likihood that the treated wood could also be damaged and I'm just not seeing it?

Secondly, can termites survive outside in the open...many of these were brushed off on the ground...what I'd be afraid of is that they could somehow get into the wood on an our outbuildings deck.

Is that possible?

and if so, what can be done to kill them?

I planned to use the posts for some potting benches that will be going in my new greenhouse....

is it worth the risk? (they were free and I got like 25 of them)

If this is not the most appropriate forum, please let me know, I assumed I might find some experts/professionals who are much more famiar with handling wood and consequently wood pest problems.

thanks!

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Comments (6)

brickeyee
16 years ago
Treated wood kills termites if they try to eat it.
Jon1270
16 years ago
What Brick is saying is that your deck is most likely made of treated lumber, and perfectly safe from the little buggers. Similarly, the posts of the fence are probably also treated wood; it's relatively challenging to find untreated 4x4s.
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rjinga
Original Author
16 years ago
thank you for responding, that makes me feel alot better about the usability of these posts... I know for certain that they are treated, some of them have the little tag from where they were bought still stapled to them.....

The deck I was referring to is actually a platform that a small metal storage shed sits on top of...I am not certain about what it is made from....I would hope that whoever did build it used treated lumber, since it would be exposed to the elements.

In regards to termites just being stirred from their wood homes and now being exposed to the environment..on the ground etc...will they just die? Or should I try to spray around this area where I was working and where they probably fell?
Jon1270
16 years ago
I wouldn't react to termites as if they were nuclear waste or an oil spill in the arctic. Chances are, if they were going to thrive there, they would already be there.
rjinga
Original Author
16 years ago
Do you understand that they were NOT there UNTIL I introduced them by bringing this material home...I just dont want to create a problem by being haphazard about it.

SOOOO, I just needed to know if they would survive and what abilities they may have to survive. If they would automatically find a place for shelter/food/etc. IF this is true, then by all practical purposes, they could get into wood buildings etc on my property.

I guess I better just do my own research on them. Thanks for your help.
brickeyee
16 years ago
Normally only the queen can start or renew a colony.
Without a queen they will all die in short order.