Log Home Insects

Signs of wood ingesting log home insects at work on your home is an important thing to be on the look out for. Be looking for any signs of them while you are doing your log home inspection. They might be at work and you don't even realize it.

There is a variety of them to look for and each one leaves a tell tale sign that they are at work or have been working.

POWDER POST BEETLES for instance will bore a round hole into the logs. It will look like a normal hole but if you look closely you might see a small amount of powder (wood residue) around the edge of the hole. This tell you that the beetles are actively working.

TERMITES on the other hand when they are working leave what looks like saw dust in the area where they are working.

There are many more wood ingesting log home insects to worry about then just the ones mentioned above. You can eliminate the worry of them inhabiting your home by simply applying an insecticide to the exterior.

Some of these products are mixed right in with the stain so that it is applied with the stain. Others need to be applied by themselves before the staining is done. You need to allow this type of insecticide time to be absorbed deep into the wood before applying the stain over it.

Neither one of these types is designed to kill the log home insects instantly upon contact. The insects need to ingest some of the treated wood fiber and then take it back to the colony to share. In this manner you are killing more than just one at a time. You are getting right to the source of the INFESTATION.

Both types of products need to be applied to raw wood for them to work properly. They shouldn't be applied over an existing stain finish. The stain will act to repel the products instead of letting them work the way they were designed to.

If you are building a new log home then the application is very easy. You can use either type, just decided which type you want to use. If your log home is an existing home then you should have the old finish removed before applying an insecticide.

If you are doing some maintenance work on your home and the stain is going to be removed I would strongly suggest applying an insecticide at this time.

My log home maintenance company (Cannon Chinking) removes the stain from numerous homes every year. I would say that at least half if not more of the home owners have an insecticide applied while I am there working the home. Even if there are no signs of log home insects working they just want the peace of mind that their home is protected from them.

If you are going to have the stain removed on your home I would suggest using the process called Corn Cob Blasting. This is a dry process that will remove more of the old stain finish then using chemical strippers or power washing will.

Corn Cob Blasting is covered in it's own section.

If you are interested in applying an insecticide product to your home there is a compatibility issue to deal with. Depending on if you are using a water based or an oil based stain they will use two different types of products.

The insecticides are designed to work with either a water based stain or an oil based one. Decide which type of stain you are going to use first before you decide on which type of insecticide you are going to apply.

If you use the wrong type of product under the stain the stain won't adhere to the wood properly and will eventually peel off.

My personal preference when my company is applying an insecticide to a home is to use the type you apply before the staining is done. I feel that you get better protection from a product that is absorbed deep into the wood rather than one mixed into the stain.

I feel once the log home insects break through the stain mixed with the insecticide they are past the protection barrier. Now they have an entry point into the wood, and you could have the possible start of some maintenance issues.

Two Types of Proctection With One Product!!

The FIRST is that it is absorbed deep into the wood, it's not just laying on the top of the log with the stain.

The SECOND is that it offers two types of protection. As it is absorbed into the wood it will kill any mold, mildew and wood rot fungi spores that might be growing. You get this protection along with the insect protection.

The THIRD is that you only need to apply this product once for the life of your home. You do however have to make sure that the stain is kept in proper condition. Part of your log home maintenance is to keep the stain in proper condition anyway to keep the logs from deteriorating.

There is nothing wrong with the type that is mixed in with the stain. I just prefer the one that is applied before the staining is done. The only draw back that I know of is that you do have to wait for it to completely dry before you can stain.

I would rather wait a few days for the drying knowing that I am getting two types of protection with one application.

If you have any questions about log home insects or need more information on insecticides please fill out the Information Contact Form below.

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