Hi,
I own a fairly typical single story track house in the SF Bay Area. It was built in the 50's and is about 1200 sq ft. The floors have always squeaked but over the last couple years it has gotten worse. I had a termite guy come in and wouldn't you know it...=) Apparently the subterranean termites are having a field day. He said spraying all contact points with the ground (as opposed to tenting) would fix the termites. The damage is another matter.
The crawl space under the house is difficult to navigate (I've been under there a fair amount of time). It's the typical 2 1/2 - 3ft vertical space with assorted construction debris and one small access opening in the closet floor of the master bedroom. The floor is oak hardwood with a tongue and groove lath (sp?) subfloor. Underneath that in the crawl space, there is fiberglass insulation between the joyces with plastic netting holding it all up (which acts like an incredibly annoying spider web that snags tools when you are trying to crawl around down there).
My questions are (assuming there is a fair amount of termite damage to the lath subfloor) what is the best way to proceed to fix the termite damage? If I have to rip up all the floors then I may just live with it and credit some future buyer with some money to fix the problem. If the damage is at a medium level where some boards need to be replaced but most are okay then...
- Do I have the termite people come in and spray before I start repairs?
- Do I take all the insulation out/do repairs first THEN spray? I don't really relish working down there AFTER the chemicals have been applied.
- What do I do with the fiberglass insulation? Drag it all out from under the house, through the master bedroom and out (only to put it all back in again)? Does the insulation need to be replaced with something else after I do all this?
- Is it even possible/worthwhile to fix subfloor termite damage without ripping up all the nice 1950's hardwood?
- Who do I call to do all this work? I'm thinking it is more than this part-time DIY guy can tackle with another full-time job and a family living in the house.
Thanks in advance for any advice you may have...
:john
I own a fairly typical single story track house in the SF Bay Area. It was built in the 50's and is about 1200 sq ft. The floors have always squeaked but over the last couple years it has gotten worse. I had a termite guy come in and wouldn't you know it...=) Apparently the subterranean termites are having a field day. He said spraying all contact points with the ground (as opposed to tenting) would fix the termites. The damage is another matter.
The crawl space under the house is difficult to navigate (I've been under there a fair amount of time). It's the typical 2 1/2 - 3ft vertical space with assorted construction debris and one small access opening in the closet floor of the master bedroom. The floor is oak hardwood with a tongue and groove lath (sp?) subfloor. Underneath that in the crawl space, there is fiberglass insulation between the joyces with plastic netting holding it all up (which acts like an incredibly annoying spider web that snags tools when you are trying to crawl around down there).
My questions are (assuming there is a fair amount of termite damage to the lath subfloor) what is the best way to proceed to fix the termite damage? If I have to rip up all the floors then I may just live with it and credit some future buyer with some money to fix the problem. If the damage is at a medium level where some boards need to be replaced but most are okay then...
- Do I have the termite people come in and spray before I start repairs?
- Do I take all the insulation out/do repairs first THEN spray? I don't really relish working down there AFTER the chemicals have been applied.
- What do I do with the fiberglass insulation? Drag it all out from under the house, through the master bedroom and out (only to put it all back in again)? Does the insulation need to be replaced with something else after I do all this?
- Is it even possible/worthwhile to fix subfloor termite damage without ripping up all the nice 1950's hardwood?
- Who do I call to do all this work? I'm thinking it is more than this part-time DIY guy can tackle with another full-time job and a family living in the house.
Thanks in advance for any advice you may have...
:john