How to repair floor joists attacked by borers?

[Tekapo201732]

Dear Sir/Madam: I bought an old house and found some of the floors are making squeaky noises.  I crawled through the subfloor and found some of the floor joists and floor board have bore holes caused by boerers.  My question is should I remove the carpet and fix/cut/replace the floor joists and floor with the new ones from the above floor?  Or crawl down to the subfloor and insert new floor joists along with the old ones and screw/nail together?  I am thinking it might be very difficult to insert a new floor joist between the bearer and floor board.  Any advise is appreciated.

Ieon 

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @Tekapo201732 

Are you sure they  are borers?

Sorry to here about you borers  do you have any  insect bodies? Did you take any photos of the wood and the holes in the wood. Can you pull the wood away with your hand or  flat bladed screw driver.  Also look for mud lines  up and posts etc a termite hwy dont disturb or break it if active termites seen.  Take  close ups of there body and head i Have an termite id kit that might help.

Becuase it they are live  termites we will need to address them first which  requires leaving all the timber as is for now.

Basically with termites and if you just poison the ones in the timber well you missed the main nest and they will setup eating your house in another location and  disturbing the wood also may cause them to move.

The  plan of  termite erradication is setting up bait stations where the termite take it back to the nest and it disrupts the breeding cycle and whole colony will fade away with no new births. Colony's in Australia 30 meters wide or more. We need the queen stopped.

Sorry to possibly worry you  there are soloutions.

If you have no live active pests then,  You can use a couple termite  type insecticides that  that bunnings sell also  kill other pests too not as strong as pest controllers but will last 10 years and recommended to me by  my 50 year  + veteran Entomologist

How  badly are the floor joists damaged any how? Floor sagging?  as you said the house  is old and has survived this long if the timber is still sound and can take and hold nails maybe all that is required  is lifting  re seating gluing floor boards

Or

It a lot easier to replace floor joists from the top you will need to remove floor boards any how.  Just make sure you support you house if you need to remove anything loaded bearing.

So I hope to hear all pests  not currenty active.

[EricL]

Hello @Tekapo201732

Before I offer any suggestions, would it be possible for you to post a photo of the joist and floorboards with borer holes in them? Please make sure to take a close-up and wide shot of the area. This will allow our members to assess the situation. We can then make recommendations on how to proceed.

If you need a hand posting the photos, please let me know.

Eric

[jeffzhang]

Hi @Tekapo201732,

Have you solved your problem yet? I have joist damaged as well due to water leaking, 3 of them rotted and making noise. Just wonder how did you do it? Removing floor board from the top or insert a new one underneath?

Thank you.

Jeff

[EricL]

Hello @jeffzhang 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's wonderful to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about your damaged floor joist.

From a timber repair point of view, it would be practical to remove the flooring first so that you have clear access to the damaged joist. The possibility of damaging the floor while removing the joist from the bottom is very high. In that instance should you twist or damage the flooring panels it will then force you to remove the flooring so that you can repair the broken pieces.

Would it be possible for you to post a photo of the water damaged joist? It will give our members a chance to assess the location. We can then make further recommendations on how to proceed.

If you need a hand posting the photos, please let me know.

Eric