Termites

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Last Tango

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2013
Messages
112
Location
USA
Vessel Name
Last Tango
Vessel Make
Ocean 40 + 2 Trawler Yacht
Sometimes I am a little slow. Is there a forum on termites and repairs after termites? I am interested in reading about what has been done for Drywood termites. Please direct me if someone knows of a forum going on about termite damage and repair.

Otherwise, if no response I would expect that there isn’t a live forum. I might start a very long or short forum myself. LOL It kind of depends on whether I can Develop an affordable and effective repair strategy for a 40-year-old trawler.
 
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Last Tango said:
Sometimes I am a little slow. Is there a forum on termites and repairs after termites? I am interested in reading about what has been done for Drywood termites. Please direct me if someone knows of a forum going on about termite damage and repair.

Otherwise, my response I would expect that there isn’t one. And I might start a very long or short forum myself. LOL It kind of depends on whether I can Develop an affordable and effective repair strategy for a 40-year-old trawler.
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I'm taking it that you are having termite problems on a 40 yr. old boat. Call an exterminator. Maybe you could get into google for diy ways to kill off those critters. Seems to me that once eradicated on a boat they would be hard pressed to establish a colony again.

Your boat must have gotten those bugs while on the hard for quite a while. Maybe brought aboard in wood furniture. Possible planted by an ex or some other vengeful person! LOL

Good Luck!
 
Cant help you for a boat, but last year I did have to deal with termites in a house. I called in a pro, and he sprayed some stuff everywhere that sorted them out. They were rapidly retreating back to their nest and 'happy' with being exposed to daylight while doing that in some cases, where they would die within a day or two.

There are several different chemicals that can be used. Best to get a pest pro to check out which species of termite you have and then select the best chemical to use.
 
A friend had termites in his boat. He called an exterminator and they tented the boat and treated it. No idea what it cost but it was better than letting the boat get eaten up.
 
Per my research and numerous dockside conversations, there are apparently only three ways to get rid of dry wood (warm climate) termites.

The first, which usually works, is to have the boat professionally tented and fumigated. Find a company that guarantees their work because multiple treatments may be required.

The second way, which always works but does nothing to prevent reinfestation, is to do the loop and leave the boat up north for a winter.

The third is to move north of the hurricane zone. But then ya gotta deal with wet wood (cold climate) termites. And cold climates.
 
I found a small area of termite damage in the caprail of my Willard 36. Had the boat tented in Mexico while she was in the water. I sort felt like it was overly expensive at around $1500 given I had a small house in Florida tented a couple years prior for $800. But Baja Naval assured me it was the best price they could find. Was the last work I had done at their yard before finding another shop. Buy it resolved the problem. Caprail has since been replaced and fiberglassed over with LPU paint

Peter
 
I purchased liquid from the local coop, it worked in the dirt house and killed all the termites but the boat is all together another monster. I would tent the boat and keep treating. We have the flying termites and they are here every year. My boat is cypress and they don't like that wood.
 
Boats don't need to be on the hard to get termites. They are a terrific problem in Hawaii. Termites will fly, and if your boat has an exposed area of deteriorated wood (doesn't have to be large, size of a half dollar will do) termites can land and establish a colony. Best way to treat is tenting, but not always needed.

We had termites on our GB36. First haulout after purchase, was doing repair on fly bridge, there was a scarf patch on side of bridge, not mirrored on other side. I removed and to my horror exposed a nest of termites! I got out the sawsall, and removed all the affected wood. Found a small area under the bridge cap rail where they apparently got in, was unpainted, and deteriorated. Replaced all. Bridge uprights were fastened to a top of cabin, and termites did not extend more than 14 inches or so in any direction. Tenting not needed, but I was positively anal after that about not giving them another invitation onto my boat!
 
Just pray you don't get polyester mites.
 
Dry wood termites will leave small piles of what looks like pepper. Tenting is the usual solution. Subterranean termites are much larger and drill tunnels and build covered tubes from a water source.

Boats usually get drywood bugs.
 
I recall a thread about a boat which was around ten or more years old. It had sat unfinished in a yard that went bankrupt for a number of years. It was never completed or sold. The termites basically gutted the interior. Someone bought it for near nothing and put a complete new interior in it. I think it turned out well.

The boat then came up for sale and the owner just couldn't get his money out of it. He now had a fifteen year old boat with basically 0 hours on it. New interior, etc. Problem was that it was a fifteen year old boat.

Sad story, I guess the moral of the story is that you need to be cautious of spending too much on an older boat.

pete
 
Before I get deeper into replies, is this the correct venue that all you kind sailors will see?

I appreciate the comments, but I want to fuel this right and I have no idea how to post stuff properly.

I will detail my attempts on drywood termites. Formosas are easy lol
. And have ready many suggestions that failed on the drywood termites

Short story. Today was only 84F. I heated the salon air temp to 147 F, and wood temp probes got to 110 for 3 hours. I understand they need 120 for 30 mins.

I will wait another month, but I like the thought if that critter dies between plys of plywood at 120 in 30 mins, then my holding them at 105 for three hours was good.

My buddy said, we can stand 100 degrees True, but not sandwiched in wood.

I f 120 mid wood temp kills dry wood termites in 15 mins., I hope my 3 hours at 105 did some good lol today
 
The problem will be that the top of the cabin may get up to that temp but what about under the decks and in the stringers? I doubt that they got near that hot. And if you don’t kill all the termites then they will just reinfest the boat.
 
See post # 2. Pay a pro! Never worry again... I think! LOL
 
I got a better deal on tent fumigation by convincing my neighbor to do his at the same time.
Open up everything, and set up fans so you’re sure that the gas (Vikane) gets in everywhere.
 
Art said:
See post # 2. Pay a pro! Never worry again... I think! LOL
Click to expand...

If you are sure they are termites of course get a pro to treat the entire boat. They may want to tent the boat. Bite the bullet and just get a pro.
Capture a half dozen to show them
Just because they are swamping on the outside of your boat does not mean they found a home.
 
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I thought termites lived and nested in the ground, not in the wood they are consuming? Or are there different types of termites? I thankfully have limited experience with them.
 
Down south, dry wood termites (different than subterranean)....are a PIA because they can reinfest the day after you spend a fortune to tent and stay out of the house while tented.

I haven't heard of a lasting treatment...has someone invented one?
 
psneeld said:
Down south, dry wood termites (different than subterranean)....are a PIA because they can reinfest the day after you spend a fortune to tent and stay out of the house while tented.

I haven't heard of a lasting treatment...has someone invented one?
Click to expand...

We had our 2200 sq ft beach-house tented about 15 yrs ago; it was a 1958 shake roof. Since then we had new composite roof put on about 10 years ago. No sign of termite reinfestation, but, clear signs of previous infestation from the 15 years previous... before the tenting.

Also have another house [the one we've lived in since the 60's] that had an infestation begin on one end of the gable roof. This time it was not tented [about 20 yrs ago]. We found a couple of guys that did "orange oil" injections into the area. Our finding of termites thereafter stopped. July 25, 2015 a 200 yr old oak tree collapsed onto the house. We were in a hotel for 147 days [before house was stable enough to again occupy]. Thereafter, [once we moved back home] it took another year and a half to fully rebuild the house. A new comp roof was also accomplished. Anyway... when the old roof was removed we found no reinfestation on the roof area that had been treated 20 yrs ago. There were 20 yr old signs from the termites that the two guys with "orange oil" had eradicated.

Sooo... my point is: No doubt that termites can be eradicated.

Happy Termite-Eradication Daze! - Art :speed boat:
 
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Never heard of orange oil down here in the south east being used for termites but who knows I've lived on boats most of my life.

Just because termites don't come back doesn't mean they can't.

I've heard cases where people have tented and within a couple of years have a total re-infestation.
 
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psneeld said:
Never heard of orange oil down here in the south east being used for termites but who knows I've lived on boats most of my life.
t
Just because termites don't come back doesn't mean they can't.

I've heard cases where people have tented and within a couple of years have a total re-infestation.
Click to expand...

The two guys that put in the "orange oil" were kinda gypsy like. That "orange" name they affixed to what they injected may have been a misnomer. I do recall how very inexpensive they were... only a few hundred bucks, nearly a couple decades ago. Tent affair we did to the other house cost thousands with a lot of personal efforts.

I don't doubt that termites could reinfest. Just didn't happen to us the two times we had pros do extermination.
 
We lived in Tucson for 30 years, termites are very common there. We had a contract for a yearly service and they would retreat where they saw a reoccurrence of the termites. Yes they can and do reinfest. However that is in a house, I think that boats would be somewhat different since the boats are not in contact with the ground. The original circumstances of how the boat got infested was probably by carrying something with the termites onboard. You need to be careful what you take aboard, cardboard and the like can carry termites. Chances that a boat will get reinfested are not high.
 
Drywood termites are NOT subterranean. Nothing to do with the ground.

Drywood termites swarm and infest...they could do a boat every day if luck was against you.

From Orkin....

"How Did I Get Drywood Termites?
Drywood termites get all the moisture they need to survive and develop from humidity in the air and moisture they get from consuming the wood they eat. As a result, the drywood termites can survive without living in soil and do not construct their nests in the ground, but instead construct their nests in the dry, above ground wood they infest. The pests enter homes through exposed wood or infested items like wooden furniture.


Swarmers
Why and When They Occur
Drywood termites swarm as a means to produce a new termite colony in another location, thus expanding the termite population. As alates (swarmers) take flight, mate and lose their wings, the mated queen will find a hole or gap to enter. This becomes the location of a new termite nest where she lays eggs."
 
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psneeld said:
Drywood termites are NOT subterranean. Nothing to do with the ground.

Drywood termites swarm and infest...they could do a boat every day if luck was against you.

From Orkin....

"How Did I Get Drywood Termites?
Drywood termites get all the moisture they need to survive and develop from humidity in the air and moisture they get from consuming the wood they eat. As a result, the drywood termites can survive without living in soil and do not construct their nests in the ground, but instead construct their nests in the dry, above ground wood they infest. The pests enter homes through exposed wood or infested items like wooden furniture.


The fastest running on the dock at a YC outstations was the day a swarm of termites flew nearby. One of the wooden boat owners sounded the alarm and to a man all the woodies left in a rush.

Swarmers
Why and When They Occur
Drywood termites swarm as a means to produce a new termite colony in another location, thus expanding the termite population. As alates (swarmers) take flight, mate and lose their wings, the mated queen will find a hole or gap to enter. This becomes the location of a new termite nest where she lays eggs."
Click to expand...

The fastest running on the dock at a YC outstation occurred when someone spotted a swarm of termites and sounded the alarm.. To a man, all the wooden boat owners ran to their boats and were gone in a flash. You would have though you were at Le Mans and heard "gentlemen start your engines".
 
twistedtree said:
I thought termites lived and nested in the ground, not in the wood they are consuming? Or are there different types of termites? I thankfully have limited experience with them.
Click to expand...

Have seen lots of boats infested here. Even the fiberglass hulled sailboat stored in the wet slip behind my house had its wooden innards gutted by termites.
 
I am getting cabin air temps up to 145°F. I have electronic probes drilled him and wise in the plywood and beams measuring internal wood temperatures. I need to wait another week or two until we have 95° weather and sunshine. Then I should be able to get the word core to 120° for a couple of hours
 
Just tent it and be done with it. When I did mine, I also finally got rid of those pesky sugar ants that I had battled for years.

58AEAF56-60D8-4580-ACF5-4C3A65DC1914.jpeg
 
An update on the termite situation on the Last Tango

First, she is a 1980 Ocean Yachts 40 + 2 Trawler Yacht.

I purchased her in 2012 from a friend who used her a lot, locally in the Pensacola area. I have put about 8500 NM on her since then. Yet, I haven't been anywhere out of state since 2017.

I discovered the termite damage while oiling the teak veneer in the main salon. I had at least two, and possibly three types of termites. I saw some recommendations on exterminators. The Formosa termites are easily killed and eliminated, but not drywood termites. You cannot spray, soak or fog drywood termites. You remove all the wood that has been affected,

Long story short, I found an article that said if I could maintain wood CORE temps of 120 F for 20 mins, it would kill all drywood termites.
 
So the obvious solution is to start a good hot fire in the boat?
You’d have to heat the interior of the boat for a long time in order to get the required temp on the inside of all the wood in the boat.
Some of that wood is covered with multiple layers of fiberglass, and a lot of it is inaccessible, so it’s impossible to guarantee that a heat treatment is complete.
If you don’t kill all the bugs and their next of kin, you’re wasting your time.
And reinfestation is a distinct possibility no matter how thorough the extermination.
Tent fumigation is relatively easy and not all that expensive when you consider the alternatives. Plus it’s a service that usually comes with a warranty!
 
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