I’ve recently collected several hundred board feet of 80-100 year old barnwood. Mostly oak and pine. It came right off the barn, so I know it has some insects living in it. I’m looking for suggestions on treating the wood to eliminate pests, I’ve seen some small white larva about 1/4″ long in some of the pine. Some of the wood is 6″x8″ so whatever you suggest has to go deep. I’ve thought about tenting the wood and setting off one of those “insect bombs”, but I’m not sure that is stong enough.
I appreciate your suggestion, I’d really like to make sure the wood is clean before I move it into my woodshed.
Thanks
Rich S.
Vinton Va.
Replies
Hi Rich,
You are correct to be concerned with bringing buggy wood into your shop. When I worked in a community shop in college, there was an incident when a student brought in greenwood for turning that was full of what I later found out to be powder post beetles. After a few weeks it ended up infested the entire wood pile.
Unfortunately, I don't have any story about how we solved the problem. I've never heard a definitive answer to this question. After some digging, I found this article on our Web site, which I suggest your read.
In short, the author says that the best way to kill bugs in wood is to kiln dry it for more than 3 hours. The heat kills all traces.
His second recommendation is to use a pesticide called lindane, but I did a quick Google search and found that it has been banned in 52 countries and may not even be available for purchase in the U.S. anymore.
Finally, the author recommends tenting the wood pile, as you mentioned, but cautioned against the safety and cost involved.
Please keep us posted on your progress, I'd be very interested to hear how you ultimately solve the problem. I'll also do some more investigating and post any results I find.
Regards,
Matt Berger
Hi Rich,
Today I spoke with a woodworker up in Maine named Michael Perkins who specializes exclusively in building furniture with reclaimed barn wood. He had some sage advice about buggy wood: avoid it.
"Bug damage is one of the first things I look at when salvaging wood," he said, adding that he'll usually pass on wood with signs of bugs, or cut those sections off and take the rest.
He also recounded a recent visit to a client who had some furniture he built from a downed barn in Pennsylvania. On the ground, next to a desk, was a small pile of fine wood dust, which was a clear indication that the wood used for the desk was home to powder post beetles.
The only solution he recommended was to kiln dry the wood with a homemade kiln. We've got a few articles on that topic on this site so you'll know where to look if you decide to follow that advice.
Matt
Matt,
Many thanks for your efforts in finding a solution for me. I am beginning to think that the best solution would be to kiln dry it as you suggested. I was also thinking that if I used any strong pesticides, I am sure there could be residual chemicals left in the wood which would be released into the air when I started milling the wood. I obviously don't want to breathe that.
The amount of insect damaged wood is rather small, but I think it has great potential, so it is worth some effort to salvage. It is probably a good idea for me to construct a small, simple kiln since I have accumulated several hundred board feet of barn wood, and I would feel better if I treat all of the wood as I use it, just to be safe.
Again, thanks to you and Michael for your replies and if I find any anternate solutions I will certainly let you know. But for now, I guess my new, next project is drying kiln!
Rich S
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