09/22/2026
Two things that will destroy your house and you can't even tell it's happening, water and carpenter ant damage. A customer noticed a kickboard had come loose under their French door and gave me a call. I pulled it back a bit and saw a ton of rot, but was not expecting it to be as bad as it turned out. About 15' of rim joist had either rotted out from what seeping in or was chewed thru by carpenter ants. Someone, some years past had replaced a piece of trim board on the left side of the door with a piece of PVC, the problem, they nailed it in place with a 10d nail and actually cracked it. This caused the bottom 15" or so of the board to kick out a bit and break any seal they had between the board and the door and water leaked in for years. I have found that carpenter ants seem to be where water has been getting to and it was the same case here with extensive damage from end to end. It took a bit to remove the damaged section and get it all replaced, but now that everything has been taken care of properly, the homeowners should not have to worry about this part of their house for decades to come.
