Need Help on ideas for front porch repair

[Johnny Johnson]

Carpenter Ant damage..
Around 2008 we had a front porch with a roof built to replace the deck on the front of the house. The PVC handrails were white and roof support columns were painted white to match. The band around the outsude of the porch was treated 2X10 and I put cedar 1X7 boards on it. I also painted them white. A few weeks back I noticed where the boards went together on the horizontal seams there were places where the cedar was rotting. I took a screwdriver and starting digging around as I was afraid the 2x10 underneath might also be rotting. A ton of very small carpenter ants came out. After that I got my tools out and removed all the cedar band. (porch is 10X40) There were ants everywhere. I had used Cox treated 2X6 for the floor. Also since The front of the house faces the West the summer heat here in NC can get in the high 90's. I put two pocket holes per board on the 2X10 band to keep the floor boards from cupping on the ends. That worked nice and kept the ends from cupping and remained flat. Once the cedar band was off I noticed that the ants had build nest and layed eggs in a lot of the pocked holes. I plan to fill the pocket holes with Lexel to stop future nest building.

Now I am faced with what to replace the cedar band with. I have been told that I should have used a solid hide stain rather than paint so the ceder could breath. I think the ants eat the wood and once the holes got large enough rain water got into the wood and set up the rot. Terminix came out and sprayed for the ants.

I am thinking about going back with treated 1X7 but do not know whether to paint or use solid hide stain. What would you guys go back with?

I am going to call Terminix to see if they will cover and cost since I have had them here many times to spray for ants.

Thanks for any help with material, paint or stain questions
Johnny

 

[Jeff]

A few pictures will help describe what you are working on.

 

[Skymaster]

7+ Ingenious Ways to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants Bora Care Wood & Termite Treatment (1 Gallon) | Planet Natural they treat fresh cut wood with this,
Are you just butting up to the next plank? if so try shiplapping joints and caulk them

 

[chris_goris]

carpenter ants are large, are you sure theyre not termites?

 

[Johnny Johnson]

I am going to attempt to attach some pics very shortly

 

[Johnny Johnson]

You will need to zoom in as much as possible on the two pocket holes to see the ants and eggs. The hole on the right at the bottom of hole will show the ant the best.

 

[Johnny Johnson]

 

[Johnny Johnson]

 

[Johnny Johnson]

I am open for suggestions on what material and method of repair. I airnailed the cedar on and now have to remove the nails. Terminix was here two days ago and told me to wait two days for safety after he sprayed before starting my cleanup of nails and cleaning the 2X10. The new material will need to go up flush to the top of the deck boards and hide the ends of them. I hope you guys will come up with a method for me to repair and make it white to match the other white parts. I have checked on PVC but not much luck. That was my first choice
Thanks
Johnny

 

[Skymaster]

Did you check home depot? usually has planks, might even have the 4x sheets Veranda 1/2 in. x 12 in. x 8 ft. Reversible White Cellular PVC Fascia (3-Piece per Box)-827002000 - The Home Depot

 

[Brantnative]

After 30+ years of home ownership in NC I'll never use anything but PVC or Hardieboard (cement board) for exterior trim. A bit more expensive but worth it in repeat repair costs and peace of mind.

 

[Johnny Johnson]

I'm looking into the PVC at Home Depot. Only thing is if there is not a store in Mt. Airy I would have to got to Statesville or Winston Salem. The Virus is to bad for me to take a chance. I live in the Elkin/Jonesville area and I am 68, my wife has bad COPD. May just have to wait till the virus slows down or have it shipped. Lowes is about 15 min from me but I dont think they have the 12 in sheets..will check.
Thanks
Johnny

 

[Gofor]

Although I see a lot of ants (and those do not appear to be carpenter ants), I do not see any wood damage to the porch structure. If the cedar was rotting, you may want to go with treated boards (or maybe cypress?) or redesign to let the moisture escape. As for paint, I have found that 2 coats of exterior acrylic latex paint is much superior to oil based, especially if you can only access one side of the wood. It is also longer lasting than solid stain. However, I have never used it on cedar. (The oil based will finally cure very hard, and will start cracking with temp changes. Then, when moisture weeps in the cracks, it starts to flake and peel). Regardless, I would be diligent at caulking any and all seams to prevent re-entry of moisture. Because its messy and time consuming, most rarely take the time to do a really good job on exterior woodwork, and pay for it with moisture damage. When I had my wood sided 16 x 24 shed built 5 years ago, I used about a full case (12 tubes) of caulk sealing it before painting. It is holding up very well so far, despite not being made of the most expensive materials.

I think those may be acrobat ants, and if so, are not eating the wet wood, but taking advantage of the wet conditions to make their nesting area. The pocket holes presented ready-made cavities for the egg- laying.

 

[walnutjerry]

I'm looking into the PVC at Home Depot. Only thing is if there is not a store in Mt. Airy I would have to got to Statesville or Winston Salem. The Virus is to bad for me to take a chance. I live in the Elkin/Jonesville area and I am 68, my wife has bad COPD. May just have to wait till the virus slows down or have it shipped. Lowes is about 15 min from me but I dont think they have the 12 in sheets..will check.
Thanks
Johnny

I think if you order online they will ship to your house. At least they did for me since the item was not in stock in my hometown-----the order was for light fixtures BTW and there was NO shipping charge.

 

[Skymaster]

taking a hard look at those ants, they do not look to carpenter ants, they are nesting in the pocket holes, but no sign of them actually damaging the wood, carpenters make lots of tunnels thru wood. These critters are too small. carpenters are all black and big and bulky like lineman, these appear to have 2 colors and frail looking

 

[Jeff]

Why do anything with the exposed 2 x 10 header board shown in your pictures other than fill the pocket holes with Lexel?

If that's still too unsightly try exterior white latex primer and paint on the face of the 2 x 10. That's probably what many house painters would recommend. The treated 2 x 10 is at least 12 years old so there shouldn't be a lot of residual moisture in the wood causing problems with primer/paint adhesion.

Painting will be cheap and easy to try compared to the other alternatives that you're considering.

 

[JimD]

I think you are describing a cosmetic covering of the PT with cedar. It the treated wood has pocket screws that would show, that makes sense. You could try filling the pocket holes with bondo, sanding, and painting, however. PT wood takes paint pretty well, once it dries out. But it typically also cracks some while drying so it might be hard to get a nice looking paint job.

I have some old wood siding on one room of my house. It is also on a couple fake dormers. I stripped the boards that were not on the dormers, primed them, and painted them last year. But the dormers are in a steep pitched area of the roof and I don't want to do that much work up there. If I cannot scrape any loose paint off, prime and repaint I plan to use Hardeplank. I am mentioning this because I think it is a good choice for something decorative because it takes paint well and I am pretty sure insects would leave it alone. You could easily paint it white and the paint should hold up better than if it was wood.

I don't see 12 inch wide Hardie Trim on Lowe's website but they do have 4x8 sheets of siding for less than $40. You should be able to rip that down to the width you need. Not sure what sort of tools are required working with this stuff, however. They also have 12 inch wide by 12 foot long lap siding. It is about 3/8 thick like the big sheets of siding. The trim boards are 3/4, however, which might work better for you if you can find them.

It's different stuff but I have no problem buying interior trim at a local lumber yard that deals mostly with contractors. It's significantly cheaper than the home center. You might be able to get the 3/4 Hardie Trim at a lumber yard if you have one nearby.

 

[Johnny Johnson]

Thanks Jim...I will check out your ideas at Blevins Lumber in Wilkesboro.