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Carpenter Ant Damage Repair

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  • Carpenter Ant Damage Repair

    While out on my front patio this past week, I noticed what looked like a small paint flake on the upper flashing of the overhang. I discovered the paint flake was a hole into a carpenter ant nest. I ripped out the flashing as well as all of the damaged/rotted wood. There are two planks that run from the front post to the side of the house. I assume these are load bearing. One of the planks was damaged enough that the remainder of it will definitely need to be removed. The other is in decent shape. The damage/rot doesn’t appear to extend to far ends of planks, so I don’t believe the ants made it to other sections of the overhang.

    My questions are:

    1. How long are the planks? Do they extend into the house to provide load bearing for the second floor?
    2. Not knowing the building codes, can/should the planks be removed without worrying about the any structural issues that may cause inside the house?

    Any suggestions would be much appreciated.


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  • #2
    Can you take a picture from a little further back, showing the front of the house with the problem area.
    Little about a lot and a lot about a little.
    Every day is a learning day.

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    • #3
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ID:	87293Thanks for the reponse. Here are two other photos further back:

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      • #4
        I doubt it's load bearing, you would need to look up inside the opening and see if anything is sitting on those damaged pieces, just to make sure. They won't go far past the front of the brick wall probably no more than 10".
        The issue you will have is getting them out and new ones in, it's not going to be an easy task, you will have to cut them out in pieces and man handle them out of the brick work, they will be nailed onto the house framing behind the brickwork.
        If you look with a flash light inside the hole on the house side you probably will be able to see just how they are attached, Usually they are not tied directly to the house framing, usually they are sitting on a ledger board that is nailed to the house framing. The other end is sitting on the post or nailed into the beam that spans the front of the porch.
        No matter how you look at it, if your looking to replace this it is not a job for an amateur and should be repaired by a contractor with framing experience.

        It's really looks like it's just the exterior 2 x that is damaged and it's doesn't look all that bad, can you see what size the beams are ( 2 x ? ) and try to measure how many inches the damage is, depending on just how much damage there is , there may be no real reason to go to the trouble repairing it.
        Little about a lot and a lot about a little.
        Every day is a learning day.

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