[Greenbuilding] [BULK] Re: Using trees felled onsite in building process

[Bruce Donelson]

There's pretty good information on powder post-like beetles here:
http://www.pestcontrolcanada.com/powder_post_beetles.htm

A number of years ago however, when we needed to know how to handle
evidence of beetle infestation I checked on the best way to do
it.  Was told pretty authoritatively that boron or tim-bor is not
effective, that the wood needs to be fumigated by folks with
licences, which, if you have only a few boards or beams is
possible.   We had many hundreds of feet of wood however, so we took
a different tack: it is also known that the beetles will not
re-infest wood that is 'lacquered', so several coats of acrylic or
similar material should take care of the problem.  I would definitely
not use any wood that has evidence of a large infestation.  The
critters particularly like the sap wood and it is easy to saw off
this part of a board or beam.

Powder post beetles are not particulary tolerant of high temperatures. If
your wood is in a pile, you can sticker it and bring it up to about 140
degrees F for a few hours. That will kill off the powder post beetles. The
wood has to get that hot all the way through, of course. It worked well for
some cherry I was working with.

Bruce Donelson
A Better Builder