When performing a structural pest inspection, an inspector is likely to "sound the wood." The basic idea is two fold. One possibility is that the wood will, hence the name, "sound" different if it is damaged, hollow, soft. This is a technique that works quite well on exterior logs on log homes where you want to get an idea of their condition, without dinging them up. The other possibility is that when a piece of wood is hit, it will come apart in pieces or insect frass or live insects will be exposed. Obviously, this latter type of test, which might well physically change the look of the wood, is reserved for concealed places like the crawl space. It is not the sort of thing one would do to the siding or exterior logs -- an ice pick, the tip of an X-acto knife or something finer is better for testing in those locations. The photos below better describe the process.
The first photo is the type of hammer I use. Basically it is a mason's or a rock hammer. It is blunt at one end, for sounding, and it is like a pick at the other end for gouging, the second type of more aggressive testing described above.
The second photo is a crawl space post, seriously damaged by anobiid beetles. The fine sawdust on the pier, frass, fell out when I tapped it with the blunt end of the hammer. A dig or two with the sharp end shows just how weak the post is. It is coming apart, is powdery and is much like having the house supported on a piece of floral Styrofoam -- seriously -- and most of the posts looked like that.
The third photo is a joist that had been chewed by carpenter ants. That damage, the hole from chewing, was there already so I saw that right away. When I sounded the joist, there was a hollow sound, not that I needed to. I could see by looking that it was gone. The picture off to the side is what happened when I hit the joist with the sharp end of the hammer -- live ants working away in wood that crumbled away.
Hopefully this description will give AR members a better idea of what an inspector does, under the house, when he or she finds evidence of wood destroying organisms. By the way, the inspector should be subtle enough about his sounding, and gouging, that he or she is not also defined as a wood destroying organism. Any wood the inspector turns to crumbs was toast in the first place, as in the photos below. It was structurally dead!
Thanks for looking.
Steven L. Smith
Bellingham WA home inspections
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So, you are saying that you damaged that house with that claw hammer. I am just getting it straight for the depositon. LOL, just kidding, I love my imspector he has saved me thousands of dollars.
Dave Woodson
Dave,
In this state, with tough WDO rules, the inspector would be more likely to get in trouble for doing a lousy inspection, than for probing the wood. The WSDA requires it, obviously not in the exposed wood. In fact, here is a list from last month of inspectors who failed to meet WSDA minimum guidelines. They put out regularly the names of people they cite or fine. Getting your name on this list is something you try to avoid. There was only one structural pest inspector at the top of the list, the rest were applicators but WSDA supervises both professions.
Barbara,
Powder post beetles are different than what I was writing about. The names are often used interchangeably, but should not be. The powderpost is the Lyctid beetle. The anobiid beetle, that we have in WA state, leaves similar looking damage (to the untrained eye) but is a different pest with very different characteristics and biology. The powder post beetle, here in WA, we only see in hardwood, like hardwood flooring, trim picture frames, furniture. We see it inside. The anobiid loves damp coastal areas and crawl space lumber, the softwoods. It takes the pest five years or more years to exit wood, leaving the bb sized holes. Lyctid leaves a smaller hole. So, in theory, you rarely see anobiid exit holes in a home under about ten years of age. But I have seen them in a number of houses that age and older. In fact, mainly they are in unventilated, damp, older crawl spaces. If a house is 50 plus years, around here, it is common to see a few such holes, or maybe a lot. I have written a number of blogs on the anobiid or deathwatch beetle. Here is a link to one such article.
Anobiid beetle link