Hi. I have an investment 1965 brick ranch on unfinished basement. In the basement, there's extensive powder post beetle damage (bore holes) across all plywood subfloor, floor joists, and support beams. This was an old infestation exterminated via whole house fumigation. I have an engineer coming to inspect soon but need some dyi advice up front.
Wood appears to be all syp. The seal plate looks fine. The rim joist has a few holes but looks ok. I used the screwdriver probing technique to try to determine how much damage was actually done by the beetles. I find damage varies from area to area.
Let's say there is just 2 grades of damage:
1)Light - leaves only a small indentation of 1/8 to 1/4 inch and releases very little powder when stabbed hard with a screwdriver - structurally not perfect but feels pretty solid.
2)Heavy - breaks apart and releases lots of powder when stabbed with a screwdriver - structurally very weak.
The previous owner did nothing to light damaged areas, but did do some reinforcement to heavy damaged areas:
1) sandwiched damaged joists between new joists.
2) nailed new plywood subfloor on top of damaged subfloor, with felt paper sandwiched between.
3) added floor jacks under damaged support beams.
Trying to minimize cost and labor, but wanting to get it ready for resale, how would you address light vs heavy damage done to joists, subfloor and support beams, each respectively ?
Thank you.
Wood appears to be all syp. The seal plate looks fine. The rim joist has a few holes but looks ok. I used the screwdriver probing technique to try to determine how much damage was actually done by the beetles. I find damage varies from area to area.
Let's say there is just 2 grades of damage:
1)Light - leaves only a small indentation of 1/8 to 1/4 inch and releases very little powder when stabbed hard with a screwdriver - structurally not perfect but feels pretty solid.
2)Heavy - breaks apart and releases lots of powder when stabbed with a screwdriver - structurally very weak.
The previous owner did nothing to light damaged areas, but did do some reinforcement to heavy damaged areas:
1) sandwiched damaged joists between new joists.
2) nailed new plywood subfloor on top of damaged subfloor, with felt paper sandwiched between.
3) added floor jacks under damaged support beams.
Trying to minimize cost and labor, but wanting to get it ready for resale, how would you address light vs heavy damage done to joists, subfloor and support beams, each respectively ?
Thank you.
