Question
QUESTION: Six months ago I found a small fine grey granular pile behind my washer and dryer along the baseboard.(perhaps 2 inches long) Now I see three such piles about a foot apart on my tiled concrete floor. Outside wall is stucco with blacktop on ground. I did put a vent in the crawl space overhead last winter because of moisture. Could that be the problem and how do I fix it.

ANSWER: Tom,

A couple of questions - where do you live (city, state) and where is the concrete floor in relation to the original pile behind the washer? Post a follow up.

Jack DeAngelis
http://www.livingwithbugs.com



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QUESTION: I live in PA 1 hour north of Phila. on an acre lot with woods on two sides the closest being about 30' to the side of that room.I'm in a rancher on a concrete slab. I'm thinking termites.Is there any home remedy?

ANSWER: There's only one termite that makes these kinds of debris piles (drywood termites) and it does not occur in your area (this is why I asked where you live). The next question is - if you remove the piles how long does it take for new material to appear? What is directly above where the piles are? Post a follow up. If you are curious take a look at this page about drywood termites http://www.livingwithbugs.com/drywood_termite.html that includes a distribution map (red area).

Jack DeAngelis



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QUESTION: There's really nothing but baseboard and blank wall over two of them and a window halfway up the wall on the other one. I cleaned one up about 6 months ago and didn't notice anymore when I put an ac unit in that window the beginning of June.

Answer
The only thing I can suggest is to clean up the piles (save some of the material) and see how long it takes for new material to appear. There are only two insects in your area that produce this kind of debris - carpenter ants and powderpost beetles. If the house is new (< 3 years old) a third possibility is horntail wood wasp but in this case you would notice a rather large hole (1/4"-1/2") in the wall above these piles. If the material is a fine powder then the likely cause is powderpost beetles if the material is course like sawdust then carpenter ants. Here's an article about powderpost beetles http://www.livingwithbugs.com/powderpost_beetles.html with pictures and a description of damage. Here's an article about carpenter ants http://www.livingwithbugs.com/carpenter_ants.html as well.

If you want to post an additional follow up and are blocked by the system start a new post under a new subject line. Sometimes AllExperts blocks multiple follow ups.

Jack DeAngelis