08-23-2008, 05:21 AM
It is never to late to change ;~) There are two ways of looking at this. Eliminate all wood or look at termites as one of the things in your house that needs maintenance.
In our remodel we are trying to absolutly limit the amount of wood we use (even in the trim...), but still have some. It is not easy to absolutly eliminate wood, as it is a main construction material... (have yet to see a house that has absolutely no wood anywhere)
We are also trying to look at each material we use, and trying not to use products that will mold or mildew. All wood we use we borate treat after all cuts (even have a syringe to treat predrills! Oh, another thing to worry about... nails & screws tend to rust out here... SS is used alot, at an additional cost... be aware that even galvanizing has issues here...) We allow all boards to dry then treat with a mold/mildew preserver.... I doubt that anyone would hire someone to do this (the manpower cost alone!) but it is what we have decided is important.
Even with all of this attention to detail, we realize that there will be some termite potential in our house. We have it inspected annually & treated as needed...
In our remodel we are trying to absolutly limit the amount of wood we use (even in the trim...), but still have some. It is not easy to absolutly eliminate wood, as it is a main construction material... (have yet to see a house that has absolutely no wood anywhere)
We are also trying to look at each material we use, and trying not to use products that will mold or mildew. All wood we use we borate treat after all cuts (even have a syringe to treat predrills! Oh, another thing to worry about... nails & screws tend to rust out here... SS is used alot, at an additional cost... be aware that even galvanizing has issues here...) We allow all boards to dry then treat with a mold/mildew preserver.... I doubt that anyone would hire someone to do this (the manpower cost alone!) but it is what we have decided is important.
Even with all of this attention to detail, we realize that there will be some termite potential in our house. We have it inspected annually & treated as needed...