06-25-2009, 05:57 AM
Thank you for the information Rob. Fortunately the pole house we are building specifies bolting the poles on the top of poured concrete piers so the poles are not actually buried or in contact with the ground. It would indeed be a bad thing if termites went after the very poles that hold the entire house up! I am pretty sure it would be at best extremely difficult to replace one or more of these things.
Tim at Pole Houses says that the Douglas Fir poles they specify have been very successful in Hawaii for 20+ years (I hope a lot more but this is the history he knows). We are considering upgrading to Ohia poles for looks and added durability. They are sourced on the big island and are not a great deal more expensive. They do ship them from TBI to Oregon and then back however so we are not a big fan of that (the carbon footprint increases dramatically).
-Blake
http://www.theboysgreatescape.blogspot.com/
Tim at Pole Houses says that the Douglas Fir poles they specify have been very successful in Hawaii for 20+ years (I hope a lot more but this is the history he knows). We are considering upgrading to Ohia poles for looks and added durability. They are sourced on the big island and are not a great deal more expensive. They do ship them from TBI to Oregon and then back however so we are not a big fan of that (the carbon footprint increases dramatically).
-Blake
http://www.theboysgreatescape.blogspot.com/