# Small sawdust trail on garage wall. Ant or termite?



## nhukhue (Sep 15, 2019)

I just found these 3, 4 dust trails with small holes on my garage walls.

Are They sawdust pushed out by ants? The trails are pretty short. Longest one is just an inch. The holes are tiny. Size of push pin or 2-3 times bigger.
My garage is extremely hot these days, above 80 degrees most of the times. Where I live, Northern of VA, it is always dry and never humid. It is hot in summer, cold in winter, cool in Spring and Fall inside and outside. So I don't think it is termites. Maybe ants? Outside the opposite site is also dry. There are no signs of ants in the garage, in the house or outside of the wall. I have been spreading Amdro outside, around the house for last 4-5 years, and checking every month.
Let me know what you think. Thanks.
Khue


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## DerfIV (Sep 12, 2019)

Rather than take the guess of some guy online I'd call an exterminator and show them. The penalty for guessing wrong is severe - your house falls down. Oh, and insurance doesn't cover "lack of maintenance" which is what they will call it because that's what it is.

We just went through that process about a year ago, we'd already had a contract with a pest control co. for another issue and called them for an insect swarm. Turned out to be termites. I've been living in SF houses for all of my life except for a few years in the 1970's and had never seen that issue until then. So we got lucky, caught it early and no damage. That can be found anyway.

Some may be suspicious/cynical about pest control companies, and to be sure there are some bad actors out there. But again, guessing wrong is a bad thing too.


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## hkstroud (Mar 17, 2011)

https://www.orkin.com/stinging-pests/bees/carpenter-bee


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## nhukhue (Sep 15, 2019)

Yes I saw those bees around, outside my garage. I have killed several of them.thanks for the pointer.i saw the sawdust on my fence post that they excavated. will dig in more.


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## BayouRunner (Feb 5, 2016)

That’s termites in my opinion. Once they show up like that the damage is pretty extensive behind the sheetrock. Hopefully the damage is local to just that area. I’ve had that battle a few times over the years on different properties. I would look for a small mud trail like that up the side of the building. They really like to come in it the building where they can’t be seen. In a corner of if the dirt is too high around a foundation


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

nhukhue said:


> I just found these 3, 4 dust trails with small holes on my garage walls.
> 
> Are They sawdust pushed out by ants? The trails are pretty short. Longest one is just an inch. The holes are tiny. Size of push pin or 2-3 times bigger.
> My garage is extremely hot these days, above 80 degrees most of the times. Where I live, Northern of VA, it is always dry and never humid. It is hot in summer, cold in winter, cool in Spring and Fall inside and outside. So I don't think it is termites. Maybe ants? Outside the opposite site is also dry. There are no signs of ants in the garage, in the house or outside of the wall. I have been spreading Amdro outside, around the house for last 4-5 years, and checking every month.
> ...


I think that's termites, too. 

I'd run to the phone and have a pro come out and look.

Here in California, we have "dry wood" termites that leave dust like that, but have small colonies, with relatively minimal damage.

As @BayouRunner and @DerfIV point out, termites where you are make nests in the ground, and can cause much much greater damage. I'm from Ohio and Pennsylvania way back in the day, so I've seen what you're talking about too.

I'd have it checked pronto and tell us what they find, good or bad. False alarms are better than real ones, especially real ones gone unheeded till disaster is unavoidable.


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