# Wood Damage - what caused it?



## jmangiapane (Feb 20, 2020)

Hi there! I noticed what seems to be some wood damage to the soffit of my roof. Anyone have any idea what it could be? It seems to be the only part of the roof with damage. Could this be a specific type of pest?

See the image below:








Thanks in advance!


----------



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

That looks a lot like termite damage.


----------



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Looks more to me like carpenter bees to start with then the wood peckers opened up the holes to get at the larvie.


----------



## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

I'm not sure what termite damage looks like.

At first I thought it was carpenter bees. They often like to enter from below. But carpenter bees make perfectly round holes, I could not understand the long holes.
Joe's thought is very possible - woodpeckers. If you had woodpeckers up there, you would have heard them.


----------



## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Definitely carpenter bees IMO. Yes, they normally drill perfectly round holes, but I think they make chambers to place their larva in and those areas that look like skid marks are either where something tried to get to them for a quick meal or the larva chamber somehow breaks down from the moisture/excrement, etc. causing the divots. Carpenter bees seem to especially like cedar, and that wood looks like cedar in the pic.


----------



## mark sr (Jun 13, 2017)

I fight carpenter bees every year :sad:
I only see the perfectly round holes. It's rare for their tunnels to get that close to the surface but it can happen. Once the board gets that bad it needs to be replaced. If it's bees you will find round holes that they used for their entrance. Often the first tell tell sign is a round hole with fine sawdust on the ground below it.


I normally shoot sevin dust into the hole. It's very effective at killing any carpenter bees that enter or hatch in the cavity. I normally plug any holes on my house but don't bother with the ones on the barn.


----------

