structural concerns- carpenter ants or unrelated issues

12 years ago

Our newly renovated kitchen floor is seeming a bit "off" and uneven and creakier about 8 months post-renovation, and I'm wondering if I should be concerned. we have been seeing carpenter ants around the kitchen/dining room for months - mostly a few per day in nicer weather - and the floor seems a bit saggy and creaky. We had added a second floor deck right off the kitchen, steel secured into the brick outside the second floor where we also added a kitchen. We also added a kitchen island to hold plates, pots/pans etc and didn't reinforce the floor under the new island (our architect and contractors/designer didn't suggest it and now I'm wondering if we should have).

We left our hardwood floors intact and just refinished them, and two of them seem to be separating a bit and another one is getting a bit loose.

So my concerns are, might a carpenter ant infestation be destabilizing our floor and/or could we have any structural issues from the new deck and/or new kitchen setup. I know an engineer I can call and/or our architect, or could ask a contractor or even an exterminator - but am not quite sure the best place to start

Thanks for any suggestions from you people who do structural work or might have knowledge I don't

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

Annie Deighnaugh
12 years ago
I'd be concerned...they are often attracted to rotting wood...the floor shouldn't be creaky and definitely not saggy post re mod
toxcrusadr
12 years ago
I would have a construction guy look at it first to see if the sagging or separating floor boards could have anything to do with poor engineering of the remodeling. Is the new deck is just hung off the second story or does it have some support from the ground (posts)? Things could be shifting.

Are you sure those are carpenter ants?

If so, there are good products specifically for carpenter ants. Try domyownpestcontrol . com which has a granular bait product as well as a gel bait. I used them when CA were eating the foam insulation out of a brand new garage door, and it wiped them out pronto at minimal cost.
Related Professionals
West Palm Beach General Contractors · Monroe General Contractors · Salisbury General Contractors · Charlottesville General Contractors · Clarksburg General Contractors · Torrington General Contractors · San Jose General Contractors · Dodge City General Contractors · Pocatello General Contractors · Amherst Basement Remodeling · Watertown Basement Remodeling · Pine Bluff Bathroom Remodelers · Killeen Bathroom Remodelers · Superior Bathroom Remodelers · London Bathroom Remodelers
dreamojean
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you - we did have carpenter ants and this time I hired an exterminator who put bait inside and outside. The ants were nesting in at least our window frame onto the new deck, possibly also along the kitchen wall as an area where deck met brick wasn't properly caulked

The ant exterminator said the problem wasn't there long enough to cause structural issues but could have left untreated. my architect is going to stop by next month and take a look.

The steel deck is an unusual shape - nestled into a bump-in in a brownstone rear - but has two footings and a bracket, and stairs to the lower area - I've attached a photo, the carpenter ants were nesting on the right hand side window, and we put a door onto what had been the left window
toxcrusadr
12 years ago
Great, sounds like you got the ants under control. It doesn't sound like that was causing the saggy creaky floors though, so your architect should definitely take a look.

Kinda surprised that deck is very useful, being sideways and all. Don't your drinks spill? :-]
dreamojean
Original Author
12 years ago
hmm, sideways? Must be the angle of the pic, it may be the ground I was standing on that was sideways... :)