The Log house Project begins........

[RoyJackson]

Yes I've been fighting them at my back porch. I have killed around 25 bees with a tennis racket. The chemicals in PT wood in my floor joists don't hinder the carpenter bees at all. I sure wish we could still buy lumber treated with the old PT chemicals. The arsenic in that stuff would probably take care of the carpenter bees.

Obed

I have read using an insecticide dust (blown into the holes) works better then a liquid or spray type. Do a bit of research (Ehow has some good threads).

 

[Obed]

Today my wife, daughter and I had a nice visit with Rick at his house. The house is even more impressive in person than on the pictures. The hardwood floors are unbelievable. Rick did an awesome job on them.



We wanted to see the wire cable railing Rick used on the porch because we would like to do something similar at our house and are at the point we need to make a final decision. The wire on the porch is almost invisible. When my wife first looked at the porch from inside the house, she thought Rick had not installed any railing yet. There probably is nothing better for ensuring a good view through the railing. My wife and I are going to consider our options now that we have seen Rick's railing first-hand. Like everything, there are plusses and minuses with any type of railing we choose. We considering how well the wire railing would work at our place with a two-hear-old running around. We are installing horizontal wooden hand rails on our porch, something Rick didn't do. Thus we have to consider whether or not our girl might be able to use the wire railing to climb up to and over the hand-rails and fall off the porch. I'm sure she couldn't climb over Rick's railing without a hand-rail to grab.

Obed

 

[tnmike]

Yes I've been fighting them at my back porch. I have killed around 25 bees with a tennis racket.

Obed

A wrist rocket (high powered slingshot) and sand works great. Its almost as good as a dove shoot.

 

[RoyJackson]

A wrist rocket (high powered slingshot) and sand works great. Its almost as good as a dove shoot.

I've used a tennis racket as well...but they're much more of a problem when they've bored into a wall.
I have read (but no experience yet) using an insecticide duster is more effective...the bees walk through it and carry the insecticide to the larva deep inside the chambers.
I've got to lay a laminated floor this week. Once that project is done, I'm going to tackle those bees and my neglected front porch.

 

[MotorSeven]

Roy, try BeeGone. A local log home builder supply recommended it. I bought a pint but have not used it yet. They said it actually works.......:
Insect Solutions for Log Homes | Twin Creeks Log Home Supply

 

[RoyJackson]

Roy, try BeeGone. A local log home builder supply recommended it. I bought a pint but have not used it yet. They said it actually works.......:
Insect Solutions for Log Homes | Twin Creeks Log Home Supply

Thanks for the recommendation!
I have read that almost any flying insect spray will kill the bees. The problem is the eggs and eventual larva (when they hatch). Using a duster is supposed to do a better job as the adults track the dust into the egg chambers.
I'll say one thing...log homes definitely have character, but I'll never own another one...

 

[pacerron]

Thanks for the recommendation!
I have read that almost any flying insect spray will kill the bees. The problem is the eggs and eventual larva (when they hatch). Using a duster is supposed to do a better job as the adults track the dust into the egg chambers.
I'll say one thing...log homes definitely have character, but I'll never own another one...

Roy,
We have had success with Sevin dust in an open side barn against the carpenter bees. They love boring into the roof trusses. Of course, smacking them down and tramping on them is a sure way to go also. Nothing like carpenter bees buzzing, barn swallows crapping, horse flies stinging and getting poison ivy from petting your outdoor dog to remind you that nature still prevails.

 

[MotorSeven]

Well, we passed the rough-in electrical, so now I can start insulating & buttoning up the walls. I guess I should run some Cat-5, speaker wire & phone wire before I do that eh?

The tile is done and grouted in the "man cave":

The last thing is the flat round river rock for the shower pan. We collected rocks ourselves for this as the one's from the store were too round.

 

[pacerron]

Well, we passed the rough-in electrical, so now I can start insulating & buttoning up the walls. I guess I should run some Cat-5, speaker wire & phone wire before I do that eh?
.

M-7
I know you have talked about using a large whole house generator before, but it would be easy, and you might find it very handy while the walls are open, to run a separate circuit that has at least one 110v outlet in each room and begins at a small generator plug under your deck where the driveway comes in. It is very handy to have an isolated small generator circuit that you can hook up a 5000-6000 watt generator, for short power outages that will run a few lights, TV, refrigerator, and microwave. If you have a well you might want to run a separate 220 line to it from the generator location also and rig a male plug wire from the pump that will plug into a high line plug or the generator plug next too it.
It is sure a lot easier than rigging extension cords in the dark, or hooking up a generator on a farm tractor PTO, for a short outage. Some folks just run a separate generator circuit to a highline duplex outlet in each room and break the tab between the duplex plug. That saves an extra box and plug in each room, but you should check the code in your area before having 2 feeds to 1 box, even though one would be a generator in this case and still isolated.
Ron

 

[woodlandfarms]

Cat 5, Phone and Cable. and run 2 cat 5's minimum if not 3. Things appear to be going HDMI as a base carrier, and with cable you can get a variety of signals...