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Moldy Homasote insulating board sheathing © Daniel Friedman at InspectApedia.comFiberboard Insect Damage
Insulating Board Sheathing Insect Resistance

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Insect damage or mold contamination in or on fiberboard insulating sheathing used on or in buildings.

This article discusses the occurrence of insect damage in fiberboard sheathing used on roofs, walls, ceilings in buildings and on building exteriors.

This article series gives the efinition, ingredients, history, use, fire resistance & insulating properties of fiberboard sheathing. This article describes and provides photographs that aid in identifying various insulating board sheathing materials used on building walls and roofs, such as Homasote, Celotex, Insulite, and Masonite insulating board sheathing products.

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Wood Boring Insect Susceptibility of Fiberboard Building Insulating Sheathing

Moldy Homasote insulating board sheathing © Daniel Friedman at InspectApedia.comWe do not usually findinsect damage in fiberboard building insulating sheathing.

Possibly the resin binder and coating is unattractive to insects and the moisture resistance of some coatings also reduces the attractiveness of this material to termites or carpenter ants.

However in sufficiently challenging conditions such as very wet conditions or prolonged exposure to water and moisture or insects, we have found evidence of insect damage to an interior wall fiberboard sheathing product, probably Beaver board or Upson board (in the attic of a leaky building, below right).

[Click to enlarge any image]

Reader comment: insect attack through fiber-type flooring

(Feb 27, 2013) Teresa Mietus said:

I live in a 50's home.

Termites literally built an entire empire between the top and bottom layers of a fiber type floor board.

If not for the mud tunnels, the floor would have fallen through

! What you don't see - can hurt you.

Reply:

Jester (2014).names silicate of soda, flour paste, glues, dextrin, plaster of paris, waterglass and clay, rosin, turpentine, paraffin wax (see Homasote®), asphalt (giving a nice dark black color to the fiberboard panels and making them unattractive to termites and carpenter ants). (Jester 2014 pp 90-90).

Photo above: low density fiberboard is not, however absolutely insect-proof, as my photo shows.

Research on Insect Damage to LDF & MDF Fiberboard Products & Preservation of Fiberboard Panels


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