Just a story I thought would be interesting.
It's winter here in upstate New York, not yet season for carpenter ants...
It's that two years ago, I needed an exterminator to kill a nest somewhere in an ouside coner in an addition in my house. I haven't see the ants since (maybe a few one day...??), but I resolved to get into that wall when I got the house resided to take a look. I discussed with the contractor that I wanted the old T-111 taken off on that part, and whatever removed to take a good look at the framing in that corner.
Well, yesterday, we did that. Found the rotted wood. Right where ants had streamed out during the fumigation (I had watched). It wasn't even that much soft wood- about 10 inches of the bottom of a stud.
Here's the thing - *the stud was already sistered*. With what my contractor said was a really good qualify fir. Still looked like it was taken from the lumber yard yesterday. Newer looking than the unaffected wood elsewhere in the framing. But the old soft stud wasn't removed.
So, more than 13 years ago (how long I've been in the house), that rotted stud was noted and sistered with new studs. But the old wood was left behind to make a nice cozy home for the insects.
Dumm dumm dumm.
That piece was sawed off and replaced, and everything closed up.
Banty