dust coming from crack in wall

[bbcrock]

I have an 100 yr old town house that suffered termite damage over the years, at least one time majorly around 1985.. I don't have the cash to do a complete overhaul, but am doing things incrementally. such as replacing all the hardwood flooring in one floor of my house. I have an annual termite inspection and they were found once and treated. I last had a full treatment in July. My neighbors have the same experiences, so I'm not unique- we're near woods and a creek, so there's lots of wet wood nearby.

Generally it's an old house with lots of settling. It was also imperfectly rehabbed.

I have many cracks in the plaster and one, which happens to face an outside wall has a weird effect. If I seal the window and slam the door, little bits of termite-chewed wood come out. I did a visual inspection and do not see any holes in the old mortar (though repointing is in my future) and I held a wet finger to the crack and didn't feel any wind or cold air.

Has anyone seen this before?

Don

[Eric in North TX]

All the time, before we got the Sentricon system. I still have residual damage, but I'm winning. They seem to like drywall paper, probably a desert after gnawing a 2X4. That system is pricey, I paid $1700, + 300 annual fee, but it beat the bugs, now we just have to clean up the mess. BTW the house had been inspected and treated yearly for about 5 years before I bought it, but it never really eliminated them, it just kept them in check.

[DK]

I have a window sill that collects termite droppings from drywood termites. There is a pinhole or two in the seam above where the windows meets the wood and I can tap on the wall nearby and droppings just keep coming out. I need to drill lots of holes thru the drywall and into the studs and spray.