What's eating my shed?

[bsr]

I've got several patches of this sawdust mixed with black bits in my shed. Any idea what it is, and is it causing damage? I have one area with about a litre of this stuff so if they're eating the wood then I'm doomed!

The shed is new (four years old) and treated timber on a concrete base if that makes any difference. The floor is covered in rubber tiles, and the walls insulated and lined with ply so it'll take effort for me to get into the fabric.

If I was back in the USA I'd be worried about termites but that shouldn't be a problem here right!

Thanks.

 

[Mottie]

Woodworm?

 

[conny]

Can't see any pinholes and the dust doesn't look fine enough to be frass. Do you see any creatures such as wood louse if you shift something out they way?

 

[Justin Passing]

Dig with a screwdriver and you may break into their galleries. They may avoid the surface where the treatment is.
Look very closely, are the black bits pieces of insect, like carpenter ants? They rip out bits of wood rather than chewing it. They make slits in wood which are hard to see.
There's a common wood weevil, too. Small holes about 1mm.
You could eave some sticky strips (upturned gaffer tape) to catch anything walking about.

 

[Notch7]

What insulation is it?

the middle picture looks like chewed celetex board - which I think is done by ants.

Im not sure it’s woodworm, there are no visible holes anywhere

 

[Deleted member 174758]

If I was back in the USA I'd be worried about termites but that shouldn't be a problem here right!

Never seen frass like that, and the timber is treated so unlikely to be that in any case at 4 years old. As Notch says - no exit holes, either. We actually do have termites in the UK, but mainly confined to a few areas in the south, I thought, although with global warming they will start to spread

If you had loads of wood lice that would be an indication of wet rot, but lice don't like it dry and in any case don't do the i
damage - they only feed on already rotted timber

So I think the black spots may possibly be rodent droppings (if they are the size of rice grains). Rodent teeth grow constantly and they therefore have to chew stuff all the time to grind their teeth down. If it is, wash your hands after touching the stuff - rodents urinate everywhere (does it smell?) and can carry Weil's disease (leptospirosis) which is fairly nasty

Ants are another possibility, as are wasps (who need paper or wood fibres for their nests), but you'd more than likely see either of them in the daytime

 

[JohnD]

There is also a bee, though I've never seen it

Insect attacks tend to be damp related, so look for any gutter faults, rain penetration, damp from the ground.

 

[Ihavenojob]

If I was back in the USA I'd be worried about termites but that shouldn't be a problem here right!

There have been sporadic localised incidents in the past.

 

[opps]

The photos seem to be ground level, The "bits" of timber residue look like they are stuck to spider webs. Were you possibly drilling higher up? Sorry, please don't think that I am being condescending, but based on my (limited experience) I can't see anything untoward. It might help if you clean the area and wait a week or two.

Mouse poo is looks like a jagged grain of rice. Rat poo is significantly larger and more uniform in shape.

 

[bsr]

All the evidence is at ground level. The timber seems dry. There is no celotex only loft roll. No exit holes.

Not rat droppings (those are much larger). These are smaller than grains of rice so mice seems a possibility but no signs of gnawing either.

The floor is covered in rubber tiles so I was wondering if the "droppings" we're in fact chewed tiles.

Upturned duct tape sounds like a plan. And a mouse trap.