Would you buy a house with carpenter bee damage?

[Anonymous]

I know termite damage is a big no, but what about carpenter bee damage?

[Anonymous]

Carpenter bees are not very damaging at all.

[Anonymous]

If it can be treated and fixed of course.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t say no to termite damage or carpenter bees.

[Anonymous]

Nope

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it can be treated and fixed of course.

I heard even if it was treated, carpenter bees would come back every spring...

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's a big deal. We had a few on our deck and plugged up the holes. They came back for a little while, we plugged the holes. Rinse. Repeat. Haven't had any for 3 years.

[Anonymous]

We had carpenter bees in a house I lived in as a kid and it was a pain in the ass to keep them away, but they really didn’t do anything beyond superficial damage.

[Anonymous]

Are we talking about a few holes in a deck?

I've had carpenter bees in many houses. They're annoying but they don't actually go inside your house, so what they mess with is usually limited to decks and maybe some trim outside if it wasn't painted. Who cares. I've never seen it be a big enough problem that anything needed to be fixed. They work slowly, and they're fun to hit with tennis rackets, too.

Even termites, if there's some old damage from 40 years ago, who cares? Most houses in Arlington built 50 or 60+ years ago will evidence of this somewhere. If there's nothing active or recent, and nothing more than a few tracks from decades ago, who cares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t say no to termite damage or carpenter bees.

This, most houses have termite damage or dead termites. Like over 10% of houses in DC.

[Anonymous]

Carpenter bees are not a big deal. They show up every spring, mess with your exterior wood, and then are gone. They don't live in the house or otherwise cause problems. Also, you can replace wood trim and decks with composite over time, so it is preventable -- every time I do a little trim repair / exterior update, I use PVC trim. Saving up for a Trex deck.

[Anonymous]

Poor carpenter bees. They get such a bad rap. This day in age when mass extinction of pollinators is occurring and becoming such a major problem, people are exterminating carpenter bees because they burrow a little bit into their wood.

Male carpenter bees are extremely friendly and non-aggressive. They are known as big lovable teddy bears of the bee world. They are hearty pollinators, so if you have a green thumb and the landscaping of your home has a lot of plant life, they're good to have around. They really don't cause that much damage at all, and generally avoid painted wood, thus if you really are concerned, must paint over the area.

Nearly allllll homes have insect problems: ants, termites, bees, spiders....whatever. Carpenter bees are very low on the list in terms of impact, and I'd actually love to have them around. Carpenter bees don't make huge nests or colonies in your wood. They are solitary and don't have queens.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Very few houses are going to escape some damage. Usually there are just a few holes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Poor carpenter bees. They get such a bad rap. This day in age when mass extinction of pollinators is occurring and becoming such a major problem, people are exterminating carpenter bees because they burrow a little bit into their wood.

Male carpenter bees are extremely friendly and non-aggressive. They are known as big lovable teddy bears of the bee world. They are hearty pollinators, so if you have a green thumb and the landscaping of your home has a lot of plant life, they're good to have around. They really don't cause that much damage at all, and generally avoid painted wood, thus if you really are concerned, must paint over the area.

Nearly allllll homes have insect problems: ants, termites, bees, spiders....whatever. Carpenter bees are very low on the list in terms of impact, and I'd actually love to have them around. Carpenter bees don't make huge nests or colonies in your wood. They are solitary and don't have queens.

I appreciate this heartfelt paean to carpenter bees, and I too avoid using any pesticides for these reasons. That being said, the damage is not always insignificant. In our neighborhood, as soon as the bees burrow in and make a home for their larvae, woodpeckers come along and make big holes as they try to snack on the larvae. It's not a reason not to buy a house though. I'ts pretty much inevitable if a house with wood trim is anywhere near a lot of trees.