re: Ants and straw bale building

[Robert W Tom <archilogic@juno.com>]

Maria wrote:

>	I = live in a forest with many kinds of ants. 
>	Would the ants do any = damage?

Maria;

Ants , squirrels, mice, termites, raccoons, woodpeckers, 
drunks in automobiles, ill-bred males between the ages of 
14-28, elephants, moose,  [etc ad infinitum] all have the 
potential to wreak damage upon a building, any building, 
not just ones with straw bale walls.

If you provide any of the above with the opportunity to gain
entry into your building then it is likely that they will and when
they do, damage may ensue.

Keeping ants out is a tough one because their points of entry
are so small . However, once you do notice them somewhere 
where they shouldn't be, getting rid of them is a matter of 
(1) observing them for a while to determine their point of entry, 
and then (2) plugging it up .

In that sense, ants may be viewed as unpaid building inspectors
who find weak points in the building envelope and/or rotting 
material (as a result of those weak points) for you.

Step (3) usually involves murdering all of the unfortunate little 
buggers who didn't have the opportunity to escape before the 
leak was plugged up, but you didn't hear that from me.

Of course, proactive measures to avoid ant infestations 
(and their cousins, termites) is always the best strategy so 
besides making the building envelope tight /dry and screening 
any drainage openings, one should try to avoid providing a food 
source for them in the immediate vicinity of the building .
(ie rotting wood)

Ants have also been know to gain entry into a building by 
tunnelling through eXtruded PolyStryene (XPS) (they don't eat it, 
they just honeycomb it, perhaps as a building inspector's comment 
on the material's inabliity to drain )


                 ===    *     ===
Robert  W. Tom          Kanata, Ontario, Canada       
Rob_Tom@ErehwonDesignGroup.intranets.com 

please visit:  http://www.theHungerSite.com daily

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