Infested!

[MacOtac]

Well, I have owned my trailer for a month now. Today I went to put something into it and found a large pill of dust on the floor next to the garage entry door. I thought it was just some more manufacturing dust coming from cracks.

To my surprise, I look up the wall and found groups of small holes going up the wall. Upon further investigation, I looked at the dust on the ground and found what appeared to be small beetles in the dust. WTF!

So I did a quick search and it appears the wood frame is infested with Postpowder Beetles. OR LYCTID beetles. They can lay dormant and the adult beetles will bore out of the wood to mate.

What do I do? Is this covered by warranty? This is nuts!!!

[clr]

If this was me a would bomb the camper with the bed bug type fog'er. then I would talk to the dealer you bought this unit from and see what type of repair was offered. If I was not happy with the fix I would talk to FR directly regarding this problem.
My main concern is if this is the damage that you see then the real damage behind the walls in the wood may be much worse.

[MacOtac]

I have been researching online. I would need to inject Boracare insecticide into the wood where the infestation is. I do not believe a bomber type would work on these beetles.

I bought the trailer out of state and the dealer says he has never seen this in his career as an RV seller and says to contact FR.

[extxn]

I'm not completely sure what might be your options, but the 1st thing I might try is to contact the dealer you purchased from and proceed up the ladder to the manufacturer with questions and expectations.

More than likely, the vendor who supplied the building materials might be the end result and your tt is probably not the only unit involved.

I am only guessing at this though and seriously hope you receive adequate help to resolve the situation, even if it's a completely new unit!

[clr]

Well I have never heard of this before either. If nothing short of injections would slow them down I would be on the phone to FR the first thing in the morning trying to work out a plan to correct. Good luck and let us know how this turns out.

[extxn]

Originally Posted by MacOtac

I have been researching online. I would need to inject Boracare insecticide into the wood where the infestation is. I do not believe a bomber type would work on these beetles.

I bought the trailer out of state and the dealer says he has never seen this in his career as an RV seller and says to contact FR.

My apologies, I was writing same time as you and missed your reply concerning contacting the out of state dealer.

Injections into the walls would require boring more holes, correct? Then what? What are the long term hazards to your family & friends from that insecticide?

Have you been able to determine if these beetles are native to your area or not? If not, then definitely a vendor to factory situation I'd think.

[MacOtac]

I have no clue.... I believe the beetles are everywhere but don't know.

The boracare product I was looking at using is non toxic to humans. But yea it would be a pain to do.

Does anyone know if the wood used by Forest River in the framing is treated?

[B and B]

On factory tours I see regular old framing lumber and luan paneling. Nothing looks like it is treated with anything.

[MacOtac]

Does anyone have a contact to Puma corporate?

[rsdata]

FYI
I live in Kentucky and am an avid bourbon distillery tour enthusiast. What makes that relevant is that while touring the rick-houses where the bourbon barrels are aged, powder post beetle infestations are common. The warehouses have generally been standing since the 30's and nobody seems to be worried about the critters, even though the wooden beams support dozens of 500# barrels of whiskey.

I would hope that the beetles are now gone and although you have some slight damage, I would spray some insecticide onto that wall and call it a day.

You only have a few holes and probably the total hatch has been completed.

But I would spray some of this solution on just in case. I use this in and around my home and barn for termites and ants. Kills in minutes. Lasts a long time.

[D W]

I would be on the phone with FR. You might also want to contact your local government entomologist to come have a look at what you got and get a prognosis. You have to ask yourself how much time and expense you wish to endure to eradicate the pests. If there are more larvae inside the walls it won't belong before your walls have the shotgun effect. I know that some states use irradiation, but that is costly, and may be impractical for a rig that size. You might be looking at a write-off.

[Islander]

Like other posts have suggested... contact FR .

Just curious... is the photo of the holes you posted on an outside wall?
...and what size (sq inches) of an area is affected?

I'm not all that familiar with your trailer, so I do not know if your wall construction consists of wood framing or aluminum .

I have found wood framing on the non outside walls on my 5th wheel to consist of 1x4's and some 2x3's ... mainly on the bulkhead construction.
Exterior walls are framed with aluminum.

IMO it just may be an isolated piece of lumber that was used for construction and may not relate to an infestation.

No matter... FR should be made aware of this and make good on any repairs being it is so new.

Good luck... and keep us posted.

Islander

[MacOtac]

I have been in contact with FR today via email and phone. Just initial claims and will see what the will do.

The issue is the beetle was already in the wood prior to construction. The beetles in egg and larvae stage can take months / years to make themselves known. When conditions are right they will mature into the beetle you see and exit the wood via holes the dug. I.e my walls. From there they will look to reproduce. The female will then find more wood in my trailer and lay eggs.

This could be a potentially huge issue. Due to I don’t know how wide spread the infestation of the wood is. There could be hundreds of beetles in the walls reproducing, or hundred lying dormant.

As far a treatment. The walls need to be opened and damaged wood replaced. The wood directly need to be treated. Not just spray chemicals on the wall or let off a fogger in the trailer to fix the issue. It is a lot more complicated then that.

The trailer is brand new and I just made my first payment on it. The trailer rolled off the production line per VIN and FR in August of this year. So in 2 months my trailer did not just get infested with a beetle that takes month to years to mature and pop out.

It is going to be interesting to see what happens to the trailer. I will keep everyone informed

[Tristan DaCoona]

We almost bought a house infested like your trailer. House inspector found the 'talc powder in the crawl space under the house. The only way to get rid of them is to tent the house ($10,000) or trailer and fumigate for a long time. They are harder to get at because they are deep in the wood. Get a new trailer ! asap.

[Steeljag]

I see your in California, what state did you purchase the unit ?

[MacOtac]

Originally Posted by Steeljag

I see your in California, what state did you purchase the unit ?

From a dealer in southern Arizona.

[FrankG]

Read This!

Heat and cold treatments. High heat (120-140° F. or 49-60° C.) for 6 hours kills all stages of powderpost beetles. Temperatures of 0° F. or -18° C. for 72 hours will also kill powderpost beetles.

Winter is almost here, can you haul it to the mountains and freeze them out? or can you park it out in Death Valley for a couple of days?

Simple, effective, no chemicals

[MacOtac]

Originally Posted by FrankG

Read This!

Heat and cold treatments. High heat (120-140° F. or 49-60° C.) for 6 hours kills all stages of powderpost beetles. Temperatures of 0° F. or -18° C. for 72 hours will also kill powderpost beetles.

Winter is almost here, can you haul it to the mountains and freeze them out? or can you park it out in Death Valley for a couple of days?

Simple, effective, no chemicals

Lol, not my problem right now. A little extreme for me to have to do.

We will see what FR will do

[Tristan DaCoona]

MacOtac has done a good research on the subject and realize how serious the problem is. What FR got is a bad (infested) batch that was not treated in an autoclave at the origin. People have been known to get infestations on brand new hardwood floor. If the larvae are dead like in your (distressed) grandpa's table or the Bourbon warehouse you are fine but if it is a live infestation like on this trailer you better fumigate or send it back to FR ! Those critters have a voracious appetite. In our case we were sad (the wife loved that house) but we just bought a different house.

[mwdilday]

Are the holes all in a close section of the wall? I mean does it appear that they are all within a 32" or so section where it could have been one frame member that is involved? How long since the manufacturer date of the trailer? I would guess there is a good possibility one of the boards was infected when the trailer was built. I highly doubt the wood is treated.