Yikes! Call the pest control agency first to be sure that the damage is localized to just that area. Then, OF COURSE, you want to replace the material that is no longer structurally sound. If you are in doubt about if it is or isn't, lumber and sweat is cheap peace of mind.

Well, its been 2 1/2 years -don't ask :) :)! and for heaven's sake don't hire your friends even if they are contractors :) L shaped ranch house. completely demolished the long side of the L - living room, dining room, kitchen, pantry, bedroom, bathroom, & garage. The only thing left standing was a rock fireplace that we wanted to save. short side of L (now fondly called the "west wing") we planned on leaving until we finished the other part of the house. 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and laundry in this part of the house. Contractor got a "little" carried away and removed all the siding and insulation in the west wing at the same time he did the planned remodel area. luckily we have a finished basement. We didn't want to spend a fortune heating the outdoors so we kept the heat in the west wing to a bare minimum and moved into the basement. Our plan was to add on about 1400 sq ft and a third garage bay. 1st year we slept on cots in the basement during the winter (we live in snow country) and in a 5th wheel trailer in the driveway in the summer (unless we had company---which we did a few times--and then we slept in the yard under the apple tree). We had no electricity in the remodel area so we used flashlights to find our way around through the mess upstairs and down to the basement. We cooked on the outside grill and had a microwave, crockpot and coffee pot in the basement. Luckily,we had an old beer fridge down there too. We moved everything we could to a rental storage unit but basement took the over flow with boxes stacked everywhere. Periodically the police would show up in the middle of the night saying they gotten a 911 call. Our phone lines got cut early on and the phones liked to do their own thing. No joke!!! We hung one of our old patio doors in the doorway to close off the upstairs as much as we could. I spent a lot of time duct taping around the jam to control the dust and dirt but, believe me, a lot made it through. When we finally got a sub floor we cooked pizza in our new wood fired pizza oven for 50 or 60 people and a few of their 4 legged friends. We strung contractors lights from the ceiling, built a huge fire in the old fireplace and put out some folding tables and lawn chairs. We didn't have to worry about damaging anything or the mess and it was great. Second year I insisted on adding some insulation to the west wing so we at least got to turn the heat up a little and go back to our bedroom. Still cooking outside---have learned more and more dutch oven cooking and cooking over a campfire. We have a great firepit that we sit around in the evening summer and winter. Still under a couple of down comforters at night but as soon as we finish the first part of the house we'll get started on the west wing and hopefully it won't take as long. To tell you the truth it isn't all that bad and we have loads of stories. For me the worst part is cleaning and cleaning and cleaning to try to control the spread of dust and dirt that's constant. For my DH the worst part is lack of privacy and the commotion and noise level. If I had it all to do over I would really think about demolishing the whole house and starting from scratch instead of trying to make an old house new. We didn't do that originally because DH didn't want to move out. He felt it would be easier and cheaper to stay in the house. It wasn't easier and it sure hasn't been cheaper but we're surviving and maybe we respect and appreciate each other more now. We still laugh a lot. So who's to say what's best? Having a shower, toilet, washer/dryer and fridge made all the differnce. Don't think I could have survived going to the laundramat all the time. Silly but true. You might want to think about those things that you can't live without. Long narrative but hopefully thought provoking. Good luck.

We have a big dog that loved all of the people in and out of the house, but that proved to be a problem. She loved hanging around the activity and after several weeks of demo got this horrible cough and she would hack all afternoon and vomit this yellow bile. I'm not talking once or twice a day, I mean non-stop. We took her to the vet and they told us her lungs looked like an asbestos victim. We couldn't figure it out, then when they heard about the remodeling, they said that during the demo, the drywall would hit the ground and the little particles would float up into the air. She is low to the ground so it especially got into her lungs. I freaked out (also having a 1 and 3 year old that are also low to the ground). We took her to a specialist who told me she was not going to live...it was traumatic to say the least,---- then they figured out while her lungs looked terrible, after all, she just had an extreme allergy to dust ---- can't tell you what a relief that was as my guilt for this remodel was off the charts! Anyway, all is well now, but I would recommend keeping pets away from the mess and action ----the dust and mess are dangerous, there are all kinds of sharp things around and often demo leaves partial structures and unsafe areas along the way. One time my poor dog was outside and it started to thunder. It scared her and she ran up the stairs in a frenzy to find us and she ran right over an attic access that was open while they worked and fell through to the first floor. She was badly banged up and bruised, but didn't break anything --- but the construction disoriented her a bit and things were no longer where she expected them to be and an area that was loosely cordoned off she could still get into. I can't believe my poor dog had two incidents during this project and we were even extra safety conscious with little kids! I learned that it is better to just protect them by keeping them away from the construction.....

The demo has started and I'm so relieved to report that we've been able to keep pretty much all of the dust out of our upstairs living area! Due to time and budget, we weren't able to put in place all of the controls I'd originally planned but here is what's working: Tape plastic sheeting over all doorways to/from construction area. The sheets of poly have been, by far, the most effective dust control we've put in place. VERY impressed with how simple and effective the poly sheeting has been! We used heavier poly for the areas that would see more traffic (e.g. over doorways, our fridge) and the light stuff for items that won't be touched (e.g. window coverings, furniture). Use zippers for doorways we still need access to. We also put one zipper wall at the bottom of the stairs and another at the top of the stairs. With that double layer I didn't have to cover up each bedroom door upstairs nor cover/pack up all our items upstairs... thank goodness!! Direct a fan outside to create a vacuum to pull dust out. This helps A LOT during very dusty work like demolishing our floor tile. I just used an old stand up fan that I no longer needed. Sweep and vacuum with a shop vac as often as possible. Pack up as many items as possible and cover/tape up anything that has to remain. So far our poly sheeting has held up very well. Even strong gusts haven't ripped them off the walls. It was very time consuming to put up but SOO worth it. We first applied painters tape to the walls/ceilings. Then we stuck the poly to the painters tape using contractor's "technical tape". Here in Canada the brand we use is Tuck Tape. I believe in the US Tyvek tape is equivalent? I hope this helps others also having to live in their reno.