Bettylu, what you suggest was my thought in the matter too. So I called the county agent and asked about it. The response was less than encouraging. Essentially, the fact that I am not a COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE, means I do not have access to the chemicals which will exterminate the "worms" once they enter the soil. If you are familiar with the acres of pecan orchards or groves once visible all around the city of Mobile, you will recall the trunks of the trees generally painted white up to breast height. I thought, as a child, that they were painted white to look elegant and to give the "old time southern" look such as the trunks of live oaks going along a long allee or driveway to some columned mansion far from the road. As an adult, I idly mused about there being a purpose other than ornamental, but had no knowledge of bagworms or other such pests. Until recent years, I never saw bagworms in the pecan trees. Now, I think that many older trees are afflicted by them, since the groves were broken up and the land sold to developers who built homes, residences, and thus no longer classed as "commercial property." Thus no help to be had for treating pest issues. I'm still not convinced that bagworms do not take bites out of my hosta leaves. The way the leaves looked this year, same skeletal appearance as the pecan leaves chomped into wispy skeletons of veins and not much else except the ghostly webs making the incubation chamber for the next generation of BAGWORMS. I'm about to ring the youngest/smallest pecan tree to kill it humanely, leaving the stem standing for a birdfeeder post. After last night's cold front came through, most of the brown leaves fell so the three pecans stand bare in the garden. Perhaps I can get the work done this weekend, like George Washington and his little hatchet taking down that cherry tree, that is no lie! Pardon that it took me a while to respond. This week the demolition of part of my house began, and I've been sort of distracted from gardening. The cement mixer truck backing into the New Orleans style courtyard garden destroyed all semblance of a lawn, looks more like a plowed cornfield now. But at least we have peace this weekend while the cement/concrete foundation dries.

Thank so much everyone for helping !! I had a minor set back with Christmas ( was DEFINITELY the wrong time of year for me to have started this project : ) So the reason I was sanding ( after the 2nd coat of Arm R Seal ) is because: 1. that is what the guy at general finishes told me to do 2. it is what I have read several times now on different web sites what other people were doing 3. I had few very tiny tiny tiny bubbles ( I read that this was because when I applied the top coat I guess my "swipes" were to fast allowing some air to get in ?? not sure ) and when I say "sand" I mean I literally took a sheet of 400 and just barely "kissed" the top of the door ( because I was terrified of scratching my finish ) Every single coat I have done on these doors has had at least 3 days of drying time ( and almost 2 weeks for stain it self ) I used the Arm R Seal because that is also what they told me at general finishes. And I was told 3-4 coats ( which the thought of makes me want to set all of these cabinets on fire right now ! : ) Since they are going in the kitchen with 4 kids I assumed I needed as much protection as possible. AND THANK YOU "BROWNEYES" SO MUCH for your SUPPORTIVE KIND WORDS !! I really needed to hear that right now. I don't think my husband ( or anyone who has not gone through this experience ) has ANY IDEA what a NIGHTMARE this is !! Anyway... I am in the middle of the job, have -- 33 CABINETS and Drawers -- a torn up kitchen and can't stop now. I just emailed the General Finishes guy my photos and he is going to call me soon. I just wanted to post to thank everyone for helping, supporting ! and just in case anyone else has my same issue should they choose to go down the infamous " Java Gel Stain" path :) Here is a side by side photo of the "sanded / chipped door" and one on the right that had not been sanded. ( The color is of course EXACTLY the same just different lighting in my dining room and kitchen ) Thanks again to all - so much appreciated

"The first few days of my kitchen redo, I cleaned up after the guys left (even though they did their version of daily cleanup and had the area enclosed in plastic). Pretty soon I realized that was futile and a waste of my time" Maybe you are using this as a figure of speech, but cleaning up after contractors even if it's a daily thing and they are going to get the same things dirty the next day, shouldn't be considered a "waste of your time". It's your house and your investment and you have to protect your own investment. Yes, even though you are paying someone to clean up. Why? Because some things that happen are probably more than just cumulative. A bit of crumbled drywall or a loose nail that gets caught around the edges of something protecting the floor will get ground into the floor if left there for a week. Small bits of grout left behind on the bathtub or shower drain will inevitably be stepped on and scratch the tub. Sawdust underneath the cabinets is going to be left there and covered up with the toe kick. Even it it's been vacuumed with a shop vac unless you get under there and clean it, a fair amount will be left behind. Your cleaning crew is not coming to the end of the project by which point it will be covered. The project manager for the last big project I did (who I did not like) left a paper coffee cup on the mantle and after sitting there for over a week it etched a ring in the 170 old fireplace surround. I didn't pick it up because I didn't like her, I was waiting to see if she would ever notice it, (obviously not) and when I finally threw it away myself, that's when I saw that it had eaten into the marble. I could be all p1ssed off at her (which I was), I could have thrown a big fit, I could have even posted a thread about it. but ultimately I had seen it there myself and was being passive aggressive about it and ultimately ruined my own fireplace by neglecting something I saw. Even though my contractor cleans up, he is still wearing dirty clothes, and he himself is not clean at the end of the day, so I don't feel that his "clean" is quite as clean as things should be. So it gets cleaned after he cleans. Yes, every time he is onsite and even though he will make a mess the next day. I don't consider this a waste of my time, and I have a full-time job, and work some evenings and have paperwork to do at home too. I don't consider myself too important or too busy to protect my own investment.

That looks like “frass” from carpenter ants. They’ve been establishing a nest in your ceiling, chewing into the insulation to do it. Whatever material they find up there, the frass will resemble that. You can try tapping the ceiling to find a void and spraying some foam into it. Then spread a lot of ant bait around so they don’t survive as they move to a new spot.