Tips for treating pole damage from termites and woodpeckers

Doug Reeves
One of the biggest worries for utility companies is pole damage caused by termites and woodpeckers. This damage can severely limit the useful life of poles and necessitate frequent repairs and replacements. Here are some tips to help you deal with the damage, including a powerful solution to help you restore and extend the life of your poles.

Locate damage and infestation sites

This is your first step and the most obvious. Woodpeckers leave large holes in the wood that are easy to spot. Aside from this damage, the birds leave few other long-term traces of their presence. Termites are a different story, however. You will need to contact pest control services to rid the pole of infestation by these insects.

Apply a strong filler

Once you have marked the damaged spots and have rid the pole of any lingering infestation, the next step is to fill the holes and restore the wood – this is assuming that the pole is still viable and can be salvaged. For this, you need a fast-setting, high-strength filler. GRA’s TimberBond is the perfect solution. With exclusive, non-leak and non-sag characteristics, TimberBond is easy to use and requires little need to prepare the pole beforehand. 

There are two variants of TimberBond: NSG and VFG. The latter has a lower viscosity to allow it to penetrate deeper into areas of known decay or inaccessible debris. NSG, on the other hand, can be used for shallower damage sites where the decay is less extreme. 

For more information on dealing with utility pole damage or about any of GRA Services International products, contact us. 
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