Wood siding question

Sayer Fancher

Member
Messages
169
Location
Hudson Valley NY
I'm working on a house that has vertical wood siding, stained, and has loads of holes from birds pecking at it. I believe its cedar and the birds must be going after bugs. Any suggestions on what to use to fill these that will stain to match the rest of the house. I have used stainable wood filler in the past but the end result never looks good, it always stands out from the rest of the area around it. Is there any filler that is better than others? Also, what can be used to stop the birds from doing this? The home owner has used shinny spinners but they don't seem to do much to help. Thanks.
 
I've had some siding & fascia damages due to both carpenter bees, and the woodpeckers that go after the bee larvae.

Best I've been able to do is a caulk that is a close (but not great) match to the stain color. It looks okay from a distance, but up close the patched areas are pretty obvious.
 
.... I believe its cedar and the birds must be going after bugs. ....
Can't help with the stainable filler, but if there are loads of bugs in or behind the siding the birds aren't going to stop until the bugs are gone. Is this a board and batten siding with lots of space for critters? How big are the holes? If the holes are big...on the order of 1"+, could you cut 1/4" thick patches in matching cedar with a hole saw and glue them in a matching hole, or is that going a bit too far.
 
The holes are small, about 1/2 inch I would say. Theres so many that I don't think cutting plugs would be an option. It is not board and batten, looks to be tongue and groove. Maybe Jim's idea would be best, they are up pretty far so it may not be so noticeable.
 
If they are perfectly round half inch holes, they are made by carpenter bees. Those can be controlled/trapped/swatted by the home owner to help reduce the problem.
 
if they are carpenter bees, the problem will never be eradicated until the female bee and her eggs are dead.
the bees will come back year after year after year.
I tried tons of power and liquid stuff, I finally after many attempts, started sealing up the gaps where the bees went into with expandable foam, and finally, Im guessing the female and the eggs died, I haven't seen the bees back

the homeowner needs to get an exterminator to eradicate the bees, or they will keep coming back, don't care what you cover the holes with, they will dig new holes to get to the queen or female.

been there, done that.

once the eggs are dead, the males wont come back. btw, they don't sting, they are just curious about humans and will fly around you, but males don't sting.

kill the eggs, they wont be back, fill in without killing the eggs, new holes soon.
 
Thanks, when I go back on Monday I will take a closer look to serif they are bees or birds. Thanks.

It's likely both, Sayer. First the bees (or other bugs) bore into the wood and lay eggs, then the birds peck more holes looking for the eggs/larvae.

Carpenter bees make a perfectly round hole - looks like it's been bored with a 5/8" bit. They usually go in from the edge or bottom of a board, and can bore several inches deep.

Then, the birds (usually downy or hairy woodpeckers (at least in my area)) peck holes in from the face of the boards to get at the bee larvae.
 
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