MY log home is 9 years old and is white cedar. The past few years I have noticied that in the knot holes some type of insect only attacks these holes. They dig it out and I have been finding what appears to be small pieces of leaves used for some type of nesting. I never treated my logs prior to staining them. Didn’t know and was not advised to do so by the builder. I stain my hose with a product know as Wood GUard. When I find a knot that has been worked on by these inscects I will dig it out
I had to go to the expert for this one, Vince Palmere at Perma Chink:
My guess is that your homeowner is dealing with sometype of ant. There are literally hundreds of ant species and some of them love to nest in small cracks and cavitiesin wood. Since he’s finding small pieces of leaves they may be a typeof leaf cutter ant. One thing is pretty certain, just about all types of insects prefer moist wood so he’s probably getting water into the wood around those knot holes. I would not be surprised if he’s also getting some decayed areas in addition to the bugs. He really shouldsquirt a little Shell-Guard RTU in those holes then seal them up with Energy Seal.