Cure for a Termite Infested Trunk

by ScavengerChic

When my sister and I first saw this trunk at a flea market this past summer, this is what we saw. It was marked $3.00, FIRM…as if we were going to try to talk him down from $3.00.

help for a termite infested trunk, chalk paint, pest control, repurposing upcycling, shabby chic, woodworking projects

Just look at that chippy paint. Was that some kind of mistake? Was it supposed to be $30.00? Was the decimal point in the wrong spot?

And then we looked inside. OK, this could be a problem. Termites had eaten a great deal of the bottom and they had slowly been working their way up the sides.

My sister bought the trunk, but I told her I would love to tackle it if she'd let me.

By the time I got a hold of the trunk a few more boards had fallen off the bottom and he was fading fast.

I had high hopes of saving some of the boards that make up the bottom trim but by the time I got the trim pieces off the bottom I knew the entire bottom would have to go.

Out came the saw and after chopping off everything from the trim board down, I was left with a beautiful, very short trunk.

I needed just a few supplies…a 2’x4′ piece of thin plywood, 2 deck spindles and some heavy duty construction adhesive.

I cut the plywood to fit inside the trunk up to the level where the old bottom had been. I then used the construction adhesive and a few nails to hold the plywood in place while it dried.

I cut the deck spindles the same height as the plywood. These also got a good coat of construction adhesive and a few long screws to attach them to the existing wood trunk.

I was originally going to use 2 pieces of wood…one to act at the original layer of the trunk and the other to be the trim…but once I saw how well the 2×4 fit, I couldn’t use anything else. It was perfect. Corners are nailed and glued. Screws attach the 2×4 to the spindles and construction adhesive to the plywood.

Inserted a pallet wood bottom.

These feet were from another thrift store find. They were painted with white chalk paint, edges sanded then waxed.

Since I started with pictures of the bottom of the trunk, I wanted to finish with a picture of his underside…not a termite to be found!

I gave you the basics of how I fixed the trunk but if you want to know EXACTLY, what I did to attach the pallet bottom , how I treated the chippy paint so it won't chip further or how I worked on matching the paint so it didn't look like new wood, you're gonna have to stop by and visit me over at ScavengerChic. With over 20 more step by step photos you just may find a tip or hint you can use.