Woodworm, need input.

**Mjolinor** · 16th November, 2009, 01:51 PM

Bless there little cotton socks, they're just hungry and looking for sex that's all but how do I get rid of the little B******S.

I have a hardwood (Maple) floor in my kitchen, I put it down twelve years ago when I bought the house. At that time there was loads of worm so I replaced tons of wood and drowned the rest in horrible chemicals.

The kitchen was just a sieve so I completely removed all the wood, floor, joists, skirtings absolutely everything even the windows, took one foot of earth out and all the joist supporting brickwork and rebuilt two new walls for the joists to rest on, new joists and a hardwood end matched solid maple floor.

This week I have 20 worm exit holes in the maple, if they are eating maple then there must be a serious number underneath as woodworm like eating maple about as much as they like eating lead.

I have some serious concern about the state I will find the joists in and my piano

I can't get home to see it for about 3 weeks or so so not a lot will happen immediately.

So what's the best stuff to buy, where from. I have two opinions so far, one from a 82 year old joiner who says Rentokill stuff the other from a DIY geek friend who says Cuprinol.

Any proven solution or advice. Serious stuff this, advice like, don't go home, sell the house etc etc are to be expected from the PTs but lets have some sensible ones too.

**chroma** · 16th November, 2009, 05:23 PM

Its actualy beetles and theres several different types that do so. they bore into wood and lay larvae (hence the worm postfix)

Most however only really like moist wood, so id start ventilating the area and drying the wood to below 12% moisture content.
(the more moisture the faster the bastards breed and spread)
So reducing moisture is the best preventative soloution for all spieces of beetle. and the only soloution for weevil (which gets missdiagnosed as worm, its difference is that it leaves ragged tracks along the grain instead of straight out holes)

As you can imagine different beetles have different treatments, so figuring out which beetle will generaly allow you to be more effective.
All are seasonal and only emerge between the months of May and October.

The common furnature beetle (Anobium punctatum) love softwoods like pine and balsa, they like european hardwood and attack only sapwood (if you slice a tree in half, the live stuff outside is sapwood the harder darker stuff in the middle is heartwood) along the grain. theyre a pest but dont cause serious structural damage unless the infestation is severe.

The adults lay eggs in cracks and bore holes, these tur into 1mm curved larvae that then spend the next 3 to 4 years burrowing randomly through the wood and eating the sugary starchy parts of the grain, till they eventualy mature and head to the surface to pupate. after 8 weeks beetles begin to emerge making CIRCULAR boreholes of 1 to 1.5mil with boredust that has lemon shaped pellets and cream coloured, its gritty when you rub it between your fingers.

These are the most common type of "woodworm" hence the name.

Parmethrin works well on these, its toxic to cats though. either used as a fuming agent or applied to the bare wood to allow it to soak. just look in your local shop for pesticides and insecticides with high concentrations of parmethrin and you cant go too wrong (and its going to be cheaper than buying some brand name stuff)

Simply sand off all surface varnish and slap it on liberally allowing it to really soak in.

Powderpost beetles (Lyctus brunneus)
These target wide grained hardwoods like elm and oak, essentaly wood that has large pores and a high starch content. Noticable in that softwood is largely unscathed, so you'll often see an infestation of hard next to a patch of untouched softwood. Lifecycle wise theyre simmilar to comon furniature with the exception that theyre faster, with only 3 to 12 months between the larval and pupal stages (depending on moisture content and temperature) if your wood is warm and damp expect rapid turnover, if its dry and cool then things take longer.

When the pupal stage finishes beetles emerge making boreholes of 1 to 2mil in line with the grain, they eat a stack of sapwood and cause serious damage as the wood begins to completely disintegrate.
bore dust from these is again cream coloured although much finer and feels like talc when rubbed between the fingers.

Treatment wise Boron is your best bet, pastes, and fluids with a high boron content like borax or ProBor are good although unfortunately not cheap and you really need to sand the wood down well before application. fail to remove all varnish, adhesive and such and a full uptake wont take place and you'll get infested again.

HARDCORE STUFF

Deathwatch Beetle (Xestobium rufovillosum)
Target decaying hardwoods like old oak, chestnut or elm, it prefers hardwood but will eat through soft wood if its in contact with the hardwood. If your wood is already partialy softened with decay then these are likely.
They leave boreholes that are around 3mil in diameter with gritty dust with circular shaped bits that feels gritty when rubbed.

Treatment wise your shit out of luck and will need a professional to do the job, wood needs to be preasure injected, although if the wood is easily permeable then you could smoke treat with pesticide.
Still its a serious job and not one that id personaly attempt on my own even with high quality respirator gear, the toxins involved cause a wide range of unpleasantness like birth defects, sterilisation cancers and the like.

Threre are other beetles and weevils but they for the most part only infest softwoods or are becomming extinct and rare, so ive only coveded the top 3 common types.

As a course of action id "hire a guy" for a consult, he should (if hes any good) know which beetle type is causing the infestation, if its live or dormant (some beetles only go through a cycle and move elsewhere leaving traces of an infestation when theyre already long gone)
And be able to give you a course of action to follow and treatment quotes.

**aftermath** · 16th November, 2009, 05:36 PM

i had mine done about 20 years ago . the local woodworm treatment business.

they get under your floorboards and spray underneath with some liquid ( looked like Jays fluid )

.

you get a 10 year gaurantee with them. so they are very good..

**jasbo7** · 16th November, 2009, 08:26 PM

my mate got this flooring put down and he was told to buy a humidifier as in chroma's post...'''Most however only really like moist wood, so id start ventilating the area and drying the wood to below 12% moisture content.
(the more moisture the faster the bastards breed and spread)'''

**bvilleuk** · 17th November, 2009, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by Mjolinor

Bless there little cotton socks, they're just hungry and looking for sex that's all but how do I get rid of the little B******S.

My Builder completely removed the Kitchen floor went down 5 inches and filled the space with concrete, skimmed the top with Bitumen and laid marley tiles......

Worked a charm -- they don't eat concrete.

Expensive - but it worked.

P.s My House is so old the Death-watch Beetles wear safety helmets.....

**Mjolinor** · 17th November, 2009, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by bvilleuk

My Builder completely removed the Kitchen floor went down 5 inches and filled the space with concrete, skimmed the top with Bitumen and laid marley tiles......

Worked a charm -- they don't eat concrete.

Expensive - but it worked.

P.s My House is so old the Death-watch Beetles wear safety helmets.....

Sadly they will eat concrete if they have to

They will eat anything to get out.

**thered** · 17th November, 2009, 07:22 PM

get some nice checker plate instead of wooden floors dont think they will be back then

**bvilleuk** · 17th November, 2009, 08:39 PM

Originally Posted by Mjolinor

Sadly they will eat concrete if they have to

They will eat anything to get out.

Well it's nearly 10 years now and touch wood no sign......

**gmb45** · 18th November, 2009, 05:32 AM

naplam m8 sure fire solution, or perhaps spray em with alchi white ( worse poison known to man )

oh and watch your wooden leg mj

**Meat-Head** · 21st October, 2010, 07:37 PM

Originally Posted by 01Sam

The best way to treat woodworm is to eliminate all the moisture sources. If there are sources of moisture in the wood, the woodworm will attack the wood and even they attack on the wood where there is no moisture. They badly affect the wood and makes small 1mm holes in the wood and at last the wood dies. Make sure to treat this problem as they can cause disasters in house.

Is somebody advertising???? Dragging up and old post from nearly ayear ago??

Against forum rules to advertise on DK

Oh as for orignal poster, bit late now, what about GENTLY burning the wood with blowtorch, charcoal don't rot, but will it cure wood worm though?