woodworm treatment

found out we have woodworm in our house again, under the stairs we noticed some frass(is that what its called? sawdust...) under the stairs and when cleaned a week later there was more so we decided to rip off the back panel and theres alot of holes in the centre of one beam, they are quite small holes so we are pretty confident its one of the less damaging (i.e surface holes not going straight through the middle then up!) types.

Found out our 30 year guarantee is useless (was done in 1995 or 98) as both the company who treated our house is now bust along with the company who actually made the product (both went bust a couple years ago it seems), so we have decided it needs to be done and getting someone out will just waste money as we would still need to take everything up ourselves. Been looking online and there isnt much out there and there isnt anything locally, so it needs to be bought online :(, the only company i see recommended is safeguard and their soluguard http://safeguardstore.co.uk/soluguar...t-concentrate/ it seems to fit the bill but we will need 50 litres as we have to do the whole house, we suspect the bathroom has active woodworm (we have seen a couple small flea like things recently, totally didnt think it was woodworm till this!) so we are doing everything but it does seem quite expensive! would work out ~£66 with delivery from them, wondering if anyone knows a cheaper alternative (that is good...) or just somewhere else to grab this stuff?.

Needs to be the waterbased stuff as we cant really leave our house and plus its safer im told!. We have access to proper gas masks, eye protection and proper gloves so doing it ourselves isnt going to cost us in equipment and it will be safe for us.

Any helps appreciated, i need to order very soon so we can get it by the weekend!.

edit: thanks for moving... for some reason i totally missed this section!

If it is a serious infestation, then you need to get it assessed/treated professionally. If it is localised, then you can do it yourself, using products available form DFiY places. Remember that the holes occur after the beetle has left the wood. If it is anything like death watch beetle (very destructive) get professional advice.

If it is localised to one beam/area, then treating that beam and the surrounding areas woukld be a start, and keep the cost down, while you watch for other signs. But, is £66 a lot to spend when set against the potential costs of replacing damaged timbers? That said, although unsightly, unless it is a serious infestation, the structural integrity on a large beam may not be seriously impaired, but something you need to get sorted, because the beetles may attack wooden furniture as well.

Yeah we have had a good look and im not sure, im leaning towards the common furniture bug as described in this guide : http://safeguardstore.co.uk/woodworm...ication-guide/
the frass was fairly fine and was gritty, the holes dont look big at all but then 2mm vs 3mm isnt much in it, i will get some measurements later. But then you have it in the centre of the timber which makes it seem like deathwatch, it does seem local as its just one plank (one step), it looks like someone has been eating/chewing at the side and then above it a small chunk taken out and then in the centre you have quite a few holes.

I think the mindset we are on is that we order this now, rip the celler ceiling down and check underneath all the boards and our lofts (cover the bathroom where we have seen a couple, not many), and if we dont find any then we will just spray the stairs and some surrounding area and leave it at that see if it improves, and then we have treatment left over so if it ever comes back we can apply it ourselves. Worst case is that it has spread and we will get someone out to assess the damage in terms of if anything needs replacing, and spray it all ourselves, the ceiling needs to come down anyways as the plasterboard has so many holes in it (i feel through the floor once haha, and then some of us playing pool forget how low the ceiling is!).

When we take it all down i will be able to assess the damage better, cant find anything cheaper so going to order the soluguard as their cut off is 1pm for next day and we have the weekend todo this really!.

How old is the house (and which bit of Plymouth?

As for the application, a paintbrush will be fine for local areas, or you might get a pressurised sprayer used for spraying garden insecticides. Hoselock do one or two, and that might make the job a bit quicker.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hozelock-Kil...0282453&sr=8-5

or

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hozelock-Ltd...282556&sr=8-32

You can get them from a garden centre (or Lawsons probably sell them, they seem to sell everything!)

Parents had woodworm in the timber frame of their new extension. They are a two old hippies so went with a "green" product that was safe to use in a house with animals. Seems to have done the trick nicely and after one application I haven't noticed any more of that fine sawdust.
Couldn't comment on the price/availability of the solution, but if this is something you are interested in I can always ask the old man.

When I owned a house we had things burrowed in many of the timbers through out the house. The house was 100 years old and much of the origional house was still in excellent condition. We had guarantees for timber treatment and rising damp, this and that in our deeds.

After reading the review of the damp proof course repair I was appaled that some bloke with a conductivity meter recommending the previous owner to let his company do some work on the house. He referred to his conductivity meter as a moisture meter in his report and was not very precise about his readings in the report. OFC no readings were taken once he'd been to prove he was justified in his descision.

I'm not saying this is the case but in many instances the little critters have already left if you can see the holes. the people selling the stuff you need to treat the problem are keen to make you think that you're house is going to fall down right now if you can't kill everything. Just be glad you don't have termites.

Havent bought it, dad said we will take the ceiling down this weekend and order later, £72 was more than he expected :P.

The house was built 1910 or something, believe its over 100 years old now or atleast very close. Area is plymstock, pomphlett road we are right next to the water, its possible it is just purely a local thing as our celler has had alot of damp over the year (after getting the council to fix their flipping drains outside many times), and i just took some stuff from the celler and there was alot of moisture inside so in cold weather its freezing down there and a bit wet, and im told woodworm like moist wood so that could be why they are there and if theres any in the bathroom that would also explain it.

Thankfully we have a spray aswell so we are sorted in the application, merely where and what to apply :D.

As you say DG they have most likely left, the thing is the treatment works as they come out (or atleast thats what ive been reading) and so they eat it on the way out and die shortly after so basically could all be dead, and the frass we are seeing is simply whats left over and since its under the stairs it gets quite a bit of traffic and with young ones sliding down the stairs it isnt exactly light footing :P.

Circuitmonkey ill assume its an expensive treatement if its green, they always are :D. if you do get a chance id appreciate it but dont go out the way to ask, we will be deciding over the weekend :).

Thanks guys!

Check for rot in the cellar too. Wet rot isn't too much of a problem, dry rot really is! Nice part of the world though, I used to live in Stoke, then Pennycomequick.

Good times! :)

yeah we will be checking for rot etc, thankfully our celler is 100% stone wall, no wood on the sides/foundation its only whats on our main floor :). Be interesting to see what crap we find when we tear it down though :D

GL and its great fun pulling your house apart to see whats there! I never manage to put aside enough time to put it back together properly!

Hi everyone, I had some issues with woodworm in my house not too long ago and really struggled to find any resources online that could help me. I've decided to start a little website that I thought could help others, any feedback is much appreciated:

http://www.woodwormtreatmenthq.com