Best time and way to treat woodworm

[dominoman]

We recently moved to a house which has floorboards riddled with woodworm. Our surveyor thinks some it is is still active and since we've moved more of the floorboards have started to crumble.

Luckily we have a deep crawl space under the house, so should be OK to get under and spray it. The plan is to remove all the underfloor insulation (glass fibre) and then spray top and bottom.

My questions. Is this worth doing as a DIY job? Will one application of spray be enough?

Also, is there a good time of year to do it? Ideally we wanted to wait until next Summer.

 

[gregers]

depending on how bad the outbreak is,if you leave it until next year it may well cause more damage??
even after spray treatment you will still see holes appearing as the beetles emerge out from the timber,so it may well be a couple of life cycles before they are totally eradicated.
as for diy,if you buy the correct ppe then use the internet to find common solutions on how to treat/spray then if you feel its something you want to take on then go for it.

as for the correct spray/solution if you can get the right stuff direct from the manufactures that would be better the buying it from the sheds.

at work we use 'safegaurd chemicals' but they may only deal with trade??

 

[geraldthehamster]

Do you have adequate ventilation under the floor, and do you have central heating? Nowadays most houses are too dry to support active woodworm.

Cheers
Richard

 

[dominoman]

Do you have adequate ventilation under the floor, and do you have central heating? Nowadays most houses are too dry to support active woodworm.

We do have central heating but the under floor space is never really dry. I noticed some of the air bricks at the front are covered with insulation so will start there.

If the under house space is dry and the heating is on do you think I can just leave the woodworm to go away by itself (if there even is any)

 

[geraldthehamster]

Do you have adequate ventilation under the floor, and do you have central heating? Nowadays most houses are too dry to support active woodworm.

We do have central heating but the under floor space is never really dry. I noticed some of the air bricks at the front are covered with insulation so will start there.

If the under house space is dry and the heating is on do you think I can just leave the woodworm to go away by itself (if there even is any)

I'm not an expert on woodworm but I'd suggest seeing some evidence of new activity before introducing noxious chemicals into your living space.

Cheers
Richard

 

[gregers]

read this then decide,1 of many on the web.
http://www.mcgill-consultancy.co.uk/woodworm.html

 

[geraldthehamster]

read this then decide,1 of many on the web.
http://www.mcgill-consultancy.co.uk/woodworm.html[/QUOTE]

All these "consultanices" and "experts" have a vested interest in hyping up woodworm, to defend their business model. Quite shocking when you consider how toxic woodworm treatments are. For a measured view see here:

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/woodworm-the-hole-in-the-argument/

This has been discussed many times before in DIYnot. As the irascible one would say, why not use the search facility?

Cheers
Richard

 

[AronSearle]

In this country, insect damage mostly only happens when the timber is already decaying due to excess wetting, and the timber is full of fungal attack.

There are some exceptions, but dry floorboards being attacked by woodworm in the UK is extremly rare, I would strongly suspect historical damage. Lot's of surveyors know little about wood insects, so just have a standard "woodworm detected/may be active/inactive" clause.

If the underfloor vents have been blocked, then do have a good pokeabout to ensure the floor joists are not wet.

Preservative is mostly to ensure further decay does not occur whilst wet timber dries.

 

[gregers]

so the floor i fell through many years ago which was bone dry wasnt woodworm then?
coz i beg to differ.

 

[AronSearle]

so the floor i fell through many years ago which was bone dry wasnt woodworm then?
coz i beg to differ.

I said it was rare, and it is, I am right and you are wrong

This is also standard text you will find in timber books, such as the BRE timber pests guide.

Think about how many hundreds of thousands (millions?) of floorboards and softwood roof timbers there are in old buildings in the UK.

Insects attacking dry floorboards is extremly uncommon.

 

[geraldthehamster]

so the floor i fell through many years ago which was bone dry wasnt woodworm then?
coz i beg to differ.

It wasn't active woodworm, certainly.

Cheers
Richard

 

[gregers]

so the floor i fell through many years ago which was bone dry wasnt woodworm then?
coz i beg to differ.

It wasn't active woodworm, certainly.

Cheers
Richard

as chrimbo is round the corner,OH YES IT WAS.

floor boards were totally infested and minimal infestation in the joists.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Best Time To Treat Wood Worm?

Normally on a Tuesday afternoon.

Hope that help?

Andy

 

[HawkEye244]

Any photos ?

I'm very much of the same mentality as some of the chaps that have commented, I'd question chemical treatment knowing the profit incentive behind it, it seems no different than the asbestos and damp industries which are fear industries let's be honest.

I'd open up those airing bricks fully and monitor