Woodworm treatment products

[SilverSaloon]

Hi

some good property advice on this forum, so i thought i'd ask a bit about the common furniture beetle who are squatting in my new-to-me house (according to "damp specialist surveyor/salesman" which could just be touting for business, we shall see), anyway...

I'm looking at treating the roof void timbers and floor timbers for woodworm - does anyone have any knowledge re what products to use?

ive found this:

INSECTICIDE FLUID / WOODWORM TREATMENT 1L MAKES 25L | eBay

MICROTECH INSECTICIDE / WOODWORM TREATMENT CONC. 1L | eBay

and

WYKABOR 10 TIMBER TREATMENT FOR WOODWORM DRY/WET ROT 5L | eBay

The 1st two are cheap as they dilute to 25 litres, wheas the wykabor 10 is 5 litres for roughly the same price.

As i've got a large area to cover the price difference is going to be quite a bit so would the cheaper stuff be fine you reckon or should i opt for the better-known brand?

cheers

Derek

 

[Burnerman]

Personally I'd go for well proven products such as Rentokil, but first you need to know if the beetle is active or has long gone.
Often enough you can see dust near the exit holes and if you are really lucky you'll see the things dead on a nearby window sill.
If you are going to DIY, do look at all the safety data regarding breathing the products in, though.
John

 

[Shutpa]

Some years ago when buying a house, the building society witheld part of the loan because the surveyor had detected active woodworm in the attic. Decided to tackle the job myself using Rentokill and a paint spraying attachment that came with my Electrolux cylinder vacuum. I totally saturated all of the woodwork being careful to use a mask throughout. Six months later, the building society sent in another surveyor who certified the all of the woodwork was free of woodworm and I got the money that had been witheld. The even better news was that they forgot to charge me for the second surveyor after I had agreed in advance to meet the cost. . In retrospect, I dont think any insect could have survived the amount of Rentokill that I used, but that is only my unqualified opinion.

 

[JohnD]

it is a nerve poison, of course, so use plastic gloves, breathing mask, goggles, hat, overalls etc.

 

[SilverSaloon]

yes I have a very good 3M mask that i will use, and protective "suit" + gloves.

 

[pred]

DO NOT USE A SPRAY THAT COMES OUT AS A MIST!!!

You want like a soft jet of liquid that'll reach about 4', perhaps a £15 garden spray bottle from B&Q with the nozzle removed..

 

[gregers]

what ever you do' wear a decent respirator'.

why not phone up your local preservation firm and see if they could supply some for you,that way your getting professional materials which has been proven to last.

also bear in mind that if you have the sprayer set to a jet you are wasting the fluid,you need it to saturate the timber,make sure the timber is as clean as you can get it(if in attic)and spray the rafters 1st that way fallout will have done half the job on the joists.
DO NOT WORK WITHIN THE SPRAY.

 

[pred]

DO NOT USE A SPRAY!!

If you go to a hire shop they may have the applicator for hire, the fluid comes out in a stream, to do it properly the house needs to be empty, in the lounge and bed rooms you lift three rows of floor boards, one either side and one in the middle, i ALWAYS get someone in to do it and give me a certificate, get a few quotes first to see how much they charge, do not bother with a company, all you need is a one man band.

NB Ensure the guarantee is on the house and not in your name, there is a company here in Bristol they do the work and the guarantee is transferable if you sell the house, for a price.

 

[pred]

Google timber preservation in your area, as i did, in Fife there are a fair few, phone and ask if they do free quotes, usually if you tell them what sort of property you have they should be able to give you a rough price..

 

[pred]

yes I have a very good 3M mask that i will use, and protective "suit" + gloves.

The guy i use has a little compressor that supplies the spray and gives him an air supply in his face mask, until recently, Lindane was used for the treatment of woodworm etc. trouble was it's cancergenic.

 

[gregers]

yeah in times of old,they also used to use paraffin,tbto and no doubt pcb.with these type of chemicals you were not allowed back into the property for at least 24-48 hours after treatment.
when i 1st started they started to use permethrin fluids,
http://www.permethrinspray.com/

because this was meant to be a lot safer for the environment etc and was iirc safe to use around bats and bat roosts,as these are protected under the relevant laws.
http://www.npt.gov.uk/PDF/Bat_Friendly_Timber_Treatment.pdf

i use pro bor db from safe guard chemicals,
http://www.safeguardeurope.com/pdf_datasheets/probor_datasheet.pdf
with these new chemicals you can re-entre within 8 hrs.
oh and if you read the data sheet above,YOU can spray it on,ideally with a proper pump and lance.
i was taught to take up every 5th board across the room this way,when you came back with the spray you overlapped each run with fluid.

oh and if doing your floors.ENSURE you isolate the electrics etc,so that the ceiling roses and jb's do not fill up with fluid while still live, ive never of course forgotten to do that

 

[onecog]

you might find this blog interesting ?

http://www.preservationexpert.co.uk...-quick-guide-for-consumers-and-surveyors-too/