Woodworm ? ( pics included)

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Hi Folks,
I removed a skirting board from my kitchen the other day and noticed the bottom edge crubled in my hands. On closer inspection i noticed lots of little holes :confused: Am i looking at a possible infestation of some sort ? I havent noticed any other obvious damage to any other wood in the house .

Any ideas plz ?

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g85/boxcleva/PA230029.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g85/boxcleva/PA230028.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g85/boxcleva/PA230027.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g85/boxcleva/PA230026.jpg
 
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You have an insect attack and possibly rot as well.

Cut out and burn all the old stuff.

Poke a flat-ended screwdriver into nearby wood to see how far the damage goes. It will probably be in the floorboards and joists too. (the reason for using a screwdriver not a pin-shaped prodder is that the mark will not look like an insect exit hole).

Treat all the new joinery, and old stuff in the same room (at least) with Cuprinol or similar.

If there is a lot of it throughout the house better have it sprayed - floors, joists, roof timbers especially - or you can do it yourself. Vacuum off the dirt and dust before spraying. Timber like your sample will have lost their strength and need to be replaced.

The adult beetles can fly, but usually walk to the nearest bare timber to lay their eggs for the next generation. They can spread under lino or carpets.

If you have valuable furniture or wooden clock cases, better treat them too.

If your house is now dry and centrally heated I believe the insects will find it harder to live.
 
Thanks for the rapid reply John.

I have only moved into the house 3 weeks ago so the history re damp etc is a little sketchy. The skirting board concerned was removed from the kitchen utility room which had a washing machine and tumble drier in it. I dont know whether that would contribute to a nice living environment for the bugs. Also there is no extraction in place in the adjoining kitchen ( open arch through) and it does suffer from large condensation build up when cooking. Another contributory factor perhaps ?

Could you suggest a DIY spray that I can get my hands on please ?


Many thanks again
 
"Cuprinol" is a well-established brand. "Green" is probably the most widely used preservative for building and horticultural timbers, you can see where it has been applied by the colour and the latest versions do not smell much. They also make special Woodworm killers and dry Rot killers. They make a 5-litre sprayer for these (similar to a garden sprayer but the materials stand up to the solvents and chemical ingredients). Do not confuse with the water-based stains for sheds and fences made by the same company, which are for decorative and rail-repellant use and have a different sprayer.

They are widely available at DIY and hardware stores and builders merchants. Some own-brands are also available.

Have a look at http://www.cuprinol.co.uk/products/products_treatment.html
 
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Thanks John ,
To be honest it scared me to death when i saw the small holes in the skirting.
I'll be spraying anything and everything i possibly can as soon as possible!

Thanks for the product links :)
 
don't forget your personal protection. these are poisons you're splashing about.
 
The woodworm you have is the wood boring weevil.
This is different to other types of woodworm were the grub or worm causes the damage, in that it is the adult beetle which chews the wood.
There are several types and they only attack timbers which are under attack by fungal decay, ie wet rot or dry rot.
Therefore they will not attack your furniture or any other timbers in the house unless they have a high moisture content and are suffering from rot.
The main thing is to remove the structurally unsound timbers, rectify the cause of the dampness, and then treat the surrounding timbers with an insecticide.
 
It may not apply to the beastie you have, but in any case read this before you drench the house in toxic substances.
 
interesting link oilman.

I used to work for a woodworm treatment company (years ago) and it was well known that the whole process was largely a waste of money, praying on the fears of people for thier property.
The thinking went something like this:
At best the solvent based chemicals only penetrate the wood to a mm or so.
The adult lays its eggs/larvae, thousands of them, into the wood through an ovipositor (a syringe like tube) below the chemical layer - so no harm is done by the chemicals there.
The grubs spend years (up to five years) munching away through the wood below the chemical layer - no harm done to the woodworm there either.
when it matures the woodworm emerges to mate, in doing so it eats approx 1 mm of sprayed wood (if it is unlucky enough to find a bit you didnt miss) and dies (or with some chemicals becomes infertile).

out of the many hundreds that survive to emerge from the wood only a small proportion are killed (unless of course you sprayed absolutely every surface of every piece of wood, including beneath paint and exposed flooring surfaces - in other words dismantled and stripped all the wood from your house prior to spraying).
The survivors mate and return, each to lay thousands of larvae. and the cycle begins again.

At best spraying could only minimise damage for future infestation, the five year munch cycle will carry on unaffected.

the reason that all wood in houses isn't completely eaten away by woodworm is, as the link suggests they stop when theyve eaten the tasty bit, which is comparatively small sections of most beams, boards and panels. this is why woodworm companies love to offer 30, 40 or 50 year guarantees.

save your money and effort and just replace any structural threat.

Even the dreaded death watch beetle would only threaten a building if you are concerned about its stability for the next 300 years, if so - what are you doing using galvanised joist hangers, plasterboard, gripfill etc.

Now termites thats another matter.

Boxcleva judging by the photos JohnD may have a point about rot - the filaments in the photo could be early stage dry rot, but on the other hand they could well be a light covering of spiders web also.
try rolling some up between your fingers, if its spiders web it'll compact into a tight hard little ball, if its dry rot mycelium it'll sqidge into nothingness.

If it is dry rot the best cure is to remove all you can and ventilate the location well - dry rot cannot survive in a well ventilated area, you could try lightly burning the surface with a plumbers blowlamp to kill the existing rot (if that is what you have) but the risk of fire should be considered, especially around the tinder like insect damage.
Chemicals are equally suspect for killing dry rot, although household bleach does a very good job. the household fear industry is good at thinking up ways to part you from your money.

The wood boring insect damage does look to be quite aged, personally I would replace any overly damaged bits and forget about it - well maybe id take another look in a couple of years to see if anything has changed.

good luck
 
david p wrote
I used to work for a woodworm treatment company (years ago) and it was well known that the whole process was largely a waste of money, praying on the fears of people for thier property.
In the light of the advice that you gave to Boxcleva particularly in treating against dry rot I can only assume that the company you worked for did not give you any sort of training.
For gods sake boxcleva don't under any account use household bleach to treat the masonary against dry rot or use a blow lamp.
Both are complete waste of time, very expensive, and more importantly very dangerous.
I repeat from the photos shown you have only got an infestation of weevil, and before you embark on unneccesary work and expense I suugest that you send a sample of the affected timber to an independant analysist for identification
 
Hi Anobium,

I'm not a dry rot expert by any means, but could those (hopefully) spider's webs not be dry rot hyphae ? I'm genuinely interested....difficult to tell from the photos.....I guess sending a sample for analysis would be the best thing to do.....in my experience....dry rot shouldn't be ignored, or taken lightly, but then maybe I'm buying into the fear theory !

Don't know where you're based but I've used a company called Kiltox (www.kiltox.co.uk) several times, and I can't recommend them highly enough....Patrick Gallagher there is an absolute damp professor & inventor ! His knowledge is used by the Government to advise on Building Reg's, etc....and has worked on many prestigious buildings in England and Scotland.

If you do decide to use a company then I can recommend Kiltox as a company. I've used and been stung before by other so called damp proofing / rot specialists that shall remain nameless.....
 
I'm not a dry rot expert by any means, but could those (hopefully) spider's webs not be dry rot hyphae ? I'm genuinely interested....difficult to tell from the photos.....I guess sending a sample for analysis would be the best thing to do.....in my experience....dry rot shouldn't be ignored, or taken lightly, but then maybe I'm buying into the fear theory !

Hi Mr Mike.Obviously I can't be 100% sure based on the evidence of photo's, but you normally don't get the hypae growing on the surface of the wood, it's normally within the timber. The growth that you see on the wood is usually the sheet mycelium or the fruiting body.
In any event the breakdown of the affected timber is not consistent with dry rot.
You have large cuboidal cracking of the timber were dry rot occurs.
PS Lets no go on about rising damp or "you no who" will be on to us, and I certainly don't want to go down that road again
 
Hi , and thanks all for your posts.

I can absolutly confirm that they are not spiders webs !

There are obvious pin holes which look like they were created by a burrowing insect of some description. Other than that there isnt much else I can tell you.

Thanks for all your replies
 

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