I have just discovered an infestation of woodworm in a chest of
drawers. I suspect they have been in there since I brought the chest
about 7 years ago. Although I have removed the offending furniture I
was advised to check the floorboards in the room. However the house we
live in (we have been here about 18 months) is very new (~4 years old)
and the boards are beneath a layer of chipboard. Before I continue to
create an even bigger mess I suddenly thought that current building
regulations might mean that floor boards and joists have to be treated
to protect them against woodworm. Is this the case or am I simply too
hopeful.

Please help before I wreck our bedroom.

"rtowers" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have just discovered an infestation of woodworm in a chest of
drawers. I suspect they have been in there since I brought the chest
about 7 years ago. Although I have removed the offending furniture I
was advised to check the floorboards in the room. However the house we
live in (we have been here about 18 months) is very new (~4 years old)
and the boards are beneath a layer of chipboard. Before I continue to
create an even bigger mess I suddenly thought that current building
regulations might mean that floor boards and joists have to be treated
to protect them against woodworm. Is this the case or am I simply too
hopeful.

Please help before I wreck our bedroom.

Your floorboards are the chipboard...

As far as I know, they don't like houses with central heating, it's too dry
for them (they like soggy rainforests)

Bob

rtowers wrote:
I have just discovered an infestation of woodworm in a chest of
drawers. I suspect they have been in there since I brought the chest
about 7 years ago. Although I have removed the offending furniture

To be treated, or burned? Was it *really* active woodworm? How
did you find out?


I
was advised to check the floorboards in the room. However the house we
live in (we have been here about 18 months) is very new (~4 years old)
and the boards are beneath a layer of chipboard.

Woodworm don't seem to like chipboard (not that it's really proof
against them always).


Before I continue to
create an even bigger mess I suddenly thought that current building
regulations

Crikey.


might mean that floor boards and joists have to be treated
to protect them against woodworm. Is this the case or am I simply too
hopeful.

I think you're being rather too hopeful.


Please help before I wreck our bedroom.

Leave it, there's nothing you can do right now to deal with them.
In the season, keep an eye out for further signs (especially on the
window sills, where dead bugs may be found). Even if you *do* have
a problem, it will take time to manifest itself, time to do any
significant. Take action later if you need to.

"rtowers" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have just discovered an infestation of woodworm in a chest of
drawers. I suspect they have been in there since I brought the chest
about 7 years ago. Although I have removed the offending furniture I
was advised to check the floorboards in the room. However the house we
live in (we have been here about 18 months) is very new (~4 years old)
and the boards are beneath a layer of chipboard. Before I continue to
create an even bigger mess I suddenly thought that current building
regulations might mean that floor boards and joists have to be treated
to protect them against woodworm. Is this the case or am I simply too
hopeful.

Treatment of new timber is only required in certain areas where there is a
history of attack by House Longhorn Beetle. These include parts of West
Surrey, North Hampshire and parts of Berkshire. This particular beetle is
very destructive and often difficult to notice until a lot of damage has
been done, but fortunately it's extremely rare. For some reason, the regs
only require treatment to roof timbers and not floor joists.

The holes you can see are where the adult beetle has eaten its way out and
flown away to find a mate and somewhere to lay its eggs. There could well
be more larvae still burrowing around in there, so it might be worthwhile
treating the chest with Cuprinol woodworm killer or similar, or you should
burn it if you don't want it any longer. The odds are well in your favour
concerning any damage to the house as the beetles are quite picky about the
type of timber. (Having said that, the larvae do have a penchant for
chipboard - I think they like the glue In general they only attack moist
sapwood, which nowadays you'll only find at MFI, IKEA or B&Q. I don't think
it's worth the effort and mess of checking the floorboards for some time
yet, as the beetles have to go through a complete lifecycle before any holes
appear, which takes around 4 years on average.

Hope this puts your mind at rest. You'll find some sensible advice he
http://www.ask-jeff.co.uk/building-woodworm.htm

Peter

"Chris Bacon" wrote in message
...
Woodworm don't seem to like chipboard

That's not my experience at all. I've seen chipboard roofdecking and
plywood meterboards etc literally eaten away by woodworm, with big piles of
dust underneath and the cables and fittings hanging in mid-air. These were
all in cold dampish places like cellars and garages. As I said in my other
message, there are types of glue used in the manufacture of these boards
that beetles find attractive. Maybe formaldehyde? I'm not a chemist

Peter

On Wed, 14 Dec 2005 21:25:01 -0000, "Peter Taylor"
wrote:

Treatment of new timber is only required in certain areas where there is a
history of attack by House Longhorn Beetle.

Note that this is only one of the three UK species of longhorn beetle.
The others (I've got a load of the little buggers, that came in with a
load of waney oak) will only attack green timber. They don't even like
oak sapwood, preferring just the cambium alone. The longhorn is
particularly problematic because it makes 1/4" holes, not the tiny ones
of the powder post or furniture beetles.

rtowers wrote:
I have just discovered an infestation of woodworm in a chest of
drawers.

Woodworm holes does not mean woodworm. Glue a piece of paper over the
holes: if the paper gets lots of little holes, youve got live worms, if
it doesnt, theres no problem,. Odds are you dont have worm.


NT

wrote in message
oups.com...
rtowers wrote:
I have just discovered an infestation of woodworm in a chest of
drawers.

Woodworm holes does not mean woodworm. Glue a piece of paper over the
holes: if the paper gets lots of little holes, youve got live worms, if
it doesnt, theres no problem,. Odds are you dont have worm.

True, but "lots" of holes is very unlikely, one or two is enough. And the
holes only appear around May-June each year.

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 14 Dec 2005 21:25:01 -0000, "Peter Taylor"
wrote:

The longhorn is
particularly problematic because it makes 1/4" holes, not the tiny ones
of the powder post or furniture beetles.

The larval stage of the House Longhorn Beetle can be up to 11 or 12 years
compared to the 3-4 years of the Common Furniture Beetle, and they're much
much larger too, up to 20mm long. So during its life one grub can chomp its
way through a massive amount of wood. It will eat out the entire cross
section of a piece of timber, leaving just a paper-thin skin on all 4 sides,
which still looks like solid wood to the unwary surveyor!

Peter

Peter Taylor wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
rtowers wrote:
I have just discovered an infestation of woodworm in a chest of
drawers.

Woodworm holes does not mean woodworm. Glue a piece of paper over the
holes: if the paper gets lots of little holes, youve got live worms, if
it doesnt, theres no problem,. Odds are you dont have worm.

True, but "lots" of holes is very unlikely, one or two is enough. And the
holes only appear around May-June each year.

Yes, I meant enough to warrant treatment rather than enough to confirm
existence of worm.

NT

wrote:
rtowers wrote:
I have just discovered an infestation of woodworm in a chest of
drawers.
Woodwom holes does not mean woodworm. Glue a piece of paper over the
holes: if the paper gets lots of little holes, youve got live worms, if
it doesnt, theres no problem,.

He'll have to wait about 6 months to find out!

Thanks for all the advice and it has put my mind to rest. The chest of
drawers was infested - I took a bradle to the back of the one drawer
around a recent hole (there was sawdust beneath it) and found that the
drawer had been eaten away. I took other random samples and more often
than not hit sawdust.

The chest has been dispoed off (quite sad really as I really liked it)
and you will pleased to hear that I have taken the advice to wait and
see and have not wreck the bedroom.

Thanks once again and apologies for the delay in responding - Christmas
shopping had to be done