the Victorian house we recently bought, and which is empty while we
are doing it up, seems to have a lot of woodworm holes. It's in floor
boards and joists. The worst are some ground floor joists. I know
that in heated hosues these infestations tend to die out but I cannot
tell whether this infestation is active or not. I plan to take
professional advice but....

I know (from past experience) that most comanies require you to lift
floorboards every metre (and use a 1 metre spray nozzle). I would
like to avoid lifting so many boards because of the damage. Most of
my boards run right across from side to side so they are hard to lift
without either cutting the boards or removing the skirting boards.

Does anyone know a company which will treat an infestation (if
required) using longer (say 2m) nozzles, so I can lift fewer boards?

Many thanks,

Robert

RobertL wrote:
the Victorian house we recently bought, and which is empty while we
are doing it up, seems to have a lot of woodworm holes. It's in floor
boards and joists. The worst are some ground floor joists. I know
that in heated hosues these infestations tend to die out but I cannot
tell whether this infestation is active or not. I plan to take
professional advice but....

I know (from past experience) that most comanies require you to lift
floorboards every metre (and use a 1 metre spray nozzle). I would
like to avoid lifting so many boards because of the damage. Most of
my boards run right across from side to side so they are hard to lift
without either cutting the boards or removing the skirting boards.

Does anyone know a company which will treat an infestation (if
required) using longer (say 2m) nozzles, so I can lift fewer boards?

Many thanks,

Robert


i think woodworm like damp wood,
they seem to have muched wood near historic leaks in my victorian house,
where slates have slipped, or water's seeped in,
maybe when the hosue wasnt used in wartime
or when a poor little old lady lived here alone and only used one room...

I found the airbricks under the floors were blocked with mud
where the garden had grown uypwards...


There are far worse bugs than woodworm, it only eats the soft part of
the oak beams...

i look forward to hearing from the experts..

[g]

RobertL wrote:
the Victorian house we recently bought, and which is empty while we
are doing it up, seems to have a lot of woodworm holes. It's in floor
boards and joists. The worst are some ground floor joists. I know
that in heated hosues these infestations tend to die out but I cannot
tell whether this infestation is active or not. I plan to take
professional advice but....

I know (from past experience) that most comanies require you to lift
floorboards every metre (and use a 1 metre spray nozzle). I would
like to avoid lifting so many boards because of the damage. Most of
my boards run right across from side to side so they are hard to lift
without either cutting the boards or removing the skirting boards.

Does anyone know a company which will treat an infestation (if
required) using longer (say 2m) nozzles, so I can lift fewer boards?

Many thanks,

Robert

We have woodworm believed to be common beetle in the joists under our
floor. Seems to be restricted to the wet side of the house under
kitchen, cloakroom etc. Stuck tissue over some joists early in 2008 and
will see if evidence of live movements through tissue when we open up
the kitchen floor again soon in company of suitable expert.
We have no wish to take up furniture and carpets in the lounge and diner
and will probably take a chance on this area.
Like you the less invasive the better. Unfortunate that the little
bu**ers cannot be killed in the wood and as far as I am aware the only
treatment is to coat every part of the wood involved.

someone told me woodworm love Pear wood,
and gave me several slices which i've nailed around the attic,

The theory is that the woodworm when they hatch will sniff it out
and fly to it and lay their eggs there,
then a few years later I will burn it.

He called it sacrificial wood.

I cant see any harm.

but is it true?

[g]

On Sun, 04 Jan 2009 14:57:34 +0000, george (dicegeorge) wrote:

The theory is that the woodworm when they hatch will sniff it out
and fly to it and lay their eggs there, then a few years later I will
burn it. He called it sacrificial wood. I cant see any harm. but is it
true?

Might be the beetles are a little fussy about the timber they like to lay
on, different species prefering different woods. But wood worm is not
normally a problem in modern heated house, the timber is just too dry
unless there is a source of moisture from somewhere.

--
Cheers
Dave.

In article ,
"george (dicegeorge)" writes:
someone told me woodworm love Pear wood,
and gave me several slices which i've nailed around the attic,

The theory is that the woodworm when they hatch will sniff it out
and fly to it and lay their eggs there,
then a few years later I will burn it.

He called it sacrificial wood.

I cant see any harm.

but is it true?

Don't know, but I recall discovering that they really liked
my grandmother's wicker chair, when we were clearing out the
house. They didn't seem to have touched anything else.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 4 Jan, 14:53, Invisible Man wrote:
RobertL wrote:
the Victorian house we recently bought, and which is empty while we
are doing it up, seems to have a lot of woodworm holes. *It's in floor
boards and joists. *The worst are some ground floor joists. *I know
that in heated hosues these infestations tend to die out but I cannot
tell whether this infestation is active or not. I plan to take
professional advice but....

I know (from *past experience) that most comanies require you to lift
floorboards every metre (and use a 1 metre spray nozzle). *I would
like to avoid lifting so many boards because of the damage. *Most of
my boards run right across from side to side so they are hard to lift
without either cutting the boards or removing the skirting boards.

Does anyone know a company which will treat an infestation (if
required) using longer (say 2m) nozzles, so I can lift fewer boards?

Many thanks,

Robert

We have woodworm believed to be common beetle in the joists under our
floor. Seems to be restricted to the wet side of the house under
kitchen, cloakroom etc. Stuck tissue over some joists early in 2008 and
will see if evidence of live movements through tissue when we open up
the kitchen floor again soon in company of suitable expert.
We have no wish to take up furniture and carpets in the lounge and diner
and will probably take a chance on this area.
Like you the less invasive the better. Unfortunate that the little
bu**ers cannot be killed in the wood and as far as I am aware the only
treatment is to coat every part of the wood involved


To answer my own question slightly: and (I assume) floorboards.

Because of the tighter regs these days they will not treat the timbers
unless the infestation is live. I wanted to have it treated now while
the house is empty and some of the floor is up but Protem said they
were not allowed to do 'preemptive' treatments any more but would have
to do a suvey first (at a price). .

Robert

On 4 Jan, 14:09, RobertL wrote:
the Victorian house we recently bought, and which is empty while we
are doing it up, seems to have a lot of woodworm holes. *It's in floor
boards and joists. *The worst are some ground floor joists. *I know
that in heated hosues these infestations tend to die out but I cannot
tell whether this infestation is active or not. I plan to take
professional advice but....


Almost all infestation professionals, and their websites, will tell
you that you need treatment. In fact it is unusual for woodworm to
survive in the presence of central heating and proper ventilation.
Moreover, it would be unusual if a Victorian house had not had
woodworm during the first decade of its life, before the timbers dried
out properly. The balance of probability is that your woodworm is not
active, but I'd follow the advice of others in this thread on testing
to see if any new holes appear - certainly before introducing noxious
chemicals into your house.

Regards
Richard

Oh, and here's another story about professionals. I bought a small
Victorian terraced house, in York, in 1992. The sort of two-up, two
down with a staircase across the middle, and the front door opening
straight into the front room. My surveyor reported slight movement in
the floor, inside the front door. I called in a reputable damp-
treatment company, who diagnosed wet rot in the joists, and quoted for
replacing some of them, and floorboards, and also recommended lifting
the quarry-tiled floor in the back room, and replacing it with
concrete and a DPM. At just under 2 grand if I remember rightly.

I declined, left it alone and forgot about it, right until I put the
house on the market 7 years later. As the floor still moved slightly,
I lifted some floorboards. The movement was due to a slipped wedge
between the front joist and the dwarf wall that was meant to support
it. No sign of damp in either floor. I knocked the wedge back in and
the floor was solid as a solid thing.


Regards
Richard

In fact it is unusual for woodworm to
survive in the presence of central heating and proper ventilation.

so if any woodwork hatch under your dry warm floor
they will fly out of the air bricks and find some wet wood
in the garden, or next door,

and any woodworm beetles from the garden or nextdoor
may come in through the air bricks,
sniff about, then go out again without laying their eggs...


innit?

[g]

On 4 Jan, 14:09, RobertL wrote:
the Victorian house we recently bought, and which is empty while we
are doing it up, seems to have a lot of woodworm holes. *It's in floor
boards and joists. *The worst are some ground floor joists. *I know
that in heated hosues these infestations tend to die out but I cannot
tell whether this infestation is active or not. I plan to take
professional advice but....

I know (from *past experience) that most comanies require you to lift
floorboards every metre (and use a 1 metre spray nozzle). *I would
like to avoid lifting so many boards because of the damage. *Most of
my boards run right across from side to side so they are hard to lift
without either cutting the boards or removing the skirting boards.

Does anyone know a company which will treat an infestation (if
required) using longer (say 2m) nozzles, so I can lift fewer boards?

Many thanks,

Robert

Dear Robert
As Gerald so rightly observes the chances of your Victorian house
having active woodworm is remote. From the evidence I have
subjectively and slightly objectively (ie survey data of about 200
houses surveyed) assessed, I put the chances at between 1% and 5% at
the most. So what do you do? Firstly may I say that at this level of
risk the cost of treatment - say £1,000 by the time you have done all
the work - is a poor investment and is best off in unit trusts or
elsewhere.
I suggest you monitor the attack as follows: get some glue that does
not contain a biocide (flour and water?) and put on tissue paper to
all the affected parts you can get at PREFERABLY under the floor
boards and joist if some traps are available. Wait till Semtember
2011 (though not harm looking every September thereafter) and absent
any NEW flight holes through the paper you know the attack is dead.
Absent any ni Sept 2009 increases your chances of it being dead 100
fold but to be sure you have to wait 3 years!
All you then have is a structural problem to be assessed - such as
damaged sapwood on floorboard edges prone to high heels going through!
To answer your question - ie if YOU want to treat you would best be
advised to get a firm that does not understand fully the COSSH
regulation which require them not to treat unless it is active or
there is a risk of activity and which has access to a fogging machine
which will be used without lifting any floorboards. This normally uses
a boron-based active ingredient and access is obtained via the air
bricks. It is expensiver and in my opinion would be a complete waste
of money but you are the client so you decide. The idea of long
lances is not practical unless your oversite is very deep. Best to
lift two or three boards side by side to improve ange and access but
most firms do not have such flexibility.

Chris

On Jan 5, 8:41*am, wrote:
On 4 Jan, 14:09, RobertL wrote:





the Victorian house we recently bought, and which is empty while we
are doing it up, seems to have a lot of woodworm holes. *It's in floor
boards and joists. *The worst are some ground floor joists. *I know
that in heated hosues these infestations tend to die out but I cannot
tell whether this infestation is active or not. I plan to take
professional advice but....

I know (from *past experience) that most comanies require you to lift
floorboards every metre (and use a 1 metre spray nozzle). *I would
like to avoid lifting so many boards because of the damage. *Most of
my boards run right across from side to side so they are hard to lift
without either cutting the boards or removing the skirting boards.

Does anyone know a company which will treat an infestation (if
required) using longer (say 2m) nozzles, so I can lift fewer boards?

Many thanks,

Robert

Dear Robert
As Gerald so rightly observes the chances of your Victorian house
having active woodworm is remote. From the evidence I have
subjectively and slightly objectively (ie survey data of about 200
houses surveyed) assessed, I put the chances at between 1% and 5% at
the most. So what do *you do? Firstly may I say that at this level of
risk the cost of treatment - say £1,000 by the time you have done all
the work - is a poor investment and is best off in unit trusts or
elsewhere.
.......


Thanks for this advice. However, ideally I'd like to know now
whether the infestation is live and treat it if it is. The house is
empty, boards are lifted all over the place. By september (when
'holes in paper test' would be done) we will have moved in so it would
be much more disruptive to do what now is a simple job.

I've booked Rentokil to survey the house and advise on the infestation
and treaatment. They have a fogging system.

Robert

RobertL wrote:
On Jan 5, 8:41 am, wrote:
On 4 Jan, 14:09, RobertL wrote:





the Victorian house we recently bought, and which is empty while we
are doing it up, seems to have a lot of woodworm holes. It's in floor
boards and joists. The worst are some ground floor joists. I know
that in heated hosues these infestations tend to die out but I cannot
tell whether this infestation is active or not. I plan to take
professional advice but....
I know (from past experience) that most comanies require you to lift
floorboards every metre (and use a 1 metre spray nozzle). I would
like to avoid lifting so many boards because of the damage. Most of
my boards run right across from side to side so they are hard to lift
without either cutting the boards or removing the skirting boards.
Does anyone know a company which will treat an infestation (if
required) using longer (say 2m) nozzles, so I can lift fewer boards?
Many thanks,
Robert
Dear Robert
As Gerald so rightly observes the chances of your Victorian house
having active woodworm is remote. From the evidence I have
subjectively and slightly objectively (ie survey data of about 200
houses surveyed) assessed, I put the chances at between 1% and 5% at
the most. So what do you do? Firstly may I say that at this level of
risk the cost of treatment - say £1,000 by the time you have done all
the work - is a poor investment and is best off in unit trusts or
elsewhere.
......


Thanks for this advice. However, ideally I'd like to know now
whether the infestation is live and treat it if it is. The house is
empty, boards are lifted all over the place. By september (when
'holes in paper test' would be done) we will have moved in so it would
be much more disruptive to do what now is a simple job.

I've booked Rentokil to survey the house and advise on the infestation
and treaatment. They have a fogging system.

Robert

Robert
I would be very interested to hear what Rentokil have to say. My tissue
paper has been on nearly a year and I have not checked it yet. Problem
is that eggs or whatever lie in the wood for up to 3 years and emerge
between May and October. As I understand it this makes it very difficult
to tell whether an infestation is still active.
We need to gut the kitchen and replace it from floor to ceiling
inclusive asap so the sooner we can exclude the possibility or further
damage or get it dealt with the better.

Invisible Man wrote:
RobertL wrote:
On Jan 5, 8:41 am, wrote:
On 4 Jan, 14:09, RobertL wrote:





the Victorian house we recently bought, and which is empty while we
are doing it up, seems to have a lot of woodworm holes. It's in floor
boards and joists. The worst are some ground floor joists. I know
that in heated hosues these infestations tend to die out but I cannot
tell whether this infestation is active or not. I plan to take
professional advice but....
I know (from past experience) that most comanies require you to lift
floorboards every metre (and use a 1 metre spray nozzle). I would
like to avoid lifting so many boards because of the damage. Most of
my boards run right across from side to side so they are hard to lift
without either cutting the boards or removing the skirting boards.
Does anyone know a company which will treat an infestation (if
required) using longer (say 2m) nozzles, so I can lift fewer boards?
Many thanks,
Robert
Dear Robert
As Gerald so rightly observes the chances of your Victorian house
having active woodworm is remote. From the evidence I have
subjectively and slightly objectively (ie survey data of about 200
houses surveyed) assessed, I put the chances at between 1% and 5% at
the most. So what do you do? Firstly may I say that at this level of
risk the cost of treatment - say £1,000 by the time you have done all
the work - is a poor investment and is best off in unit trusts or
elsewhere.
......


Thanks for this advice. However, ideally I'd like to know now
whether the infestation is live and treat it if it is. The house is
empty, boards are lifted all over the place. By september (when
'holes in paper test' would be done) we will have moved in so it would
be much more disruptive to do what now is a simple job.

I've booked Rentokil to survey the house and advise on the infestation
and treaatment. They have a fogging system.

Robert

Robert
I would be very interested to hear what Rentokil have to say. My tissue
paper has been on nearly a year and I have not checked it yet. Problem
is that eggs or whatever lie in the wood for up to 3 years and emerge
between May and October. As I understand it this makes it very difficult
to tell whether an infestation is still active.
We need to gut the kitchen and replace it from floor to ceiling
inclusive asap so the sooner we can exclude the possibility or further
damage or get it dealt with the better.

Rentokil are coming out tomorrow.
Anyone know any good companies that operate in mid-Essex that I could
get a competitive opinion on my woodworm from?

Invisible Man wrote:
Invisible Man wrote:
RobertL wrote:
On Jan 5, 8:41 am, wrote:
On 4 Jan, 14:09, RobertL wrote:





the Victorian house we recently bought, and which is empty while we
are doing it up, seems to have a lot of woodworm holes. It's in floor
boards and joists. The worst are some ground floor joists. I know
that in heated hosues these infestations tend to die out but I cannot
tell whether this infestation is active or not. I plan to take
professional advice but....
I know (from past experience) that most comanies require you to lift
floorboards every metre (and use a 1 metre spray nozzle). I would
like to avoid lifting so many boards because of the damage. Most of
my boards run right across from side to side so they are hard to lift
without either cutting the boards or removing the skirting boards.
Does anyone know a company which will treat an infestation (if
required) using longer (say 2m) nozzles, so I can lift fewer boards?
Many thanks,
Robert
Dear Robert
As Gerald so rightly observes the chances of your Victorian house
having active woodworm is remote. From the evidence I have
subjectively and slightly objectively (ie survey data of about 200
houses surveyed) assessed, I put the chances at between 1% and 5% at
the most. So what do you do? Firstly may I say that at this level of
risk the cost of treatment - say £1,000 by the time you have done all
the work - is a poor investment and is best off in unit trusts or
elsewhere.
......


Thanks for this advice. However, ideally I'd like to know now
whether the infestation is live and treat it if it is. The house is
empty, boards are lifted all over the place. By september (when
'holes in paper test' would be done) we will have moved in so it would
be much more disruptive to do what now is a simple job.

I've booked Rentokil to survey the house and advise on the infestation
and treaatment. They have a fogging system.

Robert

Robert
I would be very interested to hear what Rentokil have to say. My
tissue paper has been on nearly a year and I have not checked it yet.
Problem is that eggs or whatever lie in the wood for up to 3 years and
emerge between May and October. As I understand it this makes it very
difficult to tell whether an infestation is still active.
We need to gut the kitchen and replace it from floor to ceiling
inclusive asap so the sooner we can exclude the possibility or further
damage or get it dealt with the better.

Rentokil are coming out tomorrow.
Anyone know any good companies that operate in mid-Essex that I could
get a competitive opinion on my woodworm from?

AFAIK woodworm need damp wood, which is why live infestations are
unusual these days