Woodworm Treatment Services in The Torbay Area

If you have woodworm in your home or at your business then you have an issue that is not going to go away without professional help. Pest Professionals in Torbay can assist to provide you with instant advice and help if you have woodoworm problems in two extremely simple and effective stages:

The no obligation phone consultation service applies to both domestic and business customers in the Torbay area. No woodworm or timber job is too large or too small for us to take a look at. Where appropriate we are able to offer guidance on any immediate action required to safeguard your health, property or belongings prior to a visit. If a visit is called for we let you know if there will be a call out fee and advise on the likely costs of any timber or woodworm treatment should it be necessary.

Treatment of Woodworm and Timber Pests

The extensive use of timber in modern structural applications (floor joists, roof purlins, floorboards, rafters etc.) has increased the risk that timber pests pose. If left untreated, these insects will cause significant damage, which can ultimately lead to structural failure of the building.

Even though the adults can fly, woodworm is typically brought into a home for the first time through the purchase of previously owned furniture and can certainly also cause serious damage to costly wooden furniture, which may be antique.

Woodworm is in fact not a specific species of timber pest, but a generic term for the larval stage of a number of wood damaging beetles.

The Furniture Beetle, a small brown insect which is about 3mm to 5mm in length and flies quite readily, is the commonest. The Furniture Beetle lays its eggs on rough, unpolished wood and as soon as they hatch the grubs bore straight into the wood – leaving no trace until they emerge as beetles three years or so later, normally between May and September. Longhorn, Powder Post, Wharf Borer and Death Watch Beetles, the latter of which only infests large, old, hardwood beams, all possess a foothold in the UNITED KINGDOM.

The first indication of woodworm most people see is precise, rounded holes around 2mm across in wooden surface areas, often found with by tiny piles of wood dust underneath them.

New holes show clean white wood inside. Although the holes are made by emerging adult beetles that are as a result no longer a direct risk to the structure, larvae may still be burrowing away inside the wood. Crumbly edges to boards and to joists are also often a good indicator of their inhabitance and the necessity for woodworm control measures.

Woodworm Control

In cases where valued, rare and high priced pieces of wooden furniture, musical instruments, decorative or structural woodwork are impacted and need saving, a specialist woodworm treatment technique will certainly be needed. Woodworm in furniture can be cured with the use of the appropriate type of proprietary woodworm killer, with fluid injected into key flight holes. Floorboards should be lifted to get at the undersides and the joists.

If you have woodworm you will need to get rid of them. One of our experienced Pest Professionals will carry out an initial survey to establish the type of timber pest involved and the level of the problem, before advising on the most suitable treatment. The good news is that on evaluation an appropriate treatment can eliminate woodworm entirely. In the event of a substantial or difficult to eradicate infestation, we can also advise on specialist heat treatment approach.

Types of Timber Pests in the UK

The Furniture Beetle

The most common timber pest in the UK. Damages furniture, musical instruments, decorative woodwork etc. Larvae live for 3-5 years in the wood.

Beetle Larvae

Timber pest larvae bore deep into the wood and emerge from May to September. They can be burrowing in the wood for many years.

Death Watch Beetle

Dark reddish brown. Grubs like to eat older, hardwood structural timbers and can reside in them for ten years.

House Longhorn Beetle

Black/brown beetle not native to UK and primarily found in SE England. Infests seasoned and partially seasoned softwoods like pine.

Powder Post Beetle

Red/brown beetle that requires a diet of starch present in particular hardwoods. Can be a real problem in timber yards.

Wharf Borer Beetle

A brown beetle about 1cm long which lives in decayed wet timber. Adults commonly found close to waterways.

If you need sound advice or swift solutions to woodworm or timber pest problems anywhere in Torbay or the local towns and villages – speak to us.