Woodworm

johnwest288

Greetings all, Just a quick one. I bought an old antique storage box a few months ago and had it sitting on top of the kitchen presses (chabby chic style:rolleyes:) while dusting it the other day I noticed woodworm holes. Now the box must be 80 years old. Is there a way to see if this thing has wood worm? For now I have wrapped it up in black bin liners and have put it outside just so if there are woodworm they cant get into the kitchen units:eek:
I checked all the wood units near by and dont see any holes so far :cool:

dathi

ok woodworm are the larvae of the furniture beetle. the holes that you can see are the flight holes left behind when the beetle emerges around may /june. they then mate and lay eggs on wood. the eggs hatch and burrow into the wood causing damage as they eat and grow.two things they need is wood with a high moisture level, and raw unfinished wood. as the beetle cannot chew wood. so your kitchen presses are fine as they have a plastic coating. the easiest way to kill any remaining woodworm larvae that remain in the box is to place it in the freezer for 2 or 3 days if it is small enough. if not you can get woodworm fluid in any hardware shop which will kill them.

jack of all

All Daithi says above is spot on, I have often "treated" small infected wood items (like tool handles, old planes etc) by putting them into the freezer for a few days. You can get a Cuprinol woodworm treatment that comes in spray can form with a small nozzle which allows injection into flight holes. Failing that I've used regular fluid injected into flight holes with a small syringe (the type used to refill ink cartridges). Fill any flight holes with Brummer wood stopping for a neat job.

paddylonglegs

related question. i'v pulled up carpets in an upstairs bedroom that i reckon have been there for around 60 years. the house has always been habited from then. there are woodworm bore holes in some areas of the room but then clear on others. as the wood hasnt seen light of day in so long, would the beetles be dead at this stage or should i still treat the wood? I havent lifted up floor boards yet but I'm concerned that the ceiling joists have woodworm also.

thanks

dathi

ye woodworm is a very common problem in older houses in ireland. modern houses are usually warm and dry enough to prevent an outbreak of woodworm. but in older houses the wood usually has a higher moisture content, due to lower heating levels , so you would be better treating the area with a woodworm fluid.