Insects on upper floors - throw carpet out?

SwordofLight

Hi all - anyone ever had a silverfish problem?

I lifted back a corner of the carpet upstairs and a few silverfish scurried off. It's oldish carpet with no underlay.

From researching I see silverfish are attracted to damp, and feed on wallpaper and books and cloth.

Just not sure if I need to throw out all the carpet. Maybe I could puff it with ant-killer powder and then hot wash it a week or two after.

Tempted to take up the carpets and floorboards and have a look at the piping for any slow leaks. Think there is old lead piping sitting there unused.

Any ideas?

Doop

First things first is try and eliminate the source of damp...

Lumen

If the lead piping is unused then by definition it can't be a source of a leak.

SwordofLight

Lumen wrote: »

If the lead piping is unused then by definition it can't be a source of a leak.

Well it may be disused, meaning some water or damp may remain in the piping, who knows.

May well be the first thing to do though, rip up the floorboards

Just not sure if the carpets will need to go or if I could potentially use them again.

Class MayDresser

Have the same issues re silverfish in a downstairs toilet. It's an ash semi-solid floor continued in from the hallway outside, and I'm sure the damp underneath from years of splashes from the sink is the cause.
I used baking soda mixed with honey and water into a paste and laid it out on bits of cardboard throughout the whole floor. While I've never seen any evidence it did seem to work for a while until they resurge again, but ultimately the floor has to come up and be tiled.

Stigura

SwordofLight wrote: »

May well be the first thing to do though, rip up the floorboards

:eek: Jesus wept! SoL; I really think ye over thinking this a fair bit. Ye saw " A few Silverfish ". Now it's up with the floorboards?!

Take the side panel off of a hundred baths and I'll bet ye'll see " A few Silverfish " scuttling about under the vast majority. It's just the nature of things. Doesn't mean the bath's leaking and the floor must be shot!

Carpets are pretty gnarly things though, anyway. I'd wager there's a lot worse stuff in Any old carpet than a few silverfish.

SwordofLight

I might be over-reacting! Insects freak me out. Don't want to wake up covered in silverfish jeeeeebus! ClassMayDresser I did read about a few home remedies alright like putting cinnamon sticks down and that, but want something solid an proven!

Problem now getting my hands on the ant-killer powder and insecticide. Anyone know of DIY shops doing home delivery?

Stigura

" Ant Killer Powder " is actually made for ..... ants

Flick of the wrist google brought this up:

https://diatomaceousearthireland.ie/product/pest-grade-de/

Didn't stop to read it.

SwordofLight

Read somewhere the ant powder kills all sorts of insects including these little critters.

The diatomaceous earth is a little pricey for me, saw that site too. Think for farms and chicken coops etc.

Lumen

DE goes a long way, I did a big coop with a few handfuls.

Wear a mask if you're using it.

policarp

If you had a leak upstairs you would nearly always see a sign of it on the ceiling downstairs.
If you have a leak then you would have to lift the floorboards and investigate otherwise it could
be a case of bad ventilation.

SwordofLight

Lumen wrote: »

DE goes a long way, I did a big coop with a few handfuls.

Wear a mask if you're using it.

Thanks Lumen do you think it would be ok to spread it around the floor and allow it down into the sub-floor? In bedrooms? I wouldn't be able to hoover it back out again. Just thinking about asthma or other problems. It's supposed to be the best stuff for silverfish and the likes.

Lumen

SwordofLight wrote: »

Thanks Lumen do you think it would be ok to spread it around the floor and allow it down into the sub-floor? In bedrooms? I wouldn't be able to hoover it back out again. Just thinking about asthma or other problems. It's supposed to be the best stuff for silverfish and the likes.

In the subfloor would be OK, but I'm quite wary of it - I wear a particulate mask when dealing with it.

Does it work though? I don't know.

I'd probably start with something more benign like baking soda.