Odd piles of red dust appearing

FutureGuy

Hi all,
We bought a house last summer and all going well. Now an again, in retrospect, I noticed some brown/red dust in a small area next to a skirting board in our home office (up stairs). Putting it down to a spill or something, I didn't think much. It's not in a neat pile, it looks like it was dropped and scatted/blown unevenly around the area. No damp issues in the house.

Now it looks like we have the exact same issue in all three upstairs rooms and nowhere else. We would hoover the dust and it would be back again in a few days. It's also on top of the skirting boards which is hugely odd. They are all interior walls and well away from exterior walls.

In all three rooms, it is confined to very select areas. The one in the office and the second bedroom are on opposite sides to each other. The one in the master bedroom is in a different wall.

There is absolutely NO signs of woodworm activity at all. I've gone through dust and also see no signs as to what it is.

I am completely stumped. Any ideas?

ted1

Might it be from mice chewing the plasterboard

FutureGuy

ted1 wrote: »

Might it be from mice chewing the plasterboard

No signs/sounds of any rodents whatsoever

TheBoyConor

could it be spores or a type of mould?

FutureGuy

TheBoyConor wrote: »

could it be spores or a type of mould?

We had an extensive survey carried out on the house and no sign of any damp or mold/fungus anywhere. It's dry as a bone. Also, the dust particle size is very uneven.

GreeBo

Any chance of a pic?

Whats above the piles? any pictures on the walls or anything on the ceiling?

FutureGuy

Here's a pic

FutureGuy

GreeBo wrote: »

Any chance of a pic?

Whats above the piles? any pictures on the walls or anything on the ceiling?

Pic below. Nothing hanging above and no holes above where it could be coming from.

GreeBo

Any wall vents nearby?

It really does look like something a small animal would be involved in....

saabsaab

How old is the house? Is the dust fine or granular? Has the house been refurbished recently?

FutureGuy

saabsaab wrote: »

How old is the house? Is the dust fine or granular? Has the house been refurbished recently?

House built 1960, new floorboards put down I'd say 6 years ago.

looksee

When you say above the skirtingboard do you mean along the top edge of it? If it were on the floor it could be draught from within the walls blowing shreds of insulation of some sort out onto the floor. What are the white bits, is that sweepings up or just the stuff that is appearing?

RandRuns

Probably Common Furniture Beetle, or possibly Woodworm.

Dr_Colossus

That's very strange, certainly more than dust and not white/pink/red like you'd expect from something knawing at plasterboard.
With no blemishes in painted walls/ceiling and floor looking like laminate it's hard to visualise where it's coming from. Since only in upstairs bedrooms have you been up in the attic to investigate

FutureGuy

looksee wrote: »

When you say above the skirtingboard do you mean along the top edge of it? If it were on the floor it could be draught from within the walls blowing shreds of insulation of some sort out onto the floor. What are the white bits, is that sweepings up or just the stuff that is appearing?

The heavier stuff is on the floor and lighter particulate is on the top of the skirting boards.

That's what we are thinking that is coming in from a draft from somewhere. It doesn't look like any type of insulation. The white bits look like they are in the debris rather than separate from it.

I'm going to sweep up everything and post better photos.

listermint

You have the ghost of a fitter in the house. He's trimming edging off your floor and leaving it in piles in a perpetual state of unfinished floor laying.

ZX7R

RandRuns wrote: »

Probably Common Furniture Beetle, or possibly Woodworm.

Looks like it the while bits look like flakes of paint ,dirt looks more like the larvae hatch and the Beatles emerged.

FutureGuy

listermint wrote: »

You have the ghost of a fitter in the house. He's trimming edging off your floor and leaving it in piles in a perpetual state of unfinished floor laying.

Thanks for that hugely helpful advice.

listermint

FutureGuy wrote: »

Thanks for that hugely helpful advice.

You are zero craic.

IAMAMORON

https://www.abeepestpro.com/differences-types-of-pest-droppings-poop.htm

I am not sure what you have, but that is definitely some form of dried feral faeces.



A – House Mouse / Field Mouse
B – Roof Rat
C – Norway Rat
D – CockRoach
E – Termites
F – Bed Bug
G – Bat
H – Snake
I – Raccoon
K – Possum
L – Skunk
M – Spider
O – Squirrel
P – Bee/Wasp

looksee

It looks more like shavings than droppings. It will not be woodworm at this time of year, they fly in about May and make the dust as they emerge. It is very fine and even, not flakes.

Car99

Could it be dust shavings from when the floor was replaced that's under the skirting boards but in the gap between the floorboards edge and the wall that gets blown out by draughts over time?

If it could be I would mask tape closed along the gap between the floor and the skirting board and the wall and the skirting board in one affected room just to see if the dust reappears.if it doesnt at least you will know if it's coming from above or below the floor.

saabsaab

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

That's very strange, certainly more than dust and not white/pink/red like you'd expect from something knawing at plasterboard.
With no blemishes in painted walls/ceiling and floor looking like laminate it's hard to visualise where it's coming from. Since only in upstairs bedrooms have you been up in the attic to investigate

+1, get a good torch and look in the attic. May be a hole somewhere letting it in. While you're at it put down a few mouse or rat traps up there at this time of year they might have come in. Peanut butter on trap works well.



Check traps after a day or two and you will be able to rule it out at least.

IAMAMORON

Car99 wrote: »

Could it be dust shavings from when the floor was replaced that's under the skirting boards but in the gap between the floorboards edge and the wall that gets blown out by draughts over time?

If it could be I would mask tape closed along the gap between the floor and the skirting board and the wall and the skirting board in one affected room just to see if the dust reappears.

Not impossible, but it looks like an awful lot of shavings in the right place at the right time... etc etc.

It's crap.

Doop

What you describe sounds like Frass, from a wood boring insect but the image looks like quite a chunky deposit. In my experience I have only ever see a very fine dust substance pilled up very neatly

looksee

When you take another pic could you put in something like a match or a coin for scale. Also, what is that square shaped thing in the middle of the heap, looks as though the flakes are from something like that but broken down.

ZX7R

Anyone else see a face on the lager flake top of the picture right side......

FutureGuy

More photos. I hoovered everything up and it feels like sawdust.

Quantum Baloney

Faecal would be my guess.

Doctors room ghost

Is there any draughts under the skirting or between the floor boards.it’s like the trimming dust from floor laying that was covered over and is being blown out by draughts.
Use a sheet of light paper and check for draughts

ZX7R

Are you living in a semi d or a terraced house, if so any works been carried out by your neighbour's.
definitely looks like MDF shavings

FutureGuy

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

Is there any draughts under the skirting or between the floor boards.it’s like the trimming dust from floor laying that was covered over and is being blown out by draughts.
Use a sheet of light paper and check for draughts

That what we believe it to be. There are gaps between the floor and the skirting board and the fact that finer dust is on the top of the skirting boards is a sign (third pic)

FutureGuy

ZX7R wrote: »

Are you living in a semi d or a terraced house, if so any works been carried out by your neighbour's.
definitely looks like MDF shavings

Semi-d and neighbour isn't doing any work.

This has been going on for many months which is weird as it's still coming! The walls are well away from the adjoining wall.

IAMAMORON

FutureGuy wrote: »

More photos. I hoovered everything up and it feels like sawdust.

I also would not rule out a decomposing Wasp Nest from last summer?

Is the wall connected to the roof at all?

FutureGuy

IAMAMORON wrote: »

I also would not rule out a decomposing Wasp Nest from last summer?

Is the wall connected to the roof at all?

No sign of any wasp activity in or around the home (more than usual). None of the affected walls are connected to the roof. I was also in the attic for 30 mins and see no signs of any woodworm in the areas.

looksee

I think the suggestion that it is sawdust from the floor being put down is as good as any. That's a lot of dust if its pests of some sort. Suggest you clean up what is there then use an empty vacuum cleaner and hoover the gap and see do you get a lot more dust. If you have one of those little crevice type ends use that. Then at least you will know it is coming from under the skirting.

FutureGuy

Thanks all, I'm going to follow the advice re drafts and sealing stuff. I'll report back in a week or so.

looksee

If you have a good sense of smell you could try burning a bit to see does it smell of plastic/wood - if there is plastic it will melt to some extent.

We had a 60's house that was draught central, we made a life's work of sealing cracks.

mickuhaha

Is it MDF coming of the shelf you pulled away from the wall?

looksee

It occurs to me that if it is dust from the floor, as you walk across the floor the dust could be being wafted to the edges where the draught blows it out. I wonder if there is any foam underlay under the floor.

FutureGuy

mickuhaha wrote: »

Is it MDF coming of the shelf you pulled away from the wall?

Good question but that's brand new and the dust predates the shelf.

Johnthemanager

Put some masking tape along the gap between the bottom of the skirting and the floor, leave it for a month and see is there a build up behind it when you pull it off.

kravmaga

OP, is there an wall vent in the room anywhere near where the debris is accumulating?

Definitely looks like wood shavings of some sort.

FutureGuy

kravmaga wrote: »

OP, is there an wall vent in the room anywhere near where the debris is accumulating?

Definitely looks like wood shavings of some sort.

The vents are on different walls to the affected areas

FutureGuy

UPDATE:

So I took a bit of folded A4 cards and stuck it under the skirting board to get stuff out and, to my surprise, nearly the entire care went in at a certain point. Came out with a ton of the dust. All dry and no sign of any type of beetle.

Apiarist

This looks like the dust is falling from above, probably from the ceiling down onto the skirting. Could you check the ceiling?

GreeBo

FutureGuy wrote: »

UPDATE:

So I took a bit of folded A4 cards and stuck it under the skirting board to get stuff out and, to my surprise, nearly the entire care went in at a certain point. Came out with a ton of the dust. All dry and no sign of any type of beetle.

Was the flooring cut in the rooms or somewhere else?

I'd be getting the crevice tool on the Hoover and going around the skirting/floor joint

FutureGuy

victor8600 wrote: »

This looks like the dust is falling from above, probably from the ceiling down onto the skirting. Could you check the ceiling?

No, definitely not from ceiling or from above. Just updated.

FutureGuy

GreeBo wrote: »

Was the flooring cut in the rooms or somewhere else?

I'd be getting the crevice tool on the Hoover and going around the skirting/floor joint

No idea, flooring put down by previous owners a few years back.

Dr_Colossus

Could you take off one of the skirtboards for a better look, would be worth cleaning out the void and filling it with insulation if there a lot of draughts.
Strange how it's appearing intermittently, you'd think if the floor was put down 6 years ago any loose dust would be well dissipated by now.

lardarse

looks like chipboard dust from the piece of furniture you just moved. Is it just in that corner? If you rub your fingers down the rough edges of that furniture do you get dust from it, or is it wet? Maybe move it away from the wall or move it somewhere else and see if the dust moves or stays.