Woodworm Treatment Services in The Peterborough Area

If you have woodworm in your property or at your business then you have a problem that is not going to go away without expert assistance. Pest Professionals in Peterborough can assist to provide you with immediate guidance and help if you have woodworm issues in two extremely simple and effective steps:

The no obligation phone consultation service applies to both domestic and business customers in the Peterborough area. No woodworm or timber job is too large or too small for us to look into. Where appropriate we are able to offer guidance on any immediate action needed to safeguard your well being, property or possessions prior to a visit. If a visit is called for we let you know if there will be a call out fee and also advise on the probable rates of any timber or woodworm treatment should it be required.

Treatment of Woodworm and Timber Pests

The extensive use of timber in modern structural applications (floor joists, roof purlins, floorboards, rafters etc.) has intensified the risk that timber pests pose. If left without treatment, these insects will bring about significant damage, which can ultimately bring about structural failure of the building.

Although the adults can fly, woodworm is commonly brought into a property for the first time through the purchase of previously owned furniture pieces 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 many timber damaging beetles.

The Furniture Beetle, a small brown insect which is about 3mm to 5mm in length and flies quite willingly, is the commonest. The Furniture Beetle lays its eggs on rough, unpolished wood and once they hatch the grubs bore directly 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 U.K.

The first indication of woodworm many people see is neat, round holes around 2mm across in timber surfaces, often accompanied by tiny piles of wood dust below them.

New holes show clean white wood within. Although the holes are made by emerging adult beetles that are as a result no longer a direct risk to the structure, larvae may nonetheless be tunnelling away inside the wood. Brittle edges to boards and to joists are also often a good indication of their inhabitance and the need 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 affected and need saving, a specialist woodworm treatment technique will certainly be required. 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 want to get rid of them. One of our experienced Pest Professionals will perform 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 eradicate woodworm completely. In the event of a substantial or hard to eradicate infestation, we can also advise on specialist heat treatment approach.

Varieties of Timber Pests in the UK

The Furniture Beetle

Easily 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 years.

Death Watch Beetle

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

House Longhorn Beetle

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

Powder Post Beetle

Red/brown beetle that needs a diet of starch found in certain hardwoods. Can be a real problem in timber yards.

Wharf Borer Beetle

A brown beetle about 1cm long which inhabits decayed wet timber. Adults commonly found around waterways.

If you need sound advice or rapid solutions to woodworm or timber pest problems anywhere in Peterborough or the surrounding towns and villages – speak to us.