Woodworm Infestation Nottingham & The East Midlands
The most prevalent wood boring insect found in British buildings, as the name implies is The Common Furniture Beetle (Anobium punctatum). This insect can be found outdoors, infesting dead tree trunks and other exposed timbers. The main problem however is the ability to infest indoor timbers, mainly suspended timber floors.
Adult Beetles emerge from timber in the spring and the early summer. After mating the female beetle lays eggs in cracks and crevices on the surface of the timber. Usually within a month the eggs hatch and the young grubs (woodworm) begin burrowing into the timber feeding off starch and nutrients of the timber. Their tunnels usually follow the grain of wood; hence you find one floorboard heavily infested with the adjacent board unaffected.
After two to four years the mature lava excavates a pupation chamber just beneath the surface of the wood. Following the pupation process the adult beetle cuts a hole in the surface of the timber and emerges to start the process once more. It is the appearance of the excavation dust or frass that can indicate definite active woodworm infestation.
Other types of wood boring insects exist such as Death Watch Beetle (Xestobium rufovillosum) which attacks hardwood such as oak beams etc. Woodboring Weevil is another wood destroying insect, which is normally found where the structural timbers have already been affected by wet rot decay.
Woodworm Infestation Treatments
Any treatments carried out, use the latest green range insecticides, where re-entry into the area of treatment can be as little as 1 hour after treatment. Where floor timbers are treated it will be necessary to lift floorboards to allow access to the underside of the floorboards and the underlying floor joists.
When infestations by the Death Watch Beetle is discovered, treatments will always be dictated by our findings at the time of our inspection i.e the use of deep kill timber paste will normally always be required.
