If left untreated, woodworm can seriously damage timber and weaken the structural integrity of your home.
For those who do not know, woodworm would mean a worm that lives in wood. However, woodworms are not worms at all. This misleading name actually refers to the larvae of beetles that feed on wood, including the deathwatch beetle, powder post beetle, waney edge beetle, house longhorn beetle, and common furniture beetles.
Woodworm or beetle larvae continue to eat away at timber until it emerges. At this point, your wooden furniture, beams, and floorboards are seriously damaged, necessitating expensive repairs. Unbeknown to many homeowners, repairing or replacing damaged wood is almost always more costly than treating woodworms.
If you find or suspect woodworm in your home or business, here is the wood boring beetles treatment cost breakdown 2023. We will take you through the various treatment costs and options, including DIY woodworm treatment.
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How Much Does Professional Wood Boring Beetles Treatment Cost?
You have inspected your home, identified the tell-tale signs of wood boring beetles, and decided to engage a professional. Here is a wood boring beetles treatment cost breakdown to help you:
|
Wood
Boring Beetles Treatment |
Estimated
Cost |
Estimated
Time |
|
Professional
Wood Boring Beetles Survey |
£100 - £165 |
1-4
hours |
|
Fumigation
Treatment |
£750 - £1000 |
1-3
days |
|
Fogging
Treatment |
£750- £ 1000 |
1-2
days |
|
Boron
Treatment (every 25m2) |
£30 |
2hrs.
– 2 days |
|
Loft/Roof
Treatment |
£500 - £900 |
1-2
days |
The Cost of Professional Wood Boring Beetles Survey
Before pest control experts can take any action, they must first do a complete survey of your home, a point at which they monitor the pests and identify them accurately.
The survey tells the level of the infestation and the extent of damage caused. Correctly identifying the level of infestation and the species of wood boring beetle being dealt with helps the experts to make appropriate control decisions. In other words, a wood-boring beetle survey removes the possibility of applying the wrong kind or inadequate amount of treatment.
Generally, a professional wood boring beetles survey will cost anywhere between £100 – £165, with the exact cost being determined by the size of your property. During the survey, the specialist will do several things, including:
- Inspect your entire property, including the roof, basement, timber flooring, and floorboards, for signs of wood-boring beetle infestation.
- Identification of the specific beetle species infesting your property.
- Determine the level of wood boring beetle damage
- Finally, the expert will compile all the survey findings and give you a detailed report.
The bottom line? A professional survey is a vital step in effective wood-boring beetle treatment. Even DIYers should never attempt woodworm treatment until they are sure of what the invasive pest is. Failing to survey leads to applying the wrong treatment, which is a total waste of time and money.
Wood Boring Beetles Treatment Cost
Once the survey has been done, the next step is to decide which type of treatment is ideal. Usually, it is customary for pest control experts to explain the survey findings to you. This should help you make an informed decision on the type of treatment you need to make your home a safe and pest-free environment.
You should feel free to ask the technician any questions to help you understand the pest problem. More importantly, ask if the findings indicate an active or inactive infestation. Although wood boring beetles cause significant damage if left untreated, you should not feel rushed to decide on the best type of treatment.
Often, pest control companies will give you 2-3 days to decide the most effective, safest, and economical wood boring beetle treatment for your home. Here is a breakdown of different wood boring treatment costs:
Fumigation Treatment
Fumigation is one of the most effective wood boring beetle treatments. It provides fast results, exterminating all sizes of infestations in all their stages (from egg to adult). After the treatment has been applied, you must stay away from your property for at least 1-3 days. This allows your home enough time to air out because fumigants are highly toxic and can harm your health.
Fogging Treatment
Fogging is an effective method of killing insects that involves spraying fine pesticides throughout the room via a fogging machine. Unlike fumigation, fogging is a less disruptive treatment, and you can re-occupy your home in only 3-4 hours. However, note that the chemicals used are highly concentrated, and entering the treated area before the allotted time can lead to illnesses.
Boron Treatment
Boron treatments are applied to control and prevent wood boring beetles' infestations. The active ingredient is water-soluble borate, a chemical that has been heavily researched and shown to control wood-boring beetles effectively. The treatment is applied to wood with pressure so that the borate is soaked deep into the structures, providing long-lasting woodworm control. You can expect to pay £30 for every 25m2.
But if you're dealing with damp wood, you can use leave-in boron rods, which protect timber from wood-boring insects for years! A pack of 10 rods costs between £10 – £40.
Loft Treatment
Woodworms can also infest your loft. If left untreated, the infestation will worsen and lead to potential problems. Generally, loft treatment cost for an average 3-bedroom house will be between £500 – £900. But the exact price will depend on your loft's size and the infestation level.
Roof Treatment
If woodworms can take shelter in your loft, then there's no doubt that they can infest your roof. Like loft treatment, treating wood boring beetles in the roof of a 3-bedroom house will cost you around £500 – £900. Again, the exact price will depend on the roof size and the infestation level.
DIY Wood Boring Beetles Treatment Cost
While wood boring beetles are best handled by an expert, some mild beetle problems can be effectively dealt with using the DIY approach. DIY treatment is best done using water-based (liquid) treatments such as Boron. All you need to do is strictly follow the manufacturer's guidelines.
Generally, liquid treatments will cost £15 – £50 per 5 liters. It should take about 1 hour to treat your entire house, and it's recommended to wait at least one hour before re-entering the house.
That said, it's difficult for a homeowner to survey and accurately identify the exact type of beetle being dealt with. Hence, you may end up applying the wrong treatment, which results in a waste of time and money as you try to get the right treatment.
Wood Boring Beetles Treatment Cost Per Hour
Pest control services can also be charged per hour. Most pest control companies charge between £35 – £65 per hour. However, these charges may differ significantly depending on your local area, with some local areas paying a higher hourly rate than others.
6 Factors That Determine Wood Boring Beetles Treatment Cost
Many factors affect the cost of treating wood boring beetles.
For instance, several different types of beetles can cause woodworms, each of which requires a unique treatment method to exterminate. Some wood beetle species can be stopped in their tracks using biological pest control, where the expert purposely manipulates the environment to deter the undesirable pests. Others require complete chemical treatments to kill and repel the pest.
The size and age of your home are other factors that affect wood boring beetles' treatment cost. Bigger and older homes are often more expensive to treat than smaller ones. That's because getting rid of a widespread infestation in larger homes requires a more extensive process. On the other hand, older homes are more likely to have experienced damp issues over the years – woodworms thrive in damp settings.
Needless to say, a service provider won't need to spend a lot of time and effort controlling a small woodworm infestation. Hence, you will pay much less compared to a severe infestation where the technician must invest a lot of time, effort, and resources to eradicate the pests.
Other factors that determine wood boring beetles' treatment cost include:
- Your local area
- The type of treatment
- Whether the home is occupied or not
- Experience of the service provider
The 4 Types of Wood Boring Beetles
Wood boring beetles tend to be seasonal, usually active in late winter through summer. Even so, they can be found throughout the year in heated homes.
The larvae (woodworms) of these damaging pests have an off-white or yellow color with a small brown head. The small size of woodworms makes it hard for even the handiest homeowner to notice them when they first invade. This allows them to stay hidden as they munch away on your timber, only emerging as fully grown adults.
Here are the 4 types of wood boring beetles that invade homes:
Common Furniture Beetle
Also referred to as Anobium punctatum, the common furniture beetle is the most common cause of woodworms. In fact, most damages caused by wood boring beetles are attributed to this exceedingly common pest.
In the wild, common furniture beetles live in broken branches and parts of the tree where the bark has been removed. When these beetles infest your home, the larvae can tunnel through wood for 3-5 years before emerging to breed. You will notice small flight holes of the adults on hardwood and softwood structures.
House longhorn Beetle
House longhorn beetle is another common species. It mainly infests timber used in the roof and chimney space, especially the seasoned/partly seasoned softwoods. The larvae can tunnel through the timber for 3-11 years before emerging through flight holes that measure between 2-7mm.
The adults fly actively in hot, sunny weather, spreading infestations from one structure to another. House longhorn beetles can be challenging to get rid of, often requiring professional help.
Deathwatch Beetle
In their natural habitat, deathwatch beetles live in the dead wood of specific hardwoods where fungal decay has occurred. When they infest homes, these wood-destroying pests infest old hardwoods. They can cause extensive damage, with the larvae boring in wood for 5-10 years before emerging. When the adults emerge in early summer, they leave behind visible exit holes on wooden structures.
Wood Boring Weevil
Although these wood borer insects are less common, they can attack damp or decaying timber, especially that rotted by cellar fungus. Infestations mainly occur in areas with damp conditions, such as the basement and cellar.
The larvae tunnels in wood for 6-12 months, and the adults emerge in summer, leaving exit holes in structures. One of the best ways to deal with wood boring weevils is by removing damp timber and replacing it with dried-out wood.
5 Signs of Wood-Boring Beetle Infestation
When surveying your home, pest control experts often look for exit holes, fresh wood dust, weakened timber, and live or dead beetles. Below we discuss these and other telltale signs of a wood-boring beetle infestation:
- Exit holes: Exit holes are a common sign of wood boring beetle infestation. They are usually visible, measuring between 1-2 mm in diameter. But you must be keen to identify dry and old exit holes as they are not signs of an active infestation. Fresh holes signify a current or untreated infestation.
- Weakened or crumbling timber: Over time of munching and tunneling through wood, woodworms can seriously weaken its structure, leading to severe damages and, in worse cases crumbling. These damages are especially common on floorboards, joists, and windowsills.
- Fresh Dust: Fresh wood dust is another obvious sign of woodworm infestation. When tunneling through your timber, woodworms will cause wood dust, and you may find it on or under the infested wood.
- Eggs and larvae: Wood boring beetle eggs and larvae are easily visible in the cracks of cut timber. The eggs are whitish and oval-shaped, while the larvae have a yellowish-white color with brown mandibles.
- Dead or live beetles: Beetles emerge from timber via exit holes as soon as they become adults, often in May through September. They are usually black or brown in color and are visible thanks to their big size. Beetles that die within the timber will fall and collect underneath its surface.
Final Thoughts
Wood boring beetles can be destructive when they infest, damaging expensive antiques, wooden flooring, and structural timbers. Once the surveyor confirms an active beetle infestation, the next step is to decide the safest and most effective woodworm treatment for your structure. This wood boring beetles' treatment cost breakdown 2023 will help you decide on the most effective and affordable treatment for your home.
