Woodworm treatment and associated safety risks
Discussion
Hey folks,
we have just got a new house and have a fair bit of work to do, it is approx 170 years old and shows signs of a fair bit of woodworm.
I am hoping to get someone out this week to have a look at it (stirling area if anyone has any contacts).
My worry is that my wife is 12 weeks pregnant and we will soon be living in the house, are there any safer treatments that can be used i hear that some are pretty deadly. Any general feedback from anyone that has treated woodworm would be helpful.
cheers.
we have just got a new house and have a fair bit of work to do, it is approx 170 years old and shows signs of a fair bit of woodworm.
I am hoping to get someone out this week to have a look at it (stirling area if anyone has any contacts).
My worry is that my wife is 12 weeks pregnant and we will soon be living in the house, are there any safer treatments that can be used i hear that some are pretty deadly. Any general feedback from anyone that has treated woodworm would be helpful.
cheers.
te. Painted our summer house with it. I'm sure it helped them breed.In the scheme of pesticides (fungicides > herbicides > insecticides) generally anything that can kill an insect is likely to be injurious to humans - simply because humans have more biochemical things in common with insects than they do with plants or fungi. Hence the more 'safe' a product is claimed to be, the less likely it is to kill insects.
That's a generalisation but the principle is true. Buy something organic and fluffy and don't expect it to kill much. On the other hand, if a bit of insecticide is squirted into a small hole in the woodwork somewhere, how much is going to be absorbed by your unborn child? I can't tell you but my feeling is that you're mostly worried by the pervading climate of H&S. Consult a professional and the safety data sheets.
That's a generalisation but the principle is true. Buy something organic and fluffy and don't expect it to kill much. On the other hand, if a bit of insecticide is squirted into a small hole in the woodwork somewhere, how much is going to be absorbed by your unborn child? I can't tell you but my feeling is that you're mostly worried by the pervading climate of H&S. Consult a professional and the safety data sheets.
strath44 said:
Any general feedback from anyone that has treated woodworm would be helpful.
I had a serious woodworm infestation in one of my barns. I had started painting the beams in readiness to convert it to a garage space, thinking the woodworm would likely be inactive as it was said that they don't like dry wood so much and I had made the barn watertight some years earlier. A few months later you could see hundreds of flight holes through the paint where the woodworm had come out. Luckily I had not painted many of the beams at this stage so I then treated all the others with liquid woodworm killer I got in big 5 litre tins from Wickes. I brushed it all on as was worried about too much of it in the air and inhaling it not being very good for me, which took an age to do using that method, but removed most of the risks associated with spraying it I think.The treatment was definitely effective as I later painted all of those beams too and several years on there is not a single flight hole visible through the paint coat in all of them (and I'm talking over 1000 ft length in beams so enough of it to form the basis of a reasonable 'test'). The active ingredient in the treatment was Permethrin. I'm sure this wouldn't be great for a pregnant woman to have high exposures to, but if you brushed it on I couldn't really smell any vapours shortly after it soaked into the wood and dried (a few hours). However, I did find that they do a Permethrin cream that can be applied to the skin to kill scabies so I presume that it can't be lethal to humans if you come into (limited) contact with it anyway!
softtop said:
woodworm operates in young wood. Check it is even an issue now
and old wood.Permetherin is classed as safe to use, legally the building should be clear for one hour after treatment. Same active ingredient as fly spray.
As above Boron based is usually the least toxic, still effective but more expensive.
I don't know about legal, but 1 hour is the minimum recommended reentry for some boron products, most permethrin products are 8 - 48hrs.
Permethrin is low toxicity i.e. you can swallow a lot without immediate harm, but it can cause skin/lung issues, and there are some question marks as regards cancers.
Anyway, the rule with pregnant mums is avoid any unnecessary exposure to any sort of 'cide, especially in the first couple of months.
Permethrin is low toxicity i.e. you can swallow a lot without immediate harm, but it can cause skin/lung issues, and there are some question marks as regards cancers.
Anyway, the rule with pregnant mums is avoid any unnecessary exposure to any sort of 'cide, especially in the first couple of months.
We have a bit (or what I'm hoping is a bit) of deathwatch in my place.
I was advised not to bother with chemicals as to be truly effective they'd need to go deep into the wood, and with old hardwoods etc that won't happen with either spraying or painting on. The person giving the advice (a specialist in worm) also said that the safety of products, especially around young children (and pregnant women) is not proven - to me, it wasn't worth the risk.
His advice on worm was to treat the root cause. With hardwood, this is typically damp/rot of some description which needs to be addressed. He believes that with the root cause sorted, the beetle (/worm) will die off. For that, and a number of other reasons I'm in the process of re-rendering my old place.
As part of the work I'm doing, any newer softwoods that are showing even remote signs of worm are being replaced.
I was advised not to bother with chemicals as to be truly effective they'd need to go deep into the wood, and with old hardwoods etc that won't happen with either spraying or painting on. The person giving the advice (a specialist in worm) also said that the safety of products, especially around young children (and pregnant women) is not proven - to me, it wasn't worth the risk.
His advice on worm was to treat the root cause. With hardwood, this is typically damp/rot of some description which needs to be addressed. He believes that with the root cause sorted, the beetle (/worm) will die off. For that, and a number of other reasons I'm in the process of re-rendering my old place.
As part of the work I'm doing, any newer softwoods that are showing even remote signs of worm are being replaced.
The treatment of death watch beetle and common furniture beetle is completely different. In fairness you won't know if your non treatment policy has worked for 20 years so unless it's a house for life it'll be someone elses problem.
DWB will rarely attack wood that has not rotted or softwood.
Surface treatment of WW is fine and less toxic than a penetrating treatment.
OP, google Permagard, pick your treatment of choice and pay trade prices. I've used them since 1992, although rarely now, their stuff does work. They manufacture on site so you can discuss ingredients and implications direct with them.
Their Permetherin treatment only requires one hour vacancy after treatment.
DWB will rarely attack wood that has not rotted or softwood.
Surface treatment of WW is fine and less toxic than a penetrating treatment.
OP, google Permagard, pick your treatment of choice and pay trade prices. I've used them since 1992, although rarely now, their stuff does work. They manufacture on site so you can discuss ingredients and implications direct with them.
Their Permetherin treatment only requires one hour vacancy after treatment.
Mr GrimNasty said:
They are using the caveat 'or until dry' with their HSE reentry time, which kind of makes it pretty irrelevant in all practical reality.
Yes, it would need a warm day with the windows open 
IIRC the 'until dry' line is pretty much industry standard rather than them being clever.
I'm sure neither of us would be installing our pregnant wives 61 minutes after treatment.
thanks folks.
just to update we used boron and decided to vacate for 48 hours.
we used wise property care who were very good and covered a lot of things with polythene runners, elec junc boxes with plastc etc etc.
It took about 10 hours for 2 x 9m lofts and cost about £900 inc vat and has a "guarantee" .
we'll see what happens.......
just to update we used boron and decided to vacate for 48 hours.
we used wise property care who were very good and covered a lot of things with polythene runners, elec junc boxes with plastc etc etc.
It took about 10 hours for 2 x 9m lofts and cost about £900 inc vat and has a "guarantee" .
we'll see what happens.......
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff