Home » Helpfulness

Woodcock fighting – what to do against woodworms?


Woodcock fighting – What to do against woodworms?

How can I get rid of woodworms??

Woodworms are annoying pests that can damage old furniture and even the roof structure of a house. Here’s what you can do to combat woodcock and when to consult an expert.

The woodworm, also known as a housebuck or bug beetle, can cause great damage. While the infestation of old furniture is no reason to panic, the woodworm in the roof can even be life-threatening. Woodworms love places with high humidity and prefer to lay their eggs in damp or dead wood. The larvae drill into the wood and develop there for several years to a beetle. When talking about woodworm, it is almost always meant the wood larvae that leave many holes and a lot of eaten wood.

Recognize woodworm infestation

Characteristic of a woodworm infestation are the 1 to 2 mm holes on the outside of the wood. However, they are not a sign of an acute infestation, because they can already be several years old and the woodworm long gone.

Another important indication is fresh piles of dust. They show that the pest is active in the wood. In solid wood you can sometimes come to the woodworm with a knock test on the track. The corridors are mostly directly below the surface and the wood sounds hollow when knocked.

Woodcock fighting for furniture

If the woodworm has infested a beloved piece of furniture, there are several ways to get rid of it. There are many chemical agents applied by brushing or injecting onto and into the wood to be treated. However, the thermal method, which works without poison, is also promising for controlling wood rot. Woodworms are very sensitive to heat and cold.

With heat, the woodworm can fight very well.

Fight the woodworm with heat

A simple method that works on many pieces of furniture is the hot air process. With a heat gun from the hardware store you can treat the wood yourself. You should keep a distance of 10 to 20 centimeters with the pistol in order not to damage the furniture. In order for the woodworm to die off, a temperature of 55 ° C must also be reached inside the wood. This does not always work for large solid wood furniture, so it’s best to give it to an expert (restorer or pest controller) with a climatic chamber for treatment.

If necessary, small furniture or drawers can be removed from the woodworm using your own oven. In the summer months, your own car can serve as a climate chamber. If the car heats up enormously in the summer, this is not only harmful to abandoned babies and dogs, the woodworm also usually does not survive this treatment and usually all woodworms are dead after a day in a hot car.

Fight the woodworm by cold – In contrast to heat, cold can not be produced so easily at the push of a button. Small wooden objects and drawers can be freed from the woodworm by spending a night in the freezer. Larger furniture can spend 1-2 nights in the winter months on the balcony or the terrace, so that the wood-eating larvae simply freeze.

Woodworm in beams in the attic

The roof of a house today is usually made of coniferous wood, the preferred location of the larva of the Nagekäfer. As already mentioned, the woodworm in the roof truss can become life-threatening. Through its feeding the woodworm reduces the stability of the supporting beams, which in extreme cases can lead to the collapse of the entire roof. If the woodworm has selected one or more beams in the attic, you should definitely consult an expert for advice.

Related Posts

Like this post? Please share to your friends:
Christina Cherry
Leave a Reply

;-) :| :x :twisted: :smile: :shock: :sad: :roll: :razz: :oops: :o :mrgreen: :lol: :idea: :grin: :evil: :cry: :cool: :arrow: :???: :?: :!: