What rot is this?

[Pargeter]

I've posted some pix here of

'damaged beams'

Does this look like something I could remedy myself?

Any expertise gratefull recived!

[Jonathan]

Woodworm.

Jonathan

[Dave Liquorice]

The holes are woodworm flight holes, you have found a few dead bettles as well. Has this timber ever been treated for woodworm? Does a fine powdery dust fall out of the holes if you tap the timber, if so it's sort of indication that this is recent rather than old woodworm.

I think I'd be a bit more concerned about the woodworm than the small bit of rot, assuming the timbers are now dry and will remain dry.

The granular looking stuff in the crack looks a bit like woodworm debris from where they have bored into the crack.

The worm looks fairly extensive, does the timber still sound solid? Is it easy to shove a screwdriver into? Worm can leave what looks like solid timber but is a very weak honeycomb inside.

[Phil L]

Woodworm. You'll need to treat timbers in the vicinity with woodworm treatment, you may also have to cut out any bad parts and replace, again with treated timber

[harry]

Woodworm. Get a thin screwdriver and see how far you can push it into the beam. Your main problem is that it appears to be in the worst possible place for being noticeable and reducing the strength.

The timber appears to be oak. Usually only the sap wood is affected.

If the woodworm has penetrated signifcantly, the beam will have to be replaced. If it is bad, you must put in a temporary prop for safety.

There are lots of propriety treatments out there, every bit of wood in the house really needs to be done if it is still active. Eg Cuprinol 4* If there is wood dust on the floor below, the grubs are still alive and eating in there. You can inject the woodworm killer with a hypodermic syringe after lathering the surface. But it's a nasty tedious job. You can pay someone (lots) top do it. Last time I did it, the place was uninhabitable for weeks with the stink. Maybe it's better now than it was..

[geoff]

In message , Pargeter writes

You're posting from diybanter

woodworm is totally beyond you