woodworm in furniture

[biggirlsblouse]

The gf has just got a lovely display cabinet from her grans deceased estate... trouble is the legs and base are riddles with woodworm. Can this be treated to stop further advancement.....or is the bonfire the only solution. ta

[mail]

Dear bgb Step 1 Establish that it is indeed woodworm (A punctatum) To do this check the frass (faecal pellets) by rubbing in the fingers

- is it gritty or smooth like talcum powder. Check under a lens x 10 and see if they are lemon shaped Assuming it is Ap, (and that is most likely) as opposed to any one of Bark borer, powder post, etc, then nex Step 2 Determine if it is alive or dead To do this you can do one of seveal methods - the principle is to determine if adults are still emerging in the flight season. Try one of

1) put beeswax in every single hole 2) Put on thin tissue paper with a removable glue (e.g. flour and water or photo mount removable post it type glue) 3) lining paper and glue and observe till September 2009 Any flight holes shows you not only the degree of activity but also the location No flight holes for three flight seasons and you have proof of no woodwoom If you HAVE activity then choices for treatment are many and various

A) fumigation (only for seriously valuable furniture) B) chemical (risk of damage to moderately valuable furniture unless done carefully by knowledgeable person) C) deep freezing (wrap in SEALED polythene - take to local meat store and store at -30 for a month) Hope this helps Chris

[Stuart Noble]

Unless your house is damp, you shouldn't have any problem with woodworm.

[Newshound]

Well if the legs don't actually snap off when you apply a bit of force I would just treat the base and legs with normal woodworm fluid from an ironmonger.

[cerberus]

Or get IMM / others to bore them to death ;-))

Don.