Does anyone here have any first-hand experience or expertise - - with eradicating / limiting the effect of powder post beetles -
- in the home ? I'm in southern Ontario.
I'm quite sure that I have the same problem as this couple -
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Any helpful advice is appreciated.
My flooring company says that the lumber for my flooring came from Ohio - not their normal source - it's hickory - 2 1/4 wide 3/4 thick pre finished. So far - in my 4 - 5 year old floor - I seem to have 4 or 5 affected boards .. I hope to address the removal / replacement of these in a subsequent posting .. John T.
On Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at 5:37:43 PM UTC-6, snipped-for-privacy@ccanoemail.com wro te:
I'm in a rush at the moment. Will comment further, later.
Timbor is used to treat powder post beetle (woodworm in England). You mix Timbor with water and spray.... somewhat soak the wood for best results. T imbor comes in about a 1 lb package.... costs $11 US down here - Louisiana. One package will treat about 2-3K square feet of house/shop. I use it y early, to treat my shop and lumber caches, for prevention. I spray walls, ceilings, everything/anything exposed.
The beetle larvae emerges from the wood in spring, grows into an adult duri ng the summer, then, in late fall, returns to the hatchery (same wood it ca me from) and lays new eggs. Knowing the life cycle can often help determi ne when an infestation occurs and where it originates from.
In that news link, if that home owner purchased the flooring during the sum mer and the larvae emerged the following spring, then the infestation was a lready in the wood/flooring, when purchased.
If you buy infested wood, those hatched bugs will come back to the same woo d and repeat the life cycle with the next generation.
The adult insect has wings, it flies. An infestation does not start by fl ying to your property. The adults return to where they hatched from, they don't fly to new places. The way an infestation moves/migrates is by infe cted wood being moved to a new location. The only time wood is infected is when the bug is in the egg and larvae stages.
When living in the Redwood forest - craft things you buy for the house would come with a day before gas treatment. Normally a shipping box - metal - would be filled with what is needed and the thing would get gas pumped in....
People have their houses Tented - and the gas is put in - kills bugs of all kinds and mice..... Stay in hotel overnight or two and the house gets tented, gassed over night and take the tent off and you move back in - airing out the house a bit first.
Only way for a house to get it. Can try the cans sold in Hardware stores or the like. Gas a room yourself. Not as good as tent.
Thanks for the reply, Sonny & others. Can Timbor or something similar, be injected into the exit holes with a syringe - with any success ? Or do I definitely need to replace the infected floor pieces ? I think I would only use Timbor in a widespread application - if the infestation were to spread to structure .. or perhaps as a preventative under & around the new floor pieces
Next question - perhaps I'll start a new thread .. Tips & Tricks for removing & replacing the hardwood floor pieces .. John T.
On Wednesday, January 14, 2015 at 7:15:42 AM UTC-6, snipped-for-privacy@ccanoemail.com w rote:
Exit holes imply EXIT. The larvae may have already emerged and flown away. If the dust is still being pushed out of the holes, then there are larvae still in the wood.
You don't have to spray inside the holes. You don't want to treat just the area with the holes. Treat your whole house and surrounding immediate bui ldings. Timbor is cheap, don't skimp on your preventative treatment. If a ny of the larvae/adults have emerged and flown away, they'll be back....
**If any of the larvae/adults have emerged and flown away, they'll be back. ... This is kind of a misnomer, in that, this is the wrong time of year for the larvae to be emerging, now. They emerged last spring. Your holes have bee n there since spring, at least. The adults would have returned in Sept Oct Nov and laid new eggs. You can't see the new holes, the new eggs were lai d in, because the adult has covered up/sealed the holes, after they lay the eggs.
If you are having the larvae emerging at this time, I would suppose your in door environment is a "faux spring" environment for them.
If dust is coming out of the holes, now, you need to inpect closely, to see the dust actually being push out, or you can sometimes hear the larvae mak ing tiny "noises" as the eat and/or push the dust out. But the dust might be coming out because of vibration of the floor, as you walk on it, or bou nce hard enough on the floor, to vibrate the dust out.
I'm aware of the gassing treatment. I've had upholstery pieces that was tr eated with gas. I don't know how or what gas to treat with. The pro exter minators do the gassing.
For Timbor treating, I would treat now, treat this coming mid summer and tr eat again mid fall. After that, twice a year treaments, unless your area i s not so prevalent for PPB.
Powder post beetle is very prevalent, down here. I do vigorous preventativ e treatments to my shop and lumber caches, twice a year. I've never had a PPB problem. I do wear a mask and eye protection, when spraying.
Thanks again to those who replied previously. This is just a follow-up f y i ..
The flooring company sent their guy to remove & replace the 4 infested boards. There was no apparent spreading of the critters to neighbouring wood - thankfully.
I believe that the pesticide mentioned in previous posts < Timbor > is not available in Ontario / Canada
The process he used for removing the boards was fairly crude but simple & effective : : drill a series of holes about 3-4 " apart down through the flooring, along each edge but in ~ 1/4 " from the edge : use oscillating saw to join the dots along the edge and across the center every ~ 4 inches : chisel out the center chunks : chisel out the edges ; looking for the nails to cut & pull
Now to cross my fingers & toes and keep watch for any further signs of them .. John T.
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