Wife bought a cabinet made somewhere far away and brought home in July. The other day a small of pile of dust appeared on the top. Cleaned it off without thinking much about it. The next day there was more and on close inspection saw a small hole. So how do we get rid of the worms?
If you can identify the critter - then do some web searches for eradication / control. Powder post beetles are one possibility. They might lay their new baby right back into the hole from which it emerged - so I'd start by filling in the holes .. Also consider getting rid of the cabinet. Powder post beetle larva can live for several years in the wood before emerging. John T.
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Sounds like a powder-post beetle.
Is the cabinet small enough that you can freeze it (like bring the interior of the wood below 0F for at least 48 hours)? If so, that's the quick fix.
If not and if you don't want to dispose of it you have two other choices--you can hire a professional to fumigate it or you can do it the slow way.
A professional will wrap or tent it and treat it with a penetrating insecticide--don't try this yourself because the stuff they use is quite nasty.
If you can't freeze and don't want to pay to have it treated, you can do it the long slow way. The life cycle of the beetles ranges from about 7 months to about 3 years, so you have to let them all emerge and contain them so that they don't reinfest the wood or infest something else.
Any kind of finish should prevent them from reinfesting--paint, shellac, lacquer, polyurethane, anything that prevents the adult beetle from directly contacting wood.
If it has a natural finish and you want to keep it that way, treat it with a boron-based insecticide (boracide, etc). These are water based and will likely raise some grain. This won't kill any beetles already inside but will kill any larvae emerging from newly laid eggs.
Once you've done the surface treatment, and (If you used one) the finish has dried, wrap it tightly in plastic, taping all seams, and set it out of the way for long enough that you're sure all the beetles have emerged and died.
The beetles that come out can infest other furniture, so don't just let it slide.
As others have said, it's likely a beetle rather than worm and what it might specifically be from imported lumber is anybody's guess. Unless the piece is/was expensive the suggestion to just get rid of it is probably the most practical as the eradication process is probably more trouble (tried personally) or expensive (professionally) than its worth.
The kicker is as the above article notes, that the freezing technique requires quite cold temperatures and also for the temperature change to be both rapid and long enough to ensure the entire piece gets that cold. If there are fairly thick pieces such as the legs, etc., that can take a while to achieve and is difficult to make happen unless one is in the arctic or perhaps it's small enough to wrap in plastic and place in a deep freeze.
The "trick" of simply watching and finishing all surfaces means _ALL_ surfaces, including those that are hidden and may not be accessible owing to the assembly leaving surfaces that are simply unaccessible but those will still be easily gotten to by the adult beetles to lay further generations of eggs.
If it's not riddled with flight holes. Buy some woodworm killer (can't remember the active constituent) and inject it into the flight holes with a hypodermic syringe and needle. I obtain these foc from our veterinary surgeon, otherwise you might find a druggie with used spares. If it is riddled with flight holes, buy some woodworm killer and drench or bathe the affected area(s). The small hole is where the insect has chewed it's way out and then flown off to pastures new. That's why they're called flight holes. If you're seeing dust, it is certainly an active infestation. A little googling, or these:
might help a bit. Just unearthed the gallon can of stuff that I've been using for about 20 years. Sadly now nearly empty. It's called Sadovac 35. Made by Sadolin.
561-2511 might be a reference number. Active constituents are Dichlofluanid, Tributyltin and Gamma HCH. That's all gobbledegook to me. I've been making, repairing and restoring wooden stuff for about 50 years and I have seen some severe cases of woodworm. Touch wood, after treatment with this stuff, I've never had a recurrance. If you do treat it, with whatever substance you may choose, wear a mask and do it outdoors. It is vile stuff !Don't know if Sadovac 35 is still available. Elfin safety regs in Europe have gotten rid of many useful chemicals. YMMV.
Good luck, Nick.
could do what barn wood reclaimers do it is safe and cheap an non-toxic
they use tarps and space heaters
keep the temps high enough for a couple of days to bring the temp of the wood up and sustained and no more bugs you have to monitor the temps and make sure they are not too high or the heater might shut off or too low and the bugs survive
Might be a problem this year if it doesn't get cold - but deep freezing is usually quite effective. I put smaller items in the freezer for a week or two, and the problem goes away.
A quick google of Sadovac35 brings up pages of russian or slavic font
- so it is likely still available in some eastern european countries.
Oh yeah, that's excellent advice. You can get it nice and hot under your t ent (hot enough to kill a tropical insect) and ruin the finish on your piec e. Along the way you will dehumidify your piece causing cracks in the wood , joints to open and separate, glued areas to let go, etc.
It is one thing for you to persist in your odd observations and commentary, but it is simply not right for you to post as an adviser of any sort when you have no clue what you are talking about.
The guy that posted that question isn't a regular and may not know that man y of your posts are nothing but pointless trolls. What if he took your adv ice, that was total crap, and ruined his piece of furniture?
You should knock off you verbal diarrhea when you are responding to a serio us question and save your normal disjunctive, non related, poorly worded, o pinion posts based on your obviously profound lack of experience for those that will tolerate them.
Robert
you did it wrong then but i doubt you have ever done so i have done this and it worked fine did not ruin the finish did not cause cracks glue did not let go bugs all gone
You can have a pro exterminator fume it and/or use Timbor, as directed.
If you're in Europe, I don't know if Timbor is available, there. Otherwise, look for a product that contains Timbor's active ingredient:
(European) Woodworm and (US) powder post beetles are essentially the same/same type of bug.
Sonny
dpb wrote in news:n4hfre$j0p$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
If it's a bigger piece, I'd try asking the local restaurants if I could put it in the walk-in freezer for a week. If there's a place you go regular where the manager knows you, you might have luck.
John
On 12/12/2015 3:32 PM, John McCoy wrote: ...
I'd suspect that'd be a non-starter given their reqmts for health inspections...
I think the way he actually responds, with no punctuation, capitalization, and opened ended mumbling is enough to be a RED flag to anyone wanting at the very least a somewhat educated response.
Strange I thought that nobody asked how big this piece is when they posted about heat and cold as a solution. Just measured it. 75" L X
34" H X 21" DMade completely of solid wood. Except for the 4 drawers in the center which are made of 5/8" material, everything is 3/4". Did I mention that it is a heavy sucker. Heck I couldn't even pick it up without a lot of help.
One thing I don't understand is which way is the beetle going. The sawdust is on top and the little pile is about the diameter of a dime.. So how did the worm we saw get out. Or was it headed it.
I did read the info about Timbor and after reading that I wouldn't touch it. My wife has recently developed a lung disease and is on O2 continually so Timbor is not an option.
If this new piece had the bug in it when purchased then I just might make them take it back. It was purchased at Nadeau which is an importer of furniture from India and Indonesia.
Thanks for attempting to help.
Rereading your original post.... "....brought home in July. The other day ...."
That's at least 4 months difference. I'd suspect the woodworm/PPB problem is at your residence, not originally from the seller's location. The woo dworm's life cycle dictates its emergence/presence on/inside the piece.
Have it fumed by a pro exterminator. For that size piece, it may be able to be fumed at your home (outdoors), rather than you having to bring it to their facility.
You can try wetting it, generously (bathe it), with naptha.... OR (outdoors , well ventilated area) with lots of lacquer thinner. *Lacquer thinner li kely will affect the finish, though. Generally, a potent solvent (or its fumes) will kill most any insect. Gasoline (inexpensive, comparatively) w ould work, but the gasoline smell remains.
Sonny
If there is no hole in the upper surface, I would direct my eye directly upwards from the pile, and look for a tiny dark hole where the sawdust is really coming from. It could be termites unfortunately. Scott
Mike, you give him too much credit, or you have a low amusement threshold :-)
Termites typically do not tolerate light and need a water source. They would build a tunnel from the wood to a water source.
One classic solution is to keep the object at 120 F for a few hours. This will desiccate the bugs and their eggs. This approach is used for bedbug infestations - one heats the entire room and everything in it. It seems to be the only approach that works.
Joe Gwinn
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