What Is Woodworm and How Can You Prevent It?

It’s every homeowner’s worst nightmare; getting woodworm is disastrous to wooden floors and can cause great structural damage to your home. These pesky insects are in fact a wood boring beetle, or larvae, which can eat through your timber floors, causing damage. This form of beetle acquired its name due to the lines and tunnels that form in each timber panel, creating the illusion of worms travelling through it.

The furniture beetle (Anobium Punctatum) is most commonly found throughout homes in the UK as this species of beetle are native to England and surrounding areas. However, other rare forms of this wood-boring beetle can appear, depending on the type of wood used in your home and the state of which the wood is at. Larger forms of woodworm can be found in older, traditional homes where large quantities of oak are present, such as the Deathwatch beetle.

How Can I Prevent Woodworm?

For the majority of the time, our specialist timber preservationists can identify which type your home is suffering from by simply studying and analysing the holes created by the beetles leaving the wood. There’s a wide variety of wood boring beetles that a home might suffer from, however, our highly trained workforce can identify what type of beetle your home is experiencing from and can diagnose whether an attack is live, dead or if this is larvae that do not require treatment.

Here are a few simple ways you can help to prevent woodworm in your home:

    – Paint any wooden floorboards to prevent the larvae from leaving the wood to breed during winter months. This will help you to determine if the problem is active once Spring arrives
    – A well ventilated and heat home will prevent the timber from becoming moist. Moist wood is a breeding ground for this form of beetle
    – Use a timber moisture meter to check the humidity and moisture levels of your floorboards
    – Remove any materials or furniture that has suffered from the infestation as this will prevent it from travelling throughout your home

If you require professional timber specialists to help you remove woodworm from your home then call Advanced Preservations on 01252 333 310 or fill out our contact form and we’ll be in touch ASAP.