Borers (Wood Borer)

Borers are insects which can negatively affect timber. The larval (grub) stage tunnels through the timber causing damage. The first sign of a borer infestation is small pin holes in the timber, as this is the hole where the adult borer has emerged from the wood.The adult will only live for a short period of time, mating and the female will inject her eggs into the pores of the timber.

Once the female lays her eggs in the pores of the timbers, larvae feed upon starch and other nutrients in the sapwood. Some timbers where the sapwood has insufficient starch, or its pores are too narrow for the female’s ovipositor, should be immune to attack. However, conducive conditions such as high moisture and poor ventilation can open the pores of the timber and allow borer attack.

Borers are known to attack old furniture and structural timbers such as flooring, bearers and joists and roofing timbers.

How To Tell If You Have A Borer Infestation

Lyctid borer (Powder post borer)

These borers:

• Produce a very fine powdery dust, similar in consistency to talcum powder.

• Attack the sapwood of certain hardwood timbers.

• Cause serious structural weakening in timber that has a high sapwood content.

 Anobium punctatum (Common furniture beetle)

These borers:

• Attack furniture, structural timbers, flooring and decorative wood work.

• Prefer old, well-seasoned timber, especially softwoods such as Baltic pine or New Zealand white pine.

• Attack some hardwoods, especially blackwood and imported English oak.

• Prefer cool, humid conditions.

Borer Treatment Options:

Our Borer treatment is applied to all accessible timber surfaces throughout the roof void and/or subfloor areas using a timber-saver Boric acid treatment. This treatment will kill the adult beetles as they emerge from the timber before they have an opportunity to mate and reinfest. Due to the lifecycle of Borers, it is strongly recommended to have the initial treatment and two further treatments at 12 month intervals to cover the full lifecycle period.