wood boring insects

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cj
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wood boring insects

Postby cj » Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:45 pm

We have discovered something attacking the door frames inside our house. Does anyone know what they might be? The house is only about 10 years old. We have removed all the affected wood and replaced with new and treated it with insecticide. Will this be enough to eradicate them. I would attach a photo but not sure how to. I am hoping they are not termites, they are now in the larva stage very small white larvae.
If we need to get a professional to help does anybody know how much this would cost?

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hillybilly
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Postby hillybilly » Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:55 pm

What does the damage look like or indeed the insects?!
Termites usually start off below ground in the dark and come to life when the weather is mild and wet (like now or in the spring). They will then start to chomp at any wood in contact with the ground eg bottoms of door frames if the floor slab has fractured and they are able to get up through.
Termites are v small and this time of year will be white or almost colourless.
Woodworm leave telltale small round flight holes.
Longhorn beetle leaves larger oval flight holes.
Any help?

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hillybilly
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Postby hillybilly » Tue Oct 24, 2006 8:03 pm

Forgot to add...if it is termites, then simply replacing the affected wood isn't going to work. The termites will already be in the ground (feeding off any old cellulose they can find) and so will really appreciate the new meal you've provided them with. What you need to do is to prevent them getting to the wood ie repair the floor slab if it's fractured, seal off any possible ways for them to enter the building and protect the base of any such timber with metal plates/cups. Move any stored firewood, cardboard boxes, old newspapers etc away from the building. Above all keep everything as dry as possible as they cannot survive without moisture.

Mike C
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Postby Mike C » Tue Oct 24, 2006 9:02 pm

We bought our place in the campo almost 4 yrs ago and were very soon immersed into the world of the wood eating beetle. We had to act very quickly and to cut a very long story short we ended up contracting a company based in Malaga to inject every single bit of wood (including furniture) with a very toxic solution which did end up killing all the larvae and ridding ourselves of a pest that seriously would have eventually brought the house down (we have structural beams everywhere). The house had to be sealed off for 10 days after the treatment for maximum effect - but it did work.

I hope you dont have these beetles (Longhorns) cos they're nasty sods. There are liquid treatments you can buy in any of the DIY type places (Aki etc) but I've no idea how effective they are. They tend to be labelled "contra carcoma".

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Postby Grouser » Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:48 am

We had, possibly still have. carcoma in our house. They are tiny wood boring insects that make holes up to about the size of a woodworm hole. They are very difficult to eradicate. We treated the wood by painting it with a killer/ preservative called Xzylene and sprayed the stuff into the individual holes. We then filled the holes that we had treated so that we could identify any new ones and treat them. It has been an ongoing process for the last three years and we are finally getting on top of them. They are most active during the summer months, so don't be fooled into thinking you have killed them all if there are no signs of activity now.

If you want to know how to upload a picture there is a thread in forum or go to Travel, tourism and destinations and look in the thread 'A new edge to guided tours?' just above the pic of the motorbike.
Grouser

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Jane
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Postby Jane » Wed Oct 25, 2006 7:03 pm

I am tempted to say don't worry too much. When we got carcoma it seemed very serious to me. Indeed it is an ongoing problem but if you keep treating the holes, coating the wood with anti-carcoma liquid and monitoring the situation it starts to become part of life. I wouldn't rush into bringing in a professional firm unless you feel an urgent need to do so as this will cost you. Our local village shop sells all kinds of anti-carcoma treatments so it's a fairly common problem in older houses.
If you see holes (and powdery wood piles), treat the holes, fill them with polyfilla or wood filler and then monitor the situation to see if it's getting better or worse.
Jane

cj
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Postby cj » Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:37 pm

Image
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Now managed to post the picture.
Also found some stuff to paint onto the wood, but if anyone could identify the culprit from the photo that would help too.

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hillybilly
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Postby hillybilly » Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:09 am

I am 99% certain that is a termite. Do you live anywhere near the coast? Termites are more prevalent there because of the moisture in the air. (Though everywhere's pretty moist at the moment!)

OK - just seen you live in Almunecar! Doh!


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