Woodworm often appear in the autumn as dampness increases and the timber, from floorboards to furniture, provides them with a perfect home. Timber window frames are susceptible, with the cooler temperatures the increase in condensation is eminently helpful to the woodworm who enjoy the moisture.

The mother lays her eggs in quiet and safe positions to allow them to hatch and they immediately tunnel in to their new habitat and food store; they eat the cellulose in the frame to survive.

Woodworm is an umbrella term for a multitude of wood boring beetles including the Death Watch Beetle and the Common Furniture Beetle. After 10-14 days as eggs woodworm are born as larvae and can spend any time between 2 and 5 years in timber as larvae and pupa. When they become adults in beetle form they exit the timber, mate and die, normally within a couple of weeks.

Woodworm specialists including Thames Valley Timber Treatment’s knowledgeable and experienced team appreciate that discovering woodworm is unpleasant and that effective action needs to be taken.

Professional advice and a comprehensive survey with woodworm treatment options should be sought at the earliest opportunity because woodworm will not die off as some other pests do. If the wood presents a food source and safe home to them the woodworm larvae and pupa will remain and thrive.

The ramifications of woodworm infestations in window frames are more serious than you may realise. As larvae and pupa can cause structural damage this poses a health and safety and security risk. The window frame will become less able to hold the panes securely as tunnels, named galleries, turn solid strong wood into something resembling a lacy, hole ridden expanse with diminished integrity.

Why should you contact woodworm specialists?

• If over the counter woodworm treatments were 100% effective why would there be a need for professional, licensed timber and woodworm specialists who have access to treatments which are not available in the public domain?
• Are you confident that any clues e.g. fresh-looking holes in the window frame or dust (frass) are new? The holes may appear newly bored but they could be from a previous infestation that’s already been treated, especially in a historic property. Vibration or window movement could have released the frass.
• How certain are you that any beetles you’ve seen are of a wood boring species which require woodworm treatment?
• The extent of a woodworm issue cannot be accurately established by the untrained eye. Too small an area or too great an expanse may be treated in error by novices, spreading chemicals and placing people and animals at risk.
• Woodworm don’t wriggle or leap from window to window or start life in a cabinet, move to a floorboard and then gravitate to a staircase. They normally stay in the timber they’re in so if one item has woodworm, it doesn’t mean that every or even one other timber is affected. Professional experts assess this correctly.

Place your trust in woodworm specialists for swift effective treatments which restore peace of mind.