Wood work still appear 3 years later

[Rebelwithallthecause]

We bought a dilapidated Victorian house 3 years ago that had some damp (typical of Victorian terraces)

We totally renovated. Any rotten or affected timber was cut out and replaced.

House has been dry for 3 years now and each year in April we start to see little wood worm.

Only a few, and after the spring we stop seeing them.

I saw my first one today.
I thought any eggs that turned into lavae would surly have left any other timbers by now as they don’t like dry wood?

Should I be concerned?

Yes. Get it treated!

Agreed. Wood worm is an infestation and needs to be treated. It’s affecting the strength of the wood. You need to get rid of it.
We’re you told that if you got rid of the damp they would go? That’s not really the case.

Yes I was told that once everything stayed dry the only woodworm that would continue to appear would be ones that have been layer there previously when it was damp as they can’t relay in dry timber

I don’t think that’s correct. They like wood, prefer it wet, but will stay if dry is the only option

It’s also definitely the furniture beetle type and not the more destructive longhorn beetle

The only holes I can see is from my mantle piece timber which was an old lump of walnut stored in a wet shed for years. But once again it’s been in place 2.5 years now.

The floors are all covered and every other bit of built in furniture is painted MDF so definitely no beetles in there.

So far I’ve only seen one but it’s just the beginning of the season.

Where do you see them?

The beetles also live in old trees and some external timber (they like warm, damp conditions)

Have you bought any old furniture?

This one appeared near the fireplace. we haven’t used the fireplace yet ourselves but there is an old beech log in it. However I can’t see any signs of flight holes.
There are flight holes in the walnut mantle, but there have been flight holes since we had it.
It was fully dried out and lacquered before we installed it

There is an old rotten tree trunk I the garden that is absolutely full of wood worm right now but it’s no where near our back door

Wood worm can stay as larvae for 5 years. So you may have 2 more years of the buggers coming out.

I’ve done much the same and cut out bad timbers. I see the odd tiny bit of evidence 3 years later on the old timbers which would of been difficult to replace. But I treat the area myself every year. It’s a few quid for the materials and I use my garden sprayer.

Don’t accept because the wood is covered there are no wood worm. My wood worm were below the staircase. No light, carpeted. They must of had their own dark munching world there for many decades.

So it might be from that log.

Btw if you rub hard wax polish into any known beetle holes in furniture, any new holes will be noticeable.

Is there a risk it’s coming from the floorboards beneath and making its way up through the underlay and carpet?

You need to treat them or they will spread and then be much harder to deal with.

I don't know that they will. So far as I can see, modern houses with central heating don't get woodworm, because the humidity is too low (especially in winter when the heating is on) for them to be viable.

it's been years since I've seen a live infestation.

I did find worm in a relation's shed, they had eaten the wooden handles of garden tools.

I like to put timber preserver on the wooden joists of a bathroom or similar that's had a long-term leak. Don't know if it's actually necessary. I see woodlice around leaks.

So are you actually seeing a worm? Or is it the beetle you are seeing? I wouldn't have thought the worms would ever leave the wood until they have turned into a beetle... we have also bought a house that used to have an infestation- all floorboards have flight holes, but I've never seen a beetle let alone a worm. As we are renovating we treat the floorboards, room by room, so it's a slow process.

Just the beetle . No actual lavae seen.

That’s what I thought too Pjohn

Everything I’ve read is that they don’t spread between infected wood and will only start to lay in damp wood.

Fingers crossed it’s just the last ones coming out. Especially if they can stay as lavae for you to 5 years

If its wood spray it all of it .
Pull up floorboards spray joists and the underside of the floorboards
If you have ground floor with a void get under the floor spray the lot and in the loft space all the timbers .
Sovereign chemicals do a low odour spray woodworm spray .