Woodworm in chairs

[Sabee]

Hello,

We bought some ercol chairs from eBay - unfortunately, when we brought them home, we took a closer look..one chair in particular was riddled with holes ☹️

I am presuming this is woodworm - and active, as the holes look new?

Are the holes supposed to be this big? One of them looks quite big.

We were going to clean the chairs appropriately- but do we do this before or after woodworm treatment?

I’ve stuck the chair in front of the fire for now.

Thank you

I’d take it out of your house so it doesn’t risk spreading to other pieces of furniture!

Here are some photos

Forgot to attach

Curtailingchaos

I was wondering about where I might put them - I read heat could help, so thought it might prevent them emerging 👀

Get them out away from any other wood furniture. Observe for dust which will tell you if they are current or old. If current or in doubt get some treatment, buy some syringes and needles off ebay and inject treatment into the holes as well as painting it on. After they are treated you can refinish them.

Woodworm really doesn’t spread that fast! You don’t need to quarantine your chairs, I had this problem one and injected alcohol into the holes and did it again the following day

Then used putty to fill and sand the holes

Periodically
I put the chair upside down and tap it to see if any dust comes out.

You’re looking for golden dust called frass

Oakleystreetisnotinchelsea

Thank you - didn’t think of syringes!

Ella

Thank you - I have tried to shake/tap the chairs, not much came out - I did see a little bit didn’t know if it was just my imagination

I was thinking of buying that Cuprinol woodworm stuff, didn’t realise other things could work. Will have a think - thanks again x

the holes do look surprisingly big. Are you in Surrey?

worm can quickly spread to other furniture, floors etc and be a great nuisance. I'd prefer to wrap in polythene until after you have treated them. This will also show you if any new frass comes out. Observe all the holes and photograph them ot mark with a dot of ink so you will see if any new ones appear. Once you have treated it and are sure the infestation is gone, use wax to fill the holes so any new ones will be obvious.

Modern, centrally heated houses don't usually have woodworm because the humidity is too low for them to survive. You often see it in old neglected houses, garden sheds, conservatories, summerhouses etc.

They are big, right? I’m in Leicestershire.

We have bought the Cuprinol this evening, and will be brushed on tonight. I am now worried about the chairs having hung around the entrance hallway all day - perhaps the lingering smell of white spirit (have been stripping paint) will have kept them inside their tunnels ☹️

I don't think it will soak in through varnish

they used to sell a small tin with a long narrow nozzle that would poke into existing holes, I have not seen that recently.

I don't know the life cycle well, but I think they hatch and burrow out in spring.

here it is
www.amazon.co.uk/Rentokil-PSW92-Woodworm-Treatment-250ml/dp/B000TVIXZY/ref=asc_df_B000TVIXZY/?hvlocphy=1006773&hvlocphy=1006773&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvnetw=g&hvadid=435764533578&hvadid=435764533578&hvpone&hvpone&hvlocint&hvlocint&ref&hvpos&hvpos&hvdev=c&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-913027383741&hvtargid=pla-913027383741&hvrand=16825999540076650276&hvrand=16825999540076650276&adgrpid=101625413979

I have had this on antiques I buy.
Quarantine the chairs, away from other wood objects...including wood skirting boards or doors or floors!
Buy woodworm killer solution.
Clean chairs of dust and dirt with damp cloth.
In a well ventilated area, and wearing gloves, brush all over with wood worm killer solution . Also use nozzle to drip the into the holes that are facing up (you want it to sit in hole, not drip out). This means positioning chairs variously and then fill whichever holes are facing up. Wait 2hrs, rotate chair on side, fill those holes that face up. And so on until you have done all holes.
Let dry 24hrs. Then fill holes with wood putty. You can buy a small tube of dark coloured putty.
Let dry 24 hrs, sand putty flush with wood surface, then stain to match.

I have used the Rentokil stuff, got it from my local wee hardware store and seems to have worked.

It's easy to use. Ventilate well.

Pigletjohn, somanysocks - thank you for the recommendations - already bought some Cuprinol when we got the chairs, so will try that for now.

EmpressCixi - oh ok, we didn’t think of cleaning the chairs - we applied it once already and have put the chairs in a huge plastic bag for now as got carried away with other stuff…will need to get some sort of syringe for the next coat, as the Cuprinol stuff comes in a tin

Thank you everyone for your help 💐

Thank you for the Rex

We need an edit button 😣