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ᐅ New hardwood flooring has small holes – woodworm beetles? Hardwood flooring in a new building

Created on: 23 Apr 2018 00:49
K
Khullx1
Original post
Hi,

about two months ago (at the end of February 2018), the flooring installer laid parquet flooring (Haro country oak planks, oiled) in our new apartment. Everything was covered with a very thin fleece to protect it from scratches or damage by other tradespeople. Most of the work is finally finished, and the move-in should take place in the next few days. However, after removing the fleece from most rooms today, we discovered some "strange" holes in one plank while vacuuming and cleaning. After a brief online search, we found a "suspicious" beetle in another room.

We have two pictures of the plank and one of the beetle. Can anyone help us and tell if we might have a problem or what exactly these images could show?

From what I found online, it seems similar to a "parquet beetle," and visually the holes look like that, and the beetle could match as well. But as laypersons, we can’t be sure.

If it is this type of beetle, does that basically mean we have to remove and replace the entire floor?

Here are the mentioned pictures (click to enlarge):

Plank Part 1

Wood floor with planks, grain, and nails; on the right a curved black line.

Plank Part 2

Wood tabletop with grain and a diagonal black line

Beetle

Small black insect on a white napkin, a hand holding the paper.

Thank you very much for any help and best regards!
K
Khullx124 Apr 2018 00:19
#19
ypg schrieb:
... In the case of full-surface gluing, it is most likely that the beetles or the holes were made _before_ the bonding, since it is unlikely they can move within the adhesive layer. I would suggest removing a board to check whether the holes go all the way through. Also, document whether there is any wood dust or not. Holes that go through and are free of dust are indications that the damage was present beforehand.

What puzzles me, however, is the beetle finding in your case, but that could also just be a coincidence.

Good luck!

Assessing if holes are free of dust is difficult... many holes appear dust-free, but there are also some that are not completely clean. The problem is that after installation and so on, everything is usually covered in sawdust anyway... so dust could have entered the holes afterwards. Removing a board would have to be done by the flooring installer... but we have already said that we want it confirmed in writing that there is no infestation. Also for possible future damages.

As mentioned, the beetle we found is almost certainly not a common furniture beetle but a Cossonus… the images of Cossonus found by a Google image search match almost exactly the beetle we photographed (see my first post).
Y
ypg24 Apr 2018 09:07
#20
I mean, flour under the boards. Flour always falls down. It would also just be to rule it out.
truce24 Apr 2018 22:43
#21
If the floorboards, as you already mentioned, were left “open” with the installer for several weeks, the most likely explanation is that the holes appeared during that time.

I would also almost rule out the manufacturer (heat-treated).
K
Khullx124 Apr 2018 22:59
#22
I do not know exactly how and where they were stored. However, I believe that the manufacturer’s original packaging/sealing was not altered or opened.
C
chand198624 Apr 2018 23:02
#23
Or a few boards slipped through the manufacturer’s internal quality control: holes present, but larvae are dead.
11ant24 Apr 2018 23:15
#24
Khullx1 schrieb:
I think, however, that the manufacturer’s packaging/sealing was not altered or opened.

Probably not intentionally, but the infestation rate would fit with how "often" packages sometimes have holes, right?
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