ᐅ Woodworm in Timber Frame Houses – How to Protect Against It?

Created on: 19 May 2018 16:57
M
meister keks
M
meister keks
19 May 2018 16:57
Hello Forum,

For the past few days, I have been finding reddish-brown beetles in the house with growing concern. At first, I simply ignored them, but now we are killing 10-20 every day. After researching online, I was able to identify the species. All of them belong to the family of wood-boring beetles whose larvae prefer to eat wood.

The problem is as follows...
We have a timber-frame house, and naturally, you start wondering why this insect is here. Our house is sealed toward the foundation slab, so nothing can come in from there. Also, it cannot be through the windows since we mostly run the mechanical ventilation system and keep the windows closed. The beetle lays eggs in the wood, and the larvae feed on it. When they are fully developed, the beetles emerge. The larvae need 1–8 years to develop into beetles. Our house is not even 2 years old. This leads me to believe that the larvae must have already been present in the wooden construction components at the time of manufacturing. We have no damaged wooden furniture or similar; there is also no visible damage on the roof.

On Tuesday, I will take samples to a pest control expert who will tell me what species this is.

What if it is a bread beetle or a furniture beetle?
Are there any known cases related to this?
Who is responsible?
Theoretically, it should not be possible that we are responsible due to the beetle’s development time and the age of our house.

Maybe it’s a false alarm, but something doesn’t seem right.

Best regards
M
meister keks
26 May 2018 20:19
The pest control expert says it is either a Brown Furniture Beetle or an American Powderpost Beetle.
The ball is rolling...
D
Domski
26 May 2018 22:27
Can the expert narrow down specific types of wood that are affected? As far as I know, sapwood beetles primarily infest hardwoods with a high sapwood content. Timber frame houses are generally built from softwood, as hardwood is not suitable for structural timber.

This might help in identifying the origin of the pests.
M
meister keks
26 May 2018 22:30
Thank you for the information.
M
meister keks
26 May 2018 22:45
He also said it could be a rice weevil and that these two species look very similar. We checked all the food items thoroughly and found nothing. When you crush the beetles, your hand smells like fresh wood.
D
DNL
27 May 2018 23:59
Oh, what a nightmare.

Are there any visible holes in the wood?

We had wood wasps.
They came in through birch trees that we have as decoration.
That was quite a shock at first.