DIY woodworm treatment
Building Materials Portugal
Many home owners see those tell tale round holes left by wood worm or the small piles of sawdust on the floor and immediately think help I need to get rid of them before they devour my home.
They rush off to the local hardware shop or DIY hypermarket and buy something that’s easy to use like an aerosol similar to a fly-spray can a DIY woodworm treatment. They then spray the timber where they see a few tiny holes.
I know of a local guy who every time he visits his holiday home he spends an hour in the steaming hot roof space trying to keep the wood worm at bay with a few aerosol cans. I dread to think what he is doing to his health crawling around on the ceiling joists breathing in the chemicals as they are dispensed from the aerosol. The fact that he isn’t dead yet or seriously ill demonstrates just how weak the chemicals in DIY remedies are.
Obviously they are to be used with care by inexperienced people.
The other thing is how little wood worm killing product the aerosols actually contain. Most of the liquid inside the can is propellant which evaporates into the air (and eventually the ozone layer) the small amount of chemical is weak and ineffective unless sprayed intensively on wood worm effected timber.
Coverage. Praying the visible holes is a complete waste of time. It may feel good but you are spraying the EXIT holes, there is nothing in them !
It’s almost impossible to adequately treat wood worm effected timbers unless you have a massive amount or aerosols. It’s best to get professionals in to carry out the work for you. because they have the correct strength of chemicals to make their work effective, can access areas that you can’t, have the necessary experience, equipment and vital safety gear to keep them safe from the hazardous chemicals.
Another consideration is that the timber itself may be not too bad-looking on the outside but riddled with holes on the inside to a state were it has lost its original strength. Could you tell or will you just take a chance.
Here is a recent example that we found.
Its best to let professionals asses the situation and give you some sound advice
contact woodworm@casteloconstruction.com
Here is a typical DIY wood worm treatment that we spotted recently in a hypermarket. You push a tube into a wood worm hole and “inject” the wood worm killer directly. On first glance it looks like a winner. Apart from the fact that you are squirting the chemical IN EXIT HOLES !
Don’t consider doing DIY wood worm treatment contact woodworm@casteloconstruction.com
Building Materials Portugal
