Professional Dry Rot and Woodworm Treatments

What is a Woodworm?

The word “woodworm” is a general one that covers the larvae of numerous species of wood-boring insects. The common furniture beetle (anobium punctatum), which accounts for 75% of all timber damage in the UK, is typically the bug that causes woodworm. In the wood, the beetle lays its eggs. When the larvae first appear, they feed on the interior of the wood for up to four years until they are prepared to pupate and transform into adults.

In order to minimise woodworm-related problems, it is essential to keep the wood in your home dry because larvae prefer wood with a moisture content of 15–30%. Use your home’s central heating and ventilation systems to prevent the wood from becoming overly wet. It’s also crucial to maintain appropriate, unblocked airbricks that allow the sub-floor timbers to stay dry and ensure proper sub-floor ventilation. Any woodworm issues need to be taken care of as soon as possible because if they are not, they can cause structural weakness.

Fortunately, woodworm may be easily identified and treated as long as the severity of the problem and the kind of beetle responsible are correctly determined.

Defeating a Woodworm Infestation

It’s a homeowner’s nightmare. If your water problem has led to a deposit of woodworms overtaking your walls or flooring — you need to act fast! Woodworms are the larvae of the woodworm beetle, pests that thrive on dampness and humidity and bore their way through the furniture and building materials of your home. When woodworms hatch, the damage intensifies. RBS provides a comprehensive woodworm treatment to halt this problem before it worsens. If you’ve found a series of tunnels or holes or observed any weak or damaged wood – call us to set up a water-based fogging or fumigation and take back your living space.

Damage Resulting from Dry Rot

A property’s timber frame is susceptible to severe damage from dry rot. Dry rot spores take root in the timber’s pores and generate flora that feeds on the wood before spreading to form a fruiting body. More spores will be released by this fruiting body, and the cycle will continue.

The wooden construction will darken in colour, shrink and crack, and become brittle. These symptoms are also common of wet rot, but in the case of dry rot, cuboidal cracking will be caused by the shrinkage of the wood. In dry rot as opposed to wet rot, the depth of this breaking is more significant.

In pursuit of additional wood, dry rot frequently migrates under plastered and rendered walls. As a result, in addition to the timber, it also harms the brickwork inside the house.

Solving Your Dry Rot Problem

Maybe you’ve noticed a progression of dry rot within your home — the fungus that’s aggressive enough to cross masonry and infect timber beams and drywall. Ideally, you want to catch this issue early enough to quell its spread. Although it presents one of the worst and most difficult cases of fungal rot, RBS is equipped to treat it at any stage with minimal disturbance to the surrounding space. We specialise in advanced procedures to nullify it for good before it goes on to ruin cabinetry, flooring, furniture or siding.

Frequently asked questions

Excessive moisture in structural timber is the root cause of woodworm. As a result, female beetles have a place to lay their eggs. After hatching, the woodworm will eat its way through the wood, leaving channels (galleries) in its wake.

The timber that runs throughout your property allows woodworm to spread rapidly and readily throughout your home. This is why woodworm needs to be addressed right away.

The price of woodworm treatment services varies significantly based on the severity of the infestation, the species involved, and the type of treatment needed.

RBS offers home surveys in which we examine the building, identify any persistent damp problems, and recommend a fix. Our team of experts will make sure that you are kept fully informed about the charges and the anticipated duration of any treatment and/or repair work.

Different looks can be seen in the fungus' vegetative (mycelium) portion. Commonly, a white cotton wool-like carpet or a silvery-grey skin with lilac and yellow colouring, which is typically observed in more humid situations.

A huge, fleshy plate known as the fruiting body can spread across earth, masonry, and wood. The body is reddish-brown in colour, with an orange-patched white border around it.

You should watch out for the following signs:

  • The space or structure has a musty, damp smell.
  • Wood that is damaged or deteriorating and may also have grey strands and typically deep cuboidal fissures
  • Patches of spore dust that could be brown, orange, or red in colour.
  • Large bodies developing on the wood in the form of mushrooms.
  • Brittle wood that quickly breaks in the hand
  • Movements in the floors
  • Deterioration between skirting boards and flooring, or between wall architraves

Get in touch with RBS right away to schedule a survey if you have any concerns or worries that you might have dry rot. Dry rot spreads quickly and has the potential to seriously harm both your own property and those of your neighbours.

If you know you’ve got a moisture-related problem on your hands, but you’re not sure what it is or where it’s coming from, get in touch with us for answers. Our team can inspect the situation in person and recommend treatment options. We’re here to take care of it in the present and prevent it in the future.