We offer tenants a range of services to combat problems with woodworm:
Identifying woodworm
Woodworm is usually only noticed once the damage has already been done. There is likely to be a number of elongated holes that appear in timber in the late spring or early summer. These are usually about the size of a pinhead and can be round or elongated in shape. It is quite common for holes made by darts to be mistaken for woodworm.
There are two things to consider:
- The timber may have already been treated and all that is visible is the holes left by the woodworm. In these cases no further action should be necessary.
- If the holes are new, they are bright and clean and quite often some wood dust is
visible in the holes. In these circumstances treatment is usually necessary.
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Reporting woodworm
When woodworm is suspected in any timber within the property, (except your own furniture), please ring our Tenants' Advice and Repairs Service on (0116) 2527007 to arrange an appointment for a technician to visit.
When they visit, the technician will confirm if the timber has woodworm or not and if the wood-boring insect is active. There may have been a previous infestation that has already been treated and no further action will be necessary.
If the infestation is active then it will be necessary to treat the affected timbers. The technician will check in our records to see if the problem has been treated before and if possible will arrange for the work to be carried out under an existing guarantee. If the property has not had any previous treatment then an order will be given for the work to be carried out.
Woodworm treatments
There are two different ways that the woodworm could be treated:
- If the wood-boring insect is active, a water-based chemical is sprayed over and under the area, and it may be necessary to replace some of the infected timber. This work is carried out by our in-house team of operatives.
- If the infected timber is painted or varnished then it will need to be completely replaced, as the spray will not penetrate the painted or varnished surface.
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Preparing for woodworm treatment
The technician will advise you of which rooms will be treated for woodworm and ask if there are any persons living in the house with breathing difficulties such as asthma. If this is the case, sometimes it may be necessary to move the family out of the property whilst the work is carried out. It must be stressed that this is not always the case and normally we work around the family.
Before any work can be carried out, tenants must lift any carpets, laminate floors etc., and move all furniture in the room to be treated. Sometimes it may be necessary to treat the whole house and this can be done in two visits. Once the treatment has started, the premises must be vacated for a minimum of eight hours – this is a recommendation given by the chemical manufacturer. Following the eight hours, there may be a slight odour but this will quickly diminish and we are advised it is perfectly safe to relay the carpets and move furniture back in.
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