Hello, any contacts in the Calvados region for dealing with Death Watch beetles please. I hear knocking at night and have swept up adult beetles from the floors. Thank you.
@Rob_le_Pest might know. There seem to be plenty of people who offer control services for grosse vrillette, but thankfully have never had to call on them so can’t say if good or not.
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Thank you. This is my first post on here, thanks for jumping on so quickly to help. Many thanks.
Rob le pest is a professional so should be able to advise you. He normally replies quite quickly if he’s around.
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I’ve put the word out and will pm you shortly.
R_le_P
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Thank you so much. I really appreciate the help. I’m out of my depth!
I restored a house in Guernsey which had death watch beetle. I knew about it before buying the building, it was revealed on a detailed survey (ie a real survey…).
The CI is rank with beetle (mainly furniture beetle) but death watch is found in old houses where hardwood timbers reclaimed from the shipbuilding yards were incorporated in buildings to save a few shillings.
I had the house treated because I needed the guarantee for the mortgage. Looking back, what I had to do was probably excessive. There was plenty of furniture beetle present also….I was required to
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take up one in four floorboards (30mm thick)
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expose all joist ends (3 stories)
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plate 5 roofbeam ends in upper storey ceiling
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lift groundfloor timber floor and replace with concrete
I managed to plate the beam ends without losing the ceilings. This entailed sawing the plaster lath nails in situ with a hacksaw blade to create a slot in the plaster in which to insert the steel beam hanger shoes.
The chemical treatment was done while the house was unoccupied, but knowing now how strong the stuff they used is, I would have waited a bit longer before working on it.
It worked though. No beetle ever came back. But the important thing to know is that many infestations start in areas where timber is getting damp, and you have to stop that if you want to remain free of the beasties.
I built oak roofs for a living and have seen a few roofs. Take plenty of professional advice before doing anything. Read around the subject. You need to know the extent of any structural weakness in critical timbers.
For that you need a building surveyor or experienced reputable artisan. When you know the condition of the building from a technical point of view….then you consider your treatment progamme and invite quotations with diagnostics and specifications.
Think before you act…..
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Hi Yann
Thank you so much for sending on these details. Yes, I need to explore why the DWB are in the house as well. I wonder if we do have damp joints because of weaknesses in the pointing on the exterior. Anyway, I really appreciate you going to the trouble of replying. It’s all so useful!!
Thanks again,
Juliet
Beam ends are often the vulnerable areas for insect attack. This is because they are in places where there can easily be damp, eg in the walls below leaky gutters. Insects in general like chewy timber and areas of sapwood which contain starch. Once in place they eventually migrate to the harder stuff.
The boreholes for deathwatch are pretty big. If you are sweeping them off floors I would guess they are in the ceiling/floorbeams. In traditional roofs the big floorbeams often triangulate the roof frames and the structural joints are at the ends of the base of the triangle. In very severe cases of rot/damage, the joints fail and you get lateral thrust acting on the wallplates tending to push the walls outwards. That’s why you need to have these areas checked to see they are in reasonable condition.
The recent warm weather has probably influenced the insects’ reproduction cycle.
I am 100% retired now and only work (slowly) on my own projects (got too many of them!) as I have arthritis from too much heavy work lugging oak beams probably, but if you are in Calvados (where I am) I could have a look if you cannot find someone to give you an initial idea of whether your timbers need repair other than simply insect treatment.