Often referred to as “wood worms” or “powder post beetles,” wood-boring beetles can be found all across the United States. Only second to termites, these insects are responsible for damage to structural wood. Prevention is the best method of management, because once an infestation has started, wood-boring beetles are difficult to control.
Beetle larvae feed in and damage the wood, and when they reach the adult stage, they create round exit holes by chewing through the wood surface. Some species of beetles have been known to chew exit holes through plaster, plastic, and even soft metals.
What signs should you look for to determine if you have wood-boring beetles? 1) The first sign of beetle infestation is sawdust or frass. 2) You can also hear the chewing noise made by older larvae in the wood.
Our company applies a borate treatment on almost every home we restore (depending on the desires of our client). As research as shown, the presence of borate in the wood does two things: 1) Borate kills younger beetle larvae feeding in the wood. 2) Borate treatments also interrupt the beetle’s life cycle and eventually the infestation will end. This is why we highly recommend having a borate treatment done during the restoration process.
Contact us for more information on how we can protect your log home!
Reference: PermaChink Systems, Inc.
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