Diesel

About to buy this house but surveyor said get a report on timbers as he saw long dead woodworm marks in a few places. Specialists came and said there was a bit of woodworm in the stairs - £200 to fix – but they HAVENT lifted carpets upstairs to check elsewhere. . Owner says it has an underwritten 30yr guarantee for the ‘treatment to stairs and first floor timbers’ and is getting the firm out to have another look. Really like the house and don’t want to overreact as the guarantee runs till 2025. However I don’t want a house with issues and I don’t really understand the implications – will it spread to skirting/banisters etc and become a ‘mare??? I’ve put it as a contract stipulation that this is all fixed before we complete but am still a bit concerned.

Cheers for any advice.

PCatWork

My house has old woodworm damage all over the place - doesn't bother me too much, many old houses have this. Most important is to make sure joists in suspended floors and roof are sound, as these will cost quite a bit to replace.

I negotiated a bit on the price when I bought it, on the basis of woodworm and a few patches of damp.

Flatcapdriver

It's not that much of an issue provided you get it treated properly which can cost up to £1500.00 depending on the level of infestation and it can be an excellent way of leveraging a further reduction in the price.

If it's been treated then it should not spread any further and existing timber should be fine if they've been inspected and passed off by a surveyor.

Suresh

Slightly different, but related subject - we had an antique cupboard trated for woodworm a while back and on the invoice it stated that they used "HCN" as a fumagation agent. A Google search revealed this to be the generic name for what the Germans used to call Cyclone-B or rather 'Zyklon-B'.

Needless to say the cupboard remained outside for a few days until all traces of the fumes had gone.....

Suresh

richardg

our house (and the last one) has traces too. i brought an oak (untreated) stair spindle sample home from work and left it in the study. about 6 months later when i went to get it, i noticed new traces of "woodworm"/"furniture beetle". i think they're airborn flies which bore into timber to lay their eggs. the eggs grow, the "worm" flies fly out and repeat the process elsewhere. IIRC the only way to avoid this is to treat/paint/seal all new timbers to avoid damage to new items and to make sure that you take the opportunity to treat floorboards and other timbers when you get the chance, ie if you replace a carpet in a room, treat the boards etc
it may be worth checking whether the "policy" is insurance-backed for your own peace of mind