Woodworm in parquet

[JongoT]

We´re thinking of putting an offer on a flat which has parquet flooring. It looks very nice apart from the fact that there is woodworm in places. It is active. In anybody´s experience, is it possible to eradicate the woodworm in parquet or will it continue to be a headache? We´re wondering whether we should forsake the original feature and rip everything out and replace with new flooring.... if that´s what´s necessary.

 

[Tigercubrider]

Not very knowledgable, but parquet is generally hardwood? I wasn’t aware that wood worm is happy in hard woods?
I would guess that in order to kill it, you would need to sand the parquet and remove any finish to allow the chemicals to penetrate.
I know that wood worm companies issue guarantees, so once treated, you should be fine.

The parquet sanding process involves big machines and dust extraction. The fine dust is collected as a filler for later. It’s mixed with a bonding agent.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

It looks very nice apart from the fact that there is woodworm in places. It is active. In anybody´s experience, is it possible to eradicate the woodworm in parquet or will it continue to be a headache?

You won't eradicate it without lifting it, and it may have spread elsewhere, into doors, skirting boards and architraves, assuming that like the floor these are hardwood

Not very knowledgable, but parquet is generally hardwood? I wasn’t aware that wood worm is happy in hard woods?

Parquet is often hardwood, although some softwood species such as pitch pine are also used, especially in buildings such as schools. In my experience woodworm seems to be as happy with hardwood as softwood - think about the furniture beetle (anobium punctatum - what people normally call woodworm) that lays its' eggs in the grain of wood in furniture, which was often hardwood. Oak, of course gets deathwatch beetle larvae as well, which are enormous in comparison to anobium punctatum

I would guess that in order to kill it, you would need to sand the parquet and remove any finish to allow the chemicals to penetrate.
I know that wood worm companies issue guarantees, so once treated, you should be fine.

If it is coming up there is another way - microwave. The boring larvae ("worms") cook quite quickly in a microwave (inside wood), around 1-1/2 to 2 minutes. That's how I "treat" any suspect traditional wooden planes I acquire. And it works. Wooden planes are often made from beech, a hardwood, and furniture beetle seems to be rather partial to a bit of beech

The parquet sanding process involves big machines and dust extraction. The fine dust is collected as a filler for later. It’s mixed with a bonding agent.

Not sure what to advise the OP. Taking it up and relaying parquet is a PIA job (dirty and laborious) and needs equipment (e.g. portable +table saw and chop saw), so it depends on how much damage there is, given that you are often advised to burn severely infected timber and replace it, and that you need to go at least a metre further than current activity (based on signs of frass around the flight holes). So it all depends on how bad the damage is and what the affected area is like. There is also the possibility of future activity in the building which you won't see flight holes until the future (April to May each tear). I think it would be best to get a professional in to do a woodworm report before the OP buys - we did this with our house. Avoid the chemical spray cowboys if you can and go for someone with a track record (our guy had acted as an expert witness in court a number of times and wasn't in the least bit pushy)

BTW the bonding agent to make-up a sanding putty for floor joints is something like LeCol 7500 and the adhesive to reaffix parquet is LeCol 5500. There are other makes

 

[Tigercubrider]

Thanks