Woodborer & Drywood Termite Treatment

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Common Woodborer & Drywood Termites in South Africa

Woodborer are wood destroying insects that are best identified by their love for infesting wood of various kinds including antiques and even buildings. They are fairly common in human locations, especially coastal regions where they have been known to breed more frequently. A woodborers life consists of the following phases – Egg, Larva, Pupa and Beetle. Service Master’s Woodborer control methods include Tented Fumigation, ThermaTreat and Palliative Spot Treatment. Using our services means that all your Wood Borer control needs are adhered to completely and your structure is stronger than ever before.

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What They Do: Woodborer & Drywood Termite Problems

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Woodborer (Cryptotermis Brevis) swarm usually at dusk / night and are attracted to light. Anytime from spring through to autumn, they fly into our living and working space, and their wings commonly fall off around areas of infestation. Furthermore, they breed very slowly and after many years a mature colony could have 3000 individuals.

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They gnaw a tiny tunnel into a suitable wood, tunnel inside and begin to breed. They prefer softer woods, and are commonly found in roof timbers, eaves, knotty pine ceilings, doors and window frames, wooden furniture, picture frames and wooden art / carvings. If left untreated roof structures and joinery can be unsafe and ultimately may need to be replaced.

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Woodborer can establish a new colony in perfectly solid wood, it does not have to be old or decayed to attract them. They are found primarily along the East Coast of South Africa, parts of Australia and America.

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They create a network of tunnels from feeding inside the wood and cannot be seen from the outside. The first signs of infestation are when breeding swarms fly out in the next season or when the droppings called “frass” are noted underneath flight-holes.

What You Can Do: Woodborer & Drywood Termite Prevention

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Have a qualified pest control technician undertake an annual assessment for you throughout your property, particularly your roof timbers, especially if you live in a common woodborer flight path area.

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Do a spot-treatment of small infested areas annually, or as and when the droppings are noted. It will go a long way in slowing down the growth and size of the woodborer colony.

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At dusk and night, do not keep lights on in front of open windows, as this will attract the woodborer swarms. Should you see them flying inside your home, spray them immediately with an insecticide.

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Wood preservatives that can be sprayed or painted on the timber is only a deterrent against new woodboring insect infestation. There is no treatment that can be applied to the outside of the wood that will effectively eradicate the woodborer living inside.

What We Can Do: Solutions We Offer

Assessment & Inspection

An experienced technician will be able to identify the infestation and note the extent of the problem, particularly in roof spaces and under sub-floors. It is important to please leave any frass or droppings in place or keep a sample for our technician and tell him where it was found. We will give you a written report telling you the type of woodborer and extent of infestation. We can also identify whether you have live woodborer or signs of an old infestation. Our report will include recommendations and quotations for the different treatment options. Entomological inspections are usually undertaken for property sales.

Tented Fumigation

The structure, which could be a house, office building, block of flats, factory etc, is completely covered with tarpaulins, sealed off and ProFume (replacement for methyl bromide gas) is introduced. ProFume (sulfuryl fluoride) is a very effective fumigant, proven successful all over the world and now in South Africa. When the tent is removed, the structure will be completely free of live Woodborer.

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ThermaTreat® – Heat Treatment

Up to now, the only existing method of complete 100% eradication of woodborer in a roof has been Methyl Bromide Tented Fumigation. ThermaTreat® is a new patented heat treatment process that will completely eradicate woodborer and other wood-destroying insects in roof timbers, without using any toxic chemicals.

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Palliative – Spot Treatment

This is a spot treatment, which involves drilling and injecting or syringing residual insecticide into infected wood or flight holes. The success of this treatment depends on finding the specific area of infection, which is very difficult, if not almost impossible. At best, palliative treatments are only about 50% effective but is better than nothing if you cannot fumigate.

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