Thatch Treatment Llandudno

Llandudno is a small, steep village tucked between Little Lion's Head and the Karbonkelberg, with Victoria Road above and a sandy cove below. There are no shops here, so the pests we deal with come almost entirely from the mountain, the sea and the houses themselves.

Timber pests in Llandudno: what we see

Timber decks, pergolas and wooden window frames take a beating from salt air and can attract wood borer once weathered. We do beetle inspections for property transfers here too.

Homes are large, individual houses built into the granite slopes, many on several levels with timber decks, glass and big overhangs. Holiday homes can stand empty for weeks, and that's when rodents and wasps move in undisturbed. Retaining walls and boulders built into gardens leave plenty of hollows for rats and scorpions.

Fynbos covers the slopes right up to the back walls, and the granite boulders hold heat and shelter all sorts of crawling life. The South-Easter funnels over the mountain in summer, while winter storms push salt spray and damp up from the beach. Sandy Bay and the coastal path lie just to the south.

Rats and mice from the mountain, spiders and scorpions from the fynbos, and wasps under decks are the usual suspects. Fishmoths turn up in damp storerooms on the lower levels. Gulls and pigeons can be a nuisance on flat roofs.

Tell-tale signs

1. Rustling or scratching in the roof at night.
2. Fine powder dropping from the poles or laths onto floors and furniture below.
3. Small round exit holes in the poles, especially in the paler sapwood.
4. Insects such as cockroaches or spiders falling from the ceiling.
5. Birds pulling reed out of the roof or nesting under the eaves.
6. Droppings on beams or along the top of walls under the thatch.

Borer in the poles and laths weakens the timbers that carry the weight of the thatch, which is heavy, and serious damage can mean replacing structural members. Rodents nesting in thatch chew electrical cables, and in a thatch roof that is a fire risk to take seriously. Insects dropping from an open thatch ceiling are a nuisance in homes and a real problem in guest lodges and restaurants. Bird nests in thatch can bring mites into bedrooms below.

A note from the field

Borer damage in thatch is often blamed on the reed, but the reed is rarely the problem. It is the poles and laths holding it up that the beetles are after.

How the treatment works

We start by inspecting the underside of the roof, the poles, the laths and the eaves, looking for borer exit holes, frass and rodent or bird activity. Affected poles and laths are treated with a borer spray or injection designed for timber, applied to the wood rather than soaked through the thatch. For insects living in the thatch, we use a targeted residual treatment on the underside, keeping it as light as will do the job. Rodents are handled with traps and tamper-resistant bait stations placed at wall plates and entry points, and we advise on bird netting or proofing at the eaves. Fire safety of the thatch itself, such as retardant treatment, is a separate specialist job and we will tell you if it looks overdue.

Want the full step-by-step? See how our thatch treatment service works.

Keeping them out afterwards

• Ask your thatcher to check the poles and laths for borer whenever the roof is being repaired or re-combed.
• Have electrical wiring in the roof inspected regularly, especially if you have had rodents.
• Have open thatch ceilings in lapas and lodges checked once a year, since problems are easy to see early.
• Do not store firewood or boxes against the walls under the thatch, as they give insects and rodents cover.
• Keep trees and creepers trimmed back from the thatch so rodents cannot step straight onto the roof.

Pricing, honestly

The price depends on the size of the roof, how much of the structure is exposed and how many poles and laths show borer activity. A small lapa with an open underside is a very different job from a double-storey home with a closed ceiling. Rodent and bird work is added where needed, and timber that is too damaged to treat has to be replaced by a builder or thatcher.

Spraying the underside of your own thatch with a garden insecticide does very little for borer, which lives inside the poles, and soaking thatch in products not meant for it can do more harm than good. We would leave borer and rodent work in thatch to someone who does it regularly. Keeping the roof clear of overhanging trees is the one thing every owner can do themselves.

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