Wood Borer Treatment: a Cape Town guide

Know what you are dealing with

The common furniture beetle, Anobium punctatum, is the one we find most often in older Cape Town homes, in pine floors, skirtings and furniture. Powder post beetles (Lyctus species) go for the sapwood of hardwoods and leave a very fine, flour-like powder. The big one is the European house borer, Hylotrupes bajulus, which attacks structural softwood like roof trusses and is a notifiable pest in the Western Cape, so suspected cases have to be reported. Older homes in areas with lots of untreated pine roofing are where we see the most borer activity. In thatch and exposed beams we also see other wood-boring beetles, which is why we identify before we treat.

Myths, mistakes and lesser-known facts

Borer treatments are applied in the roof or to furniture, not in living areas, so children and pets just need to stay clear while we work and while it dries.

For sellers, borer is often discovered at the worst moment, a week before transfer. Booking the inspection as soon as the house goes on the market takes the pressure off.

The European house borer is notifiable in the Western Cape. If we find it, it gets reported and treated properly, which is better for you in the long run.

Warning signs

1. Small round or oval exit holes in timber, furniture or floorboards.
2. Fine powder, called frass, building up under wooden items or on the floor below roof timbers.
3. Floorboards that feel soft or crumble at the edges when you press on them.
4. Adult beetles found on windowsills or near lights in late spring and summer.
5. Faint scratching or ticking sounds from roof timbers on quiet nights.
6. Timber that breaks easily and shows a network of tunnels inside.
7. A beetle inspection for a property transfer has flagged activity.

Most borer damage is slow, but it is cumulative, and a roof truss weakened by years of tunnelling can fail under load. The European house borer is the serious one, because it goes for structural timber and is a notifiable pest. Furniture and antiques lose value quickly once borer has hollowed them out. When you sell a property in the Western Cape, an active infestation can hold up the transfer until it is treated and certified.

Can you do it yourself?

You can brush a borer product onto a small piece of furniture yourself and it may do the job. Roof timbers are a different story: getting the product into every face of every truss in a hot, cramped roof is hard work, and missing the European house borer is a real problem. I would always get the roof looked at professionally.

Seasonal pattern

Adult beetles emerge mainly from late spring through summer, roughly October to February in Cape Town, which is when fresh holes and powder show up. That is the best time to spot an active problem, but treatment can be done all year round.

Prevention checklist

• Use treated timber for any roofing, decking or building work, and check the treatment marks on it.
• Keep the roof space ventilated and fix leaks quickly, since damp timber attracts borer.
• Check second-hand furniture for holes and fresh powder before you bring it home.
• Seal or varnish bare wood surfaces, because beetles prefer to lay eggs in rough, untreated grain.
• Have the roof timbers looked at every few years in an older house.
• If you are buying or selling, book the beetle inspection early so it does not delay the transfer.

What affects the price

The price depends on how much timber needs treating, how easy the roof space is to get into and which beetle we are dealing with. A single piece of furniture is a very different job to a full roof of trusses. Injection work, replacement advice and certificates for transfers are all included in a free quote once we have seen the property.

Frequently asked questions

Areas we cover for wood borer treatment