Crawford is a settled suburb where many families have lived in the same house for decades, adding rooms as the family grew. The work here is steady household stuff: rats in the roof, cockroaches in the kitchen and ants once summer arrives.
The local picture in Crawford
Most homes have pine roof trusses, and borer shows up mainly in older roofs or when a beetle certificate is needed for a sale. Small round holes and fine powder in old built-in cupboards are the giveaway.
You'll find solid freestanding houses and semis on modest plots, often with outside rooms, garages and flat-roofed additions built on over the years. Where an old roof meets a newer extension there is very often a gap, and rodents find it quickly. Houses sit close together, so a problem next door can be yours within a week. Corner shops and takeaways along the busier roads around Kromboom Road add food businesses to the mix.
This is flat, sandy Cape Flats ground that drains quickly and lets ants tunnel with ease. In winter, rain pools in low spots and stormwater drains back up, while the South-Easter spends summer blowing litter into corners. Sports fields and open spaces nearby give rodents room to move between properties.
Rats are the main call, roof rats in ceilings and Norway rats under outside rooms. German cockroaches follow kitchens, and big American cockroaches come up from drains in the warmer months. Ants in the sandy gardens are constant from spring to autumn.
How to tell you have a problem
- Small round or oval exit holes in timber, furniture or floorboards.
- Timber that breaks easily and shows a network of tunnels inside.
- A beetle inspection for a property transfer has flagged activity.
- Floorboards that feel soft or crumble at the edges when you press on them.
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.
Worth knowing
The mistake people make is filling the holes with wood filler and polishing over them. The larvae are inside the wood, not in the holes.
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.
Our process, step by step
We start with an inspection to confirm the beetle species and whether the holes are active or old, because old damage does not need treating. Exposed timber such as roof trusses, beams and floor joists is treated with a residual borer spray that penetrates the surface and kills emerging beetles and young larvae. Where the wood is thick or the infestation is deep, we inject product directly into the flight holes and drilled galleries. Badly weakened timber should be replaced by a builder, and we tell you which pieces are past saving. Valuable furniture can be sealed and fumigated instead.
Want the full step-by-step? See how our wood borer treatment service works.
Prevention that actually works
- Keep the roof space ventilated and fix leaks quickly, since damp timber attracts borer.
- Seal or varnish bare wood surfaces, because beetles prefer to lay eggs in rough, untreated grain.
- Use treated timber for any roofing, decking or building work, and check the treatment marks on it.
- If you are buying or selling, book the beetle inspection early so it does not delay the transfer.
- Check second-hand furniture for holes and fresh powder before you bring it home.
Pricing, honestly
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.
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.
Frequently asked questions
Why do rats keep coming back to my Crawford roof after baiting?
Usually the entry point is still open and the neighbours still have activity. We bait, find the gaps and advise on sealing them, so new rats don't simply move into the space.
Are the big cockroaches in my bathroom coming from the drains?
Most likely, yes. Those are American cockroaches that live in sewer lines and come up through floor traps and loose drain covers, so we treat the drains and you can keep plugs in overnight.
How long does the treatment last?
Residual borer treatments protect the timber for a long time. Our treatments carry a minimum 3-month guarantee, and we can re-inspect later.
Do you come out to Crawford for wood borer treatment?
Yes. Crawford is part of our regular Cape Flats route, along with Athlone, Rondebosch East, Lansdowne, Rondebosch. Most bookings are done within about 48 hours, and after-hours visits can be arranged.
Will treatment smell or stain the wood?
Most borer treatments dry with little smell and do not stain bare timber. Polished furniture is treated more carefully.
Is the European house borer really that serious?
Yes. It attacks structural softwood and is a notifiable pest in the Western Cape, so suspected cases have to be reported and treated.
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