Wood Borer Treatment in Green Point

Green Point packs a stadium, a big urban park, the Metropolitan golf course and dense streets of flats, guesthouses and Victorian semis into one small slice of the Atlantic Seaboard. Lots of people, lots of restaurants and lots of open lawn means rats, cockroaches and Egyptian geese all feel at home.

Green Point: what drives timber pests here

Victorian terraces have timber floors and roof beams that can carry common furniture beetle. A beetle certificate is needed for property sales, so check before listing an older home.

Along Main Road and the side streets climbing toward Signal Hill you get Victorian and Edwardian terraces with timber floors and pressed-metal ceilings, plus newer apartment blocks with basements and shared bin rooms. Guesthouses and short-stay apartments turn over guests constantly. Restaurants along Main Road and Somerset Road share back lanes and service ducts with the flats above, and that is where German cockroaches and rats move between businesses and homes.

The suburb runs from the lower slopes of Signal Hill down to the Green Point Common, with Green Point Urban Park and Cape Town Stadium on the flat land toward Mouille Point. The park's lawns, wetland features and ponds draw Egyptian geese and gulls, and the sea air keeps corners damp. Old stormwater drains run downhill toward the coast, giving rats and big drain roaches a network under the streets.

A note from the field

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.

Tell-tale signs

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

How the treatment works

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.

1. Inspection

   We check the roof space, floors and timber features with good lighting and probe suspect wood.

2. Identify the beetle

   We confirm the species from the holes, frass and any beetles found, and report European house borer where required.

3. Mark the damage

   Active areas are mapped, and any structurally weak timber is noted for replacement.

4. Spray and inject

   Exposed timber is sprayed and heavily infested pieces are injected through the exit holes.

5. Report and certificate

   You get a written report, and where needed a Certificate of Compliance for the property transfer.

Keeping them out afterwards

• 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.
• Keep the roof space ventilated and fix leaks quickly, since damp timber attracts borer.
• Use treated timber for any roofing, decking or building work, and check the treatment marks on it.
• Check second-hand furniture for holes and fresh powder before you bring it home.

How much will it cost?

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

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