Panorama Wood Borer Treatment

Panorama is a hillside suburb with big homes, sloping gardens and views across to Table Mountain. The homes are mostly well kept, so problems here tend to be about access points: roof gaps, solar panels and garden edges.

The local picture in Panorama

Wooden decks and pergolas on the sloped gardens weather fast and can pick up borer, as can roof trusses in the older homes. Banks and buyers usually want a beetle certificate before transfer.

Most homes are large freestanding houses built from the seventies onward, many with double storeys, tiled roofs and big garages. Solar panels and roof additions create gaps that pigeons and rats use. Retaining walls and terraced gardens provide hiding places for rodents and insects. Some homes border open land on the hills.

Rats in roofs, ants in summer and pigeons under solar panels are the most frequent calls. Wasps, fleas and fishmoths also come up regularly. Scorpions occasionally appear in homes near the veld.

What gives them away

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

Worth knowing

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.

How we handle wood borer treatment in Panorama

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.
• 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.
• Use treated timber for any roofing, decking or building work, and check the treatment marks on it.
• Seal or varnish bare wood surfaces, because beetles prefer to lay eggs in rough, untreated grain.

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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