Cure Woodworm From Your Floorboards
Woodworm is the larvae of a type of beetle. These infections can often ruin wood flooring and can often spread to different areas of the home. Removing these problematic parasites from your flooring requires a careful application of pesticides.
Start Safely
Don't use just any pesticide to help clear your flooring of woodworm. Start by inspecting the label for a few tell-tale signs of unsafe pesticides. By law, all pesticides must be approved by the Control of Pesticides Regulation. Approved pesticides will have an HSE number on the side of the label. Pesticides without this number shouldn't be available for sale but if they are, avoiding using them and report their sale immediately. Anti-fungal pesticides aren't necessary for treating woodworm.
Surfaces to Treat
All timbers and wood that form the flooring must be coated with the insecticide for this treatment to be effective. You must coat both the top and the underside of the flooring as well as joists and plates. This means you may have to go underneath the floor and into the basement to treat the problem.
How Much Insecticide to Use
Naturally, the amount of insecticide to use varies depending on the floor size. However, multiplying the square area of the floor by 0.75 should give you a good enough guide. For example, if your floor is 5 by 5 meters, you would find the square area by multiplying the length and width to get 25. Multiple 25 by 0.75 to end up with 18.75 liters.
Process
Start by posting warnings at the entry points of the room to which you are treating the woodworm. Keep people out of the room during the process. Next, turn off the electrical circuits int he floor areas at the circuit breaker or fuse box and all lighting circuits below the room. Wrap junction boxes and other fittings in plastic and tape.
Remove all furniture and belongings from the room and carefully remove any flooring boards to which you cannot get access from underneath. Remove dust from the the boards on all sides and along the top sides of the wall near the boards. Read the instructions on your pesticide to see if you need to dilute it with water or other substances in a separate container. Put on gloves and goggles for safety.
Carefully apply a coat of the pesticide on all surfaces of the boards and place them back into their positions. Wait a day or two for the pesticide to dry and then remove them again. Apply another coat of pesticide to the boards and replace them. Continue this process until no woodworm is left.