Borer Treatment
Timber Pest Inspections & Control
Geelong, Lorne, Surf Coast, Apollo Bay, Bellarine & Surrounding Areas
There are several types or wood borers (or “timber borers”) in Australia. Some can cause more serious damage than others so it is important to identify them.
Borers are actually the larval form of certain types of beetles. They damage wood by tunnelling at the larval stage for food or leaving an emergence hole on the surface of the wood after becoming a beetle. These emergence holes are quite visible and are usually the first signs of an active infestation of wood borer.
Treatment for wood borers includes replacing unsound timber, preferably using non-susceptible timber. Sound timber needs to be monitored to see if the infestation is active.
Active infestation can be treated – please contact us for a quote on a treatment program.
Of course, ideally we would expose and destroy timber pests before they do any damage. Timber Pest Inspection Reports start from $325.
Types of Wood Borers
Lyctid borer (Powder post borer)
- Produce a very fine powdery dust, similar in consistency to talc
- Attack the sapwood of certain hardwood timbers
- Cause serious structural weakening in timber that has a high sapwood content
Treatment of lyctid borer is often unnecessary in the southern parts of Australia, where grading rules in sawmilling restrict the amount of sapwood contained in framing timbers. Timber over five years old is unlikely to contain these borer as they will have exhausted the food supply. If decorative timber becomes unsightly then treatment described below can be applied.
Anobiid borer
Produce a gritty ‘salt like’ dust. There are many different species of this borer, but two significant ones are:
Anobium punctatum (Common furniture beetle)
- Attack furniture, structural timbers, flooring and decorative wood work
- Prefer old, well seasoned timber, especially softwoods such as Baltic pine or New Zealand white pine
- Attack some hardwoods, especially blackwood and imported English oak. Australian eucalypts appear to be immune
- Prefer cool, humid conditions
Calymmaderus incisus (Queensland pine beetle)
- Commonly found in Queensland
- Attack softwood timbers such as Hoop pine and to a lesser extent Bunya pine and New Zealand white pine
- Attack to timber in dark sub-floor areas is common
Good drainage and sub-floor ventilation will help reduce the risk of attack to softwood flooring timbers from these species.
About Termite Watch
Termite Watch is an Australian pest management company established in 1997. We are family owned and run. Based in the coastal town of Lorne southern Victoria, we service Melbourne, Geelong and the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay.
We offer pest control solutions that minimise the use of pesticides and the effect these can have on the environment.
Our Service Area
Our service area includes Lorne, Torquay, Geelong, Anglesea, Aireys Inlet, Wye River, Apollo Bay, Kennet River, Bambra, Winchelsea, Colac, Deans Marsh, Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads, Drysdale, Clifton Springs, Forest, Gellibrand, Marengo, and Lavers Hill.
Commercial Pest Control
Termite Watch offers both residential and commercial pest control services. Our commercial pest control service encompasses a complete suite of solutions, suitable for any type of business. We offer:
- Full programmes for Rodents and/or insects.
- Affordable 6 or 12-month contracts.
- Servicing Retauraunts, Hotels and Apartments.
- Tailored packages for Holiday Rentals and Units.
- Discrete control measures and programmes.
- Estimates and Quotes performed free.
