Can this furniture be saved from woodworm ?

[Dindrtahl]

These are parts of a wardrobe and a bed (it's all disassembled) that I just got my hands on. I'm keeping them outside for obvious reasons (there's sawdust(frass?) coming out of the holes when I tap it, so I guess that means it's active.

It’s mostly situated on the lower parts of the furniture (you can see the grooves in one leg) especially on that plank that goes under the wardrobe for structure support.

I thought injecting with a syringe an insecticide, then a wood hardener and cover up the holes with wax bars or filler. That would be the cheaper option that I can do myself.

I've heard also of heat treatment or fumigation but I need to hire someone to do it and I guess it would be more expensive and I would still have to do the other steps for preventive methods.

What do you think ?

 

[Cabinetman]

Not my line of expertise I’m afraid, but it would be interesting to put the pieces in large plastic bags, as, if it is still active they will be emerging very soon and you will be able to see all the bugs at the bottom of the bag with all the dust. Ian. (Then fly spray or similar?)

 

[MARK.B.]

If it were me I would be inclined to get rid/burn it, you are right in keeping it away from everything. You could spend a lot of time and effort trying to make it look nice but is it worth that time and effort. In answer to your question -Yes it could be saved but is it worthwhile doing so. Does the piece have sentimental value to you ? if it does then ok try and save it for sentimental reasons otherwise my own feelings would be to bin it. Or you could put a Dart Board next to it and no one would ever know you had a worm problem

 

[stuckinthemud]

If it were mine, I would completely dissassemble everything, knock back the varnish to expose the wood then thoroughly soak with insecticide. Once treated, re-varnish and re-assemble . If you don't do a thorough job you will always worry you didnt eradicate all of the little blighters (been there).

 

[Jacob]

Main thing is will it stay together with all those holes? Woodworm often eat the tenons in the mortices.
If not collapsing then wax polish with Rentokil polish. It will fill the holes and poison any life still in there. Holes and frass are signs of woodworm having left the premises; they may have all departed but you never know.
PS if you keep it outside it is liable to be re-invaded. This is much less likely if it is inside for long enough to dried out thoroughly.

 

[Dindrtahl]

Thanks for your replies. The third photo is actually a structure plank that goes under the wardrobe and isn't visible, and it's definitely the most damaged one. Still it seems rather sturdy. The rest of the parts are less affected. The 4 photo is a close-up on a detailed sculpted piece..and while worn out from other causes the pinholes are small. I see nothing wrong esthetically in just using wax or wood filler to fill up the holes.

However treating the infestation seems to me.the main problem. Removing the varnish and soaking it all with an insecticide seems like a hard work. I wouldn't want to preserve the current varnish.

Someone elsewhere suggested a DIY heat treatment that I actually have the necessary materials to do. I have some leftover styrofoam from insulation, I can build a box around it, have an electric heater to keep the temp to 60°C for 2-3 hours. How does this solution sound to you ?

 

[Jacob]

Thanks for your replies. The third photo is actually a structure plank that goes under the wardrobe and isn't visible, and it's definitely the most damaged one. Still it seems rather sturdy. The rest of the parts are less affected. The 4 photo is a close-up on a detailed sculpted piece..and while worn out from other causes the pinholes are small. I see nothing wrong esthetically in just using wax or wood filler to fill up the holes.

However treating the infestation seems to me.the main problem. Removing the varnish and soaking it all with an insecticide seems like a hard work. I wouldn't want to preserve the current varnish.

Someone elsewhere suggested a DIY heat treatment that I actually have the necessary materials to do. I have some leftover styrofoam from insulation, I can build a box around it, have an electric heater to keep the temp to 60°C for 2-3 hours. How does this solution sound to you ?

Rentokil polish contains insecticide. Is simplest and easiest. Needs no re finishing - just add more polish, darker colour perhaps. Old fashioned shoe polish is good for colour variations. Wood filler not a good idea unless you are going to paint it in which case I'd use putty.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

 

[RobinBHM]

Freezing kills woodworm, you just need a freezer bigger than a wardrobe

 

[Sgian Dubh]

This old thread might be worth a read. Slainte.

 

[TheTiddles]

Can it... no, as you can see they’ve already rogered it royally.

Could you repair it? Maybe with a lot of work

Aidan

 

[Sandyn]

I think the only sure way is with chemicals which can be sprayed/painted and injected into holes to saturate the wood. I have done it with old furniture. It killed the woodworm, but the 'low odour' still left a dreadful smell and made the unit useless for storing anything which would carry the smell. That was 40 years ago, so I'm sure there are better woodworm killers now.

 

[MARK.B.]

I used a product called Woodzone to treat the floor joists in my Grandson's bedroom and there was almost no odour at all when spraying and zero that my hooter could detect after about thirty minutes,might be worth a try , it comes in a concentrated form and you have to dilute it (Handy tip The syringe from Children's Bottles of cough medicine etc are great for easy and accurate dosing ). Make up only what you need at the time or have a handy spray bottle with a solution already made up .

 

[David bonner]

Hi there you a lot of holes but I would recommend you a good woodworm killer and tones of it bear in mind use gloves and a mask and also do it outside basically saturate the whole thing also you may have to do it several times and not just once ok.

 

[heimlaga]

You are a bit late in the season but the best and cheapest way to get rid of those woodworms is to leave the furniture outdoors in freezing temperatures for a couple of weeks. The colder it is the better it works.
Putting them in a freezer works equally well if you live in one of those tropical places where it never freezes properly.

This is the normal way of doing it in Finland. I have never heard of anyone using insecticides for this purpose.

 

[TheTiddles]

It never ceases to amaze me the number of people who visit UKWorkshop and seem to think every country on earth is the same. From the guy who confidently dispensed electrical advice but had never seen a 13A socket in his life to the idea that you’d leave furniture outside to treat it for woodworm. Even in the Hebrides, 2 weeks outside would only destroy your furniture from the wet.

It would be like people in the UK saying the best time to plant crops in Namibia is May once the last frost is over.

 

[MARK.B.]

Perhaps a little unfair Tiddles , i would imagine that once outside under cover the wood would freeze fairly quickly in Finland and stay that way for far longer periods than we get here , so only one freeze- thaw cycle should kill the little blighters without undue harm to the wood

 

[TheTiddles]

Perhaps a little unfair Tiddles , i would imagine that once outside under cover the wood would freeze fairly quickly in Finland and stay that way for far longer periods than we get here , so only one freeze- thaw cycle should kill the little blighters without undue harm to the wood

If that worked, wouldn’t you not get woodworm in the UK as pretty much the entire country gets one frost a year?

I’d welcome anyone to try leaving their furniture outside in winter for a fortnight, do let us know how it goes

 

[MARK.B.]

Our frosts perhaps do not compare with long periods of sub zero weather as in Finland, it has been 10 years or more since any real prolonged freezing weather around my neck of the woods . A continued freezing and thawing as we get here would as you say be unlikely to work
As it appears to be the normal way of doing things in Finland , heimlage and the others Fins may know something that we dont ,after all we live and learn something new every day

 

[Ozi]

I managed to save a pump organ in about the same state that was of great sentimental value to SHMBO. Stripped it down as far as possible, injected flight holes, stopped counting at over a thousand then sent it to be gassed and when returned injected resin into the more fragile parts. Filled visible holes with wax and polished. The reason to both inject and gas is that the gas kills pretty much everything but gives no protection against re-infesting and the injectable solution only kills what it touches. Took a lot of work but 25 years on it's still good. From memory and it's a long time ago the gassing was quite cheep I think about £50 but I had to deliver and collect a week apart to allow the gas to disperse.

Funny enough after I'd done the work the rest of the family all thought they had a better claim to Grandads organ - the one they left to rot in the shed. It's still in my dinning room