How to Prevent Borers in Your Home

New Zealand has 7 species of wood boring insect that can infest your home and destroy the wood. The borer or house borer or woodworm is the most common type. It is what people usually refer to when they say borer, though you may need the help of an expert, like a Flick pest control technician, to identify the species if you have a boring insect.

Borers can cause damage in a sneaky way. Females lay about 100 eggs at a time, usually in hidden areas. You may not notice of these larvae until they begin boring into wood. However, just because they have hatched, does not mean they are gone. The larvae can survive for up to 4 years. Once they reach adulthood, they eat their way to the surface. They can cause a huge amount of damage and be difficult to eradicate.

The signs of damage are one of the first ways that people notice evidence of borers. You can see flight holes on the surface of the boards. Underneath the surface, the timbers may have extensive damage.

The first step to preventing borers is to treat your bare wood timbers with an insecticide aimed at destroying borers. These insecticides are designed to penetrate into the timbers, killing larvae. They do not usually kill adults, but they will prevent adults from laying their eggs on the timbers.

If there are flight holes in the timbers, you want to inject them with insecticides, as well. Injecting insecticides into the holes makes sure that it spreads throughout the timber.

During flight season, which is October through May, you can use insecticides that target adult borers. Some of these insecticides will also protect the surface of your timbers.

Keep your home free from excess moisture. Borers are attracted to spaces under your home and in your roof. So, make sure these areas are well-ventilated and do not have too much moisture. If you do have excessive moisture in interior areas, like your attic, you may want to use a dehumidifier. You can also use sealant products to prevent moisture from getting into closed spaces.

Does this sound overwhelming? Flick can help. We offer routine borer prevention in some of our insect prevention services. Talk to one of our customer service representatives about how to pick the right prevention treatment for your home. If you think you already have borers, one of our technicians can come out and do an inspection and design a plan that will eradicate your current borers and prevent a new infestation.