Treating active woodworm with baby in the house! Help, advice, information, answers and tips on all types of flooring from laminate and carpet to timber and vinyl

[jvh]

We have just found active woodworm in the floorboards in our kitchen and Hall. The damage in each site is limited to 0.5 meter square, but some of the boards have been reduced to dust. We intend to expose and varnish the floor, so assume that we need to replace the damaged boards. My concern is treating the timber - how do we do this? Do we need to treat ALL of the timber or just that surrounding the active site? Do we need to treat the floor joists - will we need to lift the whole floor?? Also, we have a 1yr old baby in the house so I worry about the safety of any treatments we use. Can anyone help???

[dampy]

[quote="jvh"]We have just found active woodworm in the floorboards in our kitchen and Hall. The damage in each site is limited to 0.5 meter square, but some of the boards have been reduced to dust. We intend to expose and varnish the floor, so assume that we need to replace the damaged boards. My concern is treating the timber - how do we do this? Do we need to treat ALL of the timber or just that surrounding the active site? Do we need to treat the floor joists - will we need to lift the whole floor?? Also, we have a 1yr old baby in the house so I worry about the safety of any treatments we use. Can anyone help???[/quote]

This depends on the chemicals used, for the chemical we use, the requirements for COSHH are one hour.

However, I would not treat a house with a child (under 16) in the house. It would be better if the child could visit a relative for the day.

Most people vacant the house during treatment.

Cheers