Hi
Im considering purchasing a house, alot of borer on the lower weathboards in area's , and the fascia, windows and thr rest of boards look okay, it passed its builders check, my main concern is theres a few trees around section and ive noticed dead wood and branches on the ground totally riddeled with borer and much really, how common is this issue ? the house seems solid. is there any difference between beetles that attack trees outside than the common house beetle. opinions and knowledge in this area would be great, cheers

daz1968 - 2021-01-28 11:47:00

You should plan to keep treating for borer. Not really a big deal. The structural timber will mostly be heart rimu or other hardwood which resists borer.

The builders check should have reported the borer and given an opinion on it. If they did not then I would consider the report as useless.

tony9 - 2021-01-28 11:51:00

Never seen a house fall down from borer. Old untreated timber once a year put a borer bomb under and inside it. Easy.

msigg - 2021-01-28 12:52:00

tony9 wrote:

You should plan to keep treating for borer. Not really a big deal. The structural timber will mostly be heart rimu or other hardwood which resists borer.

The builders check should have reported the borer and given an opinion on it. If they did not then I would consider the report as useless.

Borer generally don't like dry timber. As long as the house doesn't have leaks and is dry underneath then you shouldn't have a borer issue.

apollo11 - 2021-01-28 12:57:00

I phoned a pest control company , they said the old branches that are around the section ( riddeled with borer and mush ) not a concern as a different type of borer eats live tree timber, different to house apparently, so thats positve

daz1968 - 2021-01-28 14:25:00

Borer in the weatherboard would be a worry to me as if its in thhem it is probably in the studs behind which would mostlikely have been just sap rimu , A delicacy to them . I have found this in repairs I have done over the years .

martin11 - 2021-01-28 15:59:00

martin11 wrote:

Borer in the weatherboard would be a worry to me as if its in thhem it is probably in the studs behind which would mostlikely have been just sap rimu , A delicacy to them . I have found this in repairs I have done over the years .

Builder here, i agree,
Its been my experience that if theres borer in the weatherboards there will be borer in the frameing,.i could repair it myself if you cant and you decide to pay to have it done just be aware it wont be cheap.
The holes you see are where the grub emerged before flying away, in other words where the borer was not where it is, (thats if i remember correctly from my high school woodwork theroy class)

Edited by nzshooter01 at 4:32 pm, Thu 28 Jan

nzshooter01 - 2021-01-28 16:30:00

I got up into the ceiling area & vacuumed all the dust out, sealed between the ceiling T&G & sprayed it with Metalex & borer bombed early & late summer for 3 years.
Borer spray everything as I open a area up, like removing weatherboard.
A lot less borer now & like it is said above. No house ever fell down because of borer.

What's the weatherboard like generally?

Edited by marte at 12:12 am, Fri 29 Jan

marte - 2021-01-29 00:10:00

Weatherboards are easy to machine, I would replace the borer ones

catwoman1974 - 2021-01-29 00:50:00

Borer don’t live forever. Chances are the ones that attacked your house are dead. Some people will pay a premium for the effect of borer In floorboards.

https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/interior-maintenance-bo
rer-and-other-pests

Edited by committed at 1:22 pm, Fri 29 Jan

committed - 2021-01-29 13:21:00

catwoman1974 wrote:

Weatherboa-
rds are easy to machine, I would replace the borer ones

Yep, it gives you a chance to insulate under them too. That makes a huge difference inside the house.

marte - 2021-01-29 13:30:00

we have it mostly in the sub-floor (which is dry) weatherboards ,and the lower sections of the framing , over the years ive taken a 3 pronged approach

*inject weatherboards , fill holes
*sprayed the entire subfloor ,saturated with a boron product called Timbor
* replace/laminate or/and treat anything thats too far gone with h3.2 or h4 timber and/or h1.2 treatment equivelant to existing

the borer bombs are a waste of time IMO , ive noticed a drastic reduction in flight holes after 2 or 3 years which is also their lifecycle

obviously attend to any areas that are damp - they are attracted to damp timber and repelled by heat (roof space)

agree with previous comment , borer in wood from trees is different - but that said i would never stack timber or firewood agst the WBs

i generally use metelex green (copper) in the subfloor ,WBs , and framesaver for anything inside the envelope

whatever you do dont stress over it - most old houses have some amount of borer

Edited by bergkamp at 3:20 pm, Fri 29 Jan

bergkamp - 2021-01-29 15:07:00