Dreaded death watch....

[Duchess]

Hi, I have had some advice previously about holes in my beams on here, the general census being they are too old and dried for a harmful beetle population..... I can hear it..it is driving me mad! Surely it has to be the deathwatch beetle banging his little head, should I be concerned or take any action? My cottage is circa 1500 thanks.

 

[88v8]

Insectocutor, it says here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/renovatinganddiy/9358720/How-can-I-get-rid-of-deathwatch-beetle.html

Presumably you've cured the damp that made the timbers susceptible in the first place?

Ivor

 

[Duchess]

Before we moved in the sole plate was replaced as it was rotten and there was damp detected in the survey, after a big downpour we realised that the guttering had not been done properly and the run off from two cottages was being dumped in front of the house where the damp was detected. My husband has fixed that problem and thought the timbers will dry it was about three months ago?

 

[Matt Green]

It's going to take a lot longer than 3 months for the timbers to dry. Even then, these insects have a long lifespan (10yrs+) and will continue to emerge for a few years after they detect the timber is becoming inhospitable (drying out). I would leave the situation well alone and try to dry out the timber as much as possible. The danger with treatment for death watch beetle is that it frequently does more damage to the building than the insect.

Annual monitoring with an ultraviolet light trap will give you an indication of the population size and hopefully plot it's decline. Be sure to use one with a glue-board catching surface rather than a high-voltage zapper, especially if used in a roof.

 

[mivec]

Insectocutor, it says here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/renovatinganddiy/9358720/How-can-I-get-rid-of-deathwatch-beetle.html

From the Telegraph article...
"it is possible that the clicking noises you hear are simply the expansion and contraction of the timbers."

Obviously written by someone who has never lived with death watch beetle.

 

[Duchess]

Is there anything we can do to speed up the drying process?

 

[Duchess]

Sorry I should say the wet beams are from the floor up...an atrocious attempt at a driveway/French drain about seven years previously... And it in a corner where the brick fireplace is so damp was detected in the bricks,the surveyor couldn't say definitely where the damp was because of the fireplace apparently??

 

[Flyfisher]

From the Telegraph article...
"it is possible that the clicking noises you hear are simply the expansion and contraction of the timbers."

Obviously written by someone who has never lived with death watch beetle.

I've not lived with death watch beetle but I have experienced the noise of expanding and contracting timbers in an old house and 'clicking noises' is not the phrase I would use to describe them. 'Clicking' implies to me a fairly regular sequence of fairly quiet noises whereas our house timbers make their movements known with pretty loud but very infrequent 'cracks'!

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Some of our radiators make a very quiet click click sound when the heating is on.

 

[Duchess]

So this morning (housework day) I have found six dead beetles that look like the googled pic of a deathwatch beetle... Do they die after mating or something? I have tried to google life cycles but can't find any info on why there would be six little dead buggers in my bedroom... Another thing because we were presuming they were in the beams downstairs :shock: I never expected to see one!

 

[Carol]

Have lived with varying stages of the dreaded deathwatch for the last fifteen years (and I hate it), but am more sanguine about it than initially. An EH expert advised that with proper care ours would never become dramatically worse but having been at the six or seven corpses each morning stage, I know just how you feel! It's worse when they are wandering across the floor looking for the next beam.
First of all don't panic! These beetles do wreck beams but it takes years of neglect, rather than a few beetles. Make sure the water is not getting in, then wait for the drying process to happen, you will continue to see a few each year but less and less. After five years we rarely saw or heard any in the spring but they or at least one, returned this year after I had a burst cold water tank go over the winter.
Our expert also suggested we tap back to lure the blighters out to be squashed, but how much that was to calm me down and give me something to do I am not sure! This house is 1440's so not dissimilar age, we were also told that the sizes of our beams were far larger than structurally necessary so had a bit of leeway.

 

[88v8]

Is there anything we can do to speed up the drying process?

If the timbers are open in a room you can seal up, you could accelerate things a little by putting a dehumidifier in there. If they are open to the external air, they will dry naturally, but depending on thickness could easily take a year. Our soggy 6" elm sole plate, open internally and externally after being sealed up for years, took about a year. If they are enclosed in masonry, could be much longer.

Dehumidifiers are not a great thing in an old house, as they can overdry and cause cracking. If you use one, buy a humidity meter and keep the humidity above 40%.

Do you have a moisture meter to check the timber?

Ivor

 

[Duchess]

Carol... What is proper care? What should we be doing to stop it getting worse? And Ivor no we do not have a moisture meter, just knew it was damp and now hopefully drying out... I am abit concerned that the damp beam seems to be damp up two floors, ... But it is in the same corner where we know water was (but now fixed) and there is no sign of water coming in from above and the roof timbers appear to be dry.

 

[Matt Green]

Good grief, you have six death watch beetles. :shock:

I suggest politely ignoring them until they go away or it becomes clear through other works there is other damp timber of which you were not previously aware that you can remedy. The sections of timber that take the longest to dry are, unsurprisingly, the hardest to get to as they are embedded in walls.

Patience. Consider turning the radiogram up a notch to drown out the tapping.

 

[mivec]

So this morning (housework day) I have found six dead beetles that look like the googled pic of a deathwatch beetle... Do they die after mating or something? I have tried to google life cycles but can't find any info on why there would be six little dead buggers in my bedroom... Another thing because we were presuming they were in the beams downstairs :shock: I never expected to see one!

Duchess we're in a similar situation to you. We had damp timbers and death watch beetle at the front of the house. The damp was due to our wattle and panels had been cement rendered over about 13 years ago trapping in the moisture in. Last October the render was removed and replaced with lime and the timbers have been drying out ever since.

Few weeks ago as the weather warmed up the beetles started up as active as ever but now we have noticed it really starting to tail off. We have also found a few dead ones and I even saw a live one trying to find a new home on an internal beam, needless to say it never found a new home!

I was told that it's a good sign if you do see them, it means that they are having to move on as the timbers dry out and conditions get unbearable. Seeing a dead one is even better as it means it couldn't find a new home. Hopefully It's just a case of waiting for them all to go over time.

When the work was done to our late 1500's cottage it was fairly obvious what was new and current infestation, the extent of it was very minimal even after 13 years. The beams are mainly solid oak heartwood and despite being damp the beetles didn't touch it, they only attacked the softer edges.

 

[Duchess]

Thanks mivec.... Making me feel better! Dead beetles = good sign! Our cottage has been renovated already by the previous occupants so basically everything is covered up, and its hard to figure out what is what without ripping the house apart which we cannot afford to do so just trying to muddle through best we can!

 

[Moo]

Another good reason for buying a wreck!

 

[Duchess]

Yes moo... Another pitiful story of heart ruling bank balance, We just fell in love :roll: now waiting for the bank balance to catch up!

 

[Duchess]

Then we can rip her open and put right a few hundred years of wrongs, well hopefully!

 

[skier-hughes]

I hope you are young...... very very very young if you think your bank balance will ever catch up