Borer Beetle

[daveob]

OK, I remember reading somewhere on the forum (can't find it again) over the last few days about the 1mm sized holes and little piles of wood-dust being caused by borer beetles.

Well that's exactly what I have in my built-in office cupboard. It's in the end of a 20x38mm strip used to support a melamine shelf.

What's the treatment ?

Do I rip it out and replace the brace and the shelf ?

Do I need to remove all wood from the cupboard ?

A bit concerned as I have 130 square meters of Kiaat parquet flooring and I don't want to lose it - I love the natural wood floor.

[Just Gone]

oooops ........ I used to work for a importer of wooden picture frame mouldings years ago .......... when we used to find borer beatles we had to move very quickly and thow the entire batch away as it eventually ends up in one big pile of dust. We used to try and paint on an 'anti beatle" liquid - never worked but I'm sure they have found a solution to the problem now tho.

[Dave A]

It's in the end of a 20x38mm strip used to support a melamine shelf.

What's the treatment ?

Do I rip it out and replace the brace and the shelf ?

That would probably be the cheapest way. And burn the infested piece of timber.

If it's the powder post beetle - Kevin's forecast for the future is entirely accurate.

[daveob]

Thanks Dave_A

What about the melamine shelf resting on the brace ? and the other braces and shelves in the cupboard ? How far would you go to ensure you've got the problem removed ?

[Dave A]

Check for cross-over infestation (borer holes from one piece to another) when you remove the infested piece of timber.

Being melamine (synthetic veneer on chipboard), and provided the infestation is powder post beetle, the infestation being able to take hold in the melamine is extremely unlikely.

Powder post beetles have pretty specific "requirements" of the timber they infest:
The need access to the end grain to lay their eggs
They only infest hardwoods with a cell size large enough for the egg to be inserted into.

The vulnerable timbers are of the gum, eucalyptus, meranti sort of range.