You would be forgiven for thinking that woodworms are actual worms, however they are in fact the larvae of a number of different insects including moths, weevils, death watch beetles and house long horn beetles. In most cases, however, woodworm refers to the larvae of the furniture beetle.
The woodworm will bore into pretty much anything made from wood including furniture, floorboards and structural timbers. It’s unlikely you will ever see the actual larvae however you will see the tiny little holes they create in your wood. Basically the larvae emerge as adults and leave the holes behind as they leave during the summer months.
Woodworm can come into your home if they are brought in via antique furniture however the beetles can also fly into your home from outdoors. The furniture beetle particularly loves damp wood and plywood so if you have any damp problems you ought to get it checked out. Damp can occur due to faulty plumbing work or a leak in your roof.
Of course, if you have damp problems this can also cause mold and wet rot so it isn’t something you ought to ignore for long. Woodworm itself is slow acting so you needn’t be sent into a mad panic about it. Having your home properly surveyed by a professional company is very much advisable. Make sure you get quotations from more than one company so you can get a true idea of what the treatment should cost.
Before you go on to have the woodworm treated you ought to find out whether the woodworm is old or active. The way you can tell if it is active is to look out for any wood dust created by their boring.
If you are looking to take a DIY approach to woodworm in your wooden furniture you can buy surface treatments or you can buy products that are injected into the holes. There are also insecticidal furniture polish products on the market.
For treating structural timbers you need to be able to have good access to them by removing insulation and you also need to cover up the water storage tank and electricity cables. Floorboards should be lifted up so you can reach underneath them. You can them treat them with woodworm treatment products that can be bought from DIY and builder merchant stores.
Of course, if you have really bad woodworm you should consider using a professional as they can guarantee the work. You might think that treating woodworm yourself will be really easy but if you do it yourself you might to have the experience to do the job properly.
Plenty of people have trees cut down in their garden. Perhaps the tree has become too big, diseased or have been blown down in a storm. Whatever the reason, you will want to have the stump removed too. It's very easy to have the tree felled but having the stump removed is a whole lot more difficult. There are a number of techniques that can be employed when getting rid of a tree stump. The easiest method would simply involves paying for a tree stump removal service to do the work for you. However this isn't a cheap option so you might want to do the work yourself, in which case you should look at grinding, digging and chemicals.
The amount of work involved in getting rid of your tree stump can really vary depending on what type of tree you have, the age and the type of soil. For instance a pine tree has very wide and flat root systems whilst an oak tree has deep roots making it more difficult to kill off.
If you have a tree which is relatively small and has a shallow root system then digging the stump up by hand will not require too much hard work. You will need a shovel, axe, loppers and root saw. You then need to dig around the area to expose the roots and cut them away.
Normally nature will take care of removing the tree stumps by rotting it down but the problem is that it takes such a long time. If you don't want to wait decades for this process to be completed you can use chemicals to speed up the process. Don't expect the chemicals to work magically overnight however it is a good technique that doesn't require an awful lot of work.
If you have an old stump that has been around for more than a year just use a chainsaw to cut the stump as close to the ground as possible, ensuring the blades don't actually come into contact with the ground. You then use a drill to create holes in the stump that are a few inches deep and also good and wide. Having them as deep and wide as possible is going to be better. Then pour in some stump remover chemical along with some water. In about 6 weeks the stump should have rotted down.
Removing the rotten stump is then pretty easy if using an axe. However there are those who set fire to the stump rather than removing it from the axe. In order to burn the stump you need to pouring kerosene or fuel oil down the holes. You will need to wait for the wood to become saturated before putting a match down into one of the holes. This is a slow-burning technique so you don't have to worry about it going up in a ball of flames however you should keep kids and pets away from it.
Make sure you don't use gasoline and also keep an eye on the stump now and again to make sure everything is OK. Having a bucket of sand to hand might be a good idea too just in case you need it. In terms of safety it's probably better just to remove the stump with an axe. Also check to see whether you are allowed to burn tree stumps where you live.
A more mechanical method of removing a tree stump is to use a grinder. If you want to do this yourself you can hire a tree stump grinder but be careful to follow the safety advice otherwise you could easily hurt yourself. The grinder simply turns your stump into wood chips and the grinding will occur to about 10 inches underneath the ground. This will allow you to plant any other plant, shrub or tree there as you wish.
Whatever method you bring into force for getting rid of tree stumps, it's going to be hard work and you need to have the right equipment. Don't do anything stupid, make sure you read the instructions and if you don't know what you're doing - get a professional tree removal service in!
