Woodworm on floorboards?

Bluefusion

We are selling our house and have natural floorboards throughout.

They are all in good condition except for one of the bedrooms which have obvious signs of woodworm. This room was carpeted and we didn't find it until we lifted them! We this did the DIY woodworm treatment years ago and it shows no signs of being live, however from a buyers point of view it does look bad, and a surveyor will pickup on it in his survey and the buyer then will be within there right to demand its treated and for us to show a certificate, or drop our price.

We are thinking of just getting some cheap natural carpet (around £300) and covering it over, and have been told if the Surveyor asks to lift the carpets we can refuse, as they never go back as tight as when laid. The surveyor will just note down on his survey as unchecked.

Can anyone give me a clue to how much it would cost to have a small room, treated and a certificate?

We cannot simply take out the floorboards as there are too many and they are an unusual size which we cannot get any from a reclaimers yard soon enough?

HouseHunter_2

we had our downstairs treated last year and it cost around £250 from memory. It will be picked up on a survey however if you have a certificate you'll be fine, plus any old house is likely to have it anyway

Mikeyorks

You need an expert to do it - as they will determine if it's just the boards - or whether the underlying joists need treating as well. Get a local firm in (Yellow Pages) rather than a multi-national. As tend to find the latter go OTT.

But - better to treat it rather than be on pins that a prospective buyer will spot it. And the treatment cost is likely to be less than your 'cover up' plan! But the smell will linger for a week or so!