Would Woodworm Put You Off Buying?

Beancounter

I have just had the home report done on my late father's flat and the surveyor has told me there is some evidence of woodworm.

Would this put you off buying a property? Should I get this treated myself bearing in mind the valuation will reflect this and any other issues the survey has uncovered.

G_M

"some evidence" usually means he saw some holes.

In most cases the worm are long gone leaving just the holes. They don't like hard dry wood so usually only lay eggs in new fresh wood. Thus the worm are usually only active in

* new houses with new wood
* properties with damp problems where the wood is soft moist damaged

So you need to know

* is the woodworm 'active'?
* has the wood been treated? This won't remove the holes, bt will mean no woodworm!
* are there other issues eg damp?
* how extensive is the evidence?
* is it in structural wood, or decorative eg facia boards

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/woodworm-the-hole-in-the-argument/

Pixie5740

I'm in the process of buying a property with signs of woodworm. It didn't worry me. The property is 135 years old so the woodworm could be long gone by now.

I'm not sure how the mortgage lender feels about it though, they might ask for the woodworm to be treated and for the work to be guaranteed.

G_M

Pixie5740 wrote: »

I'm in the process of buying a property with signs of woodworm. It didn't worry me. The property is 135 years old so the woodworm could be long gone by now.

I'm not sure how the mortgage lender feels about it though, they might ask for the woodworm to be treated and for the work to be guaranteed.

If the woodworm are long gone, they can't be treated - you'll never find them now!

Its the wood sans worm that will be treated....:rotfl:

Beancounter

The flat is fully carpeted so the surveyor can't see inside but the holes were in the basement, he did show me them but didn't say if they were active or not. I didn't really see any signs of a present infestation but then I am far from an expert.

The flat is 80 years old so I do expect some defects. I will have to wait for the report to decide on what to do.

In reply to G_M, my folks were in the property 18 years so any treatment there may have been in the past will be long expired. I know they didn't have any issues when they bought the flat.

G_M

My woodworm guarantee was for 20 years.

Beancounter

G_M wrote: »

My woodworm guarantee was for 20 years.

Most guarantees seem to be that length but they didn't have such a guarantee available when they bought the property so I have to assume there were either no treatments carried out in the past or that any that was done has long since expired.

Without any paperwork it's impossible for me to know.

Pixie5740

G_M wrote: »

If the woodworm are long gone, they can't be treated - you'll never find them now!

Its the wood sans worm that will be treated....:rotfl:

I don't know if the woodworm are long gone though and neither does the surveyor that's why he is covering his a r s e on the home report.

I just think that there's a good chance the woodworm is gone. I could be wrong, it has been known to happen.

Beancounter

Pixie5740 wrote: »

I don't know if the woodworm are long gone though and neither does the surveyor that's why he is covering his a r s e on the home report.

I just think that there's a good chance the woodworm is gone. I could be wrong, it has been known to happen.

Do they just die off/ disappear on thier own without treatment?

G_M

did you read the link?

The adults lay eggs on some nice fresh wood. The pupae eat the wood (making holes) but only if the wood is nice and yummy. The pupae then grow up and fly away. They then go and have rumpy pumpy, and the lady adults then go looking for more yummy-looking wood to lay their eggs on. If they find hard dry wood (ie in your house) they go elsewhere, knowing their pupae would not be ably to eat it and would die.

Beancounter

G_M wrote: »

did you read the link?

The adults lay eggs on some nice fresh wood. The pupae eat the wood (making holes) but only if the wood is nice and yummy. The pupae then grow up and fly away. They then go and have rumpy pumpy, and the lady adults then go looking for more yummy-looking wood to lay their eggs on. If they find hard dry wood (ie in your house) they go elsewhere, knowing their pupae would not be ably to eat it and would die.

Apologies, I didn''t notice the link.:o

Your post did the impossible and made me smile there:D