Timber frame property and woodworm - preventative treatment needed?

chrisotherwise

We live in a 400 year old timber frame house. There is evidence of historic woodworm in the timbers, but none recent.

We believe that the timbers were treated for woodworm when the house was re-roofed 20-30 years ago but have no written documentation or guarantee (even an expired one).

Being inexperienced about this, we're also quite worried about it, and want to know if we should take any preventative measures so that:

- we have peace of mind.
- we have a guarantee that we can show when we sell the house.

I have called a couple of woodworm treatment companies and explained this, but always end up in a frustrating circular argument in which they ask us to "send photos of the holes and they'll be able to decide which treatment to use". They can't seem to get the idea of solely preventative treatment.

So, the questions that we have are:

1. Given that we have no active woodworm present, is it worth getting a preventative treatment to stop them coming in the future?

2. We don't have any sort of existing treatment certificate. Will this be a big red flag when we try to sell the property in the future? Or is such a thing variable for (very) old properties?

Many thanks for any advice/info.

Gloomendoom

When I bought my house, the bank's survey found some traces of worm in the roof. I had to get it treated and I have since redone the attic timbers myself as a preventative measure.

It would be unusual not to find any evidence of worm on an old property. I think it something that most informed buyers (and lenders) expect.

FreeBear

chrisotherwise wrote: »

We live in a 400 year old timber frame house.

Pop over to the Period Property forum - http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/

Many of the guys there are very experienced in maintaining old properties, and there are a few real experts there too.

Tom99

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Have you tried Rentokill? I had a guarantee from them when I bought my listed house.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]It will be very difficult to have totally preventive treatment since there are so many areas of timber which cannot be reached or seen unless substantial repairs are underway, parts of the roof for example. [/FONT]