Life in Poland

Fingers crossed and thumbs held

The exterminators were here a week ago. We are a couple of thousand zloty poorer and our house smells like chemicals, but fingers crossed and thumbs held*, let’s hope that it works. To recap, our house in the village has woodworm. The woodworm is eating away at the beams which support the whole structure. I cannot use past tense yet.
The most effective treatment would have been gassing the whole house. This is the solution that I pushed for, but the exterminators were worried about the proximity of the next door neighbors. Strictly according to the law, their house is far enough away but our neighbors are old and like to wander into our garden in our absence, so the exterminator was worried about their overall safety.
The next best method is to drill holes into all the wooden beams, inject them with a poisonous resin, and re-impregnate all wood in the house. It looks like this:
20140801_121523
Luckily for us, our beams are exposed. If not, the ceilings would have had to be removed. This process isn’t an instant kill of the woodworm. Any worms die upon reaching the resin and if any make their way out, they will most likely not re-infect due to the impregnation. In one particular beam that showed no signs of infestation, the worms were clearly crunching away. Now all sounds in that beam have stopped. In other places, I can still hear them. It’s quite unsettling.
Additionally, the extermination team gave the barn a spray. The chemicals are available over-the-counter, so to speak, but I am not comfortable using toxic substances myself. They had all the protective clothing and masks and a power sprayer thingy so it was much better that they did it and we just paid for it.
I hope that’ll be the end of the woodworm story.
Do you feel itchy?

*Polish equivalent to crossing your fingers for good luck.

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  • Reply
    Marek Cyzio
    August 12, 2014 at 7:29 pm

    I have to fight with bugs all the time. Florida is as bad as it gets when it comes to bugs. So I am constantly using various chemicals and spraying them everywhere – on my plants, on the house exterior and inside the house. And it is still not enough. My dog had fleas. Despite using Pfizer Revolution each month. I had to use some smelly spray on her to kill the beasts. Yesterday I discovered ants in one of the shelves. They are dead now (thank you Advion and MaxForce!). I became an expert on ants, I can name 5 different species of them on first look (carpenter, crazy, fire, common household, pharaoh). I also can name chemicals that kill each one of them. This is crazy 🙁

  • Reply
    Chris
    August 12, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    Bug infestation is so distracting, isn't it Marek. It's like they get in your brain. Ants are the next pest I am worried about although last weekend I killed 3 wasps and a hornet in one day. The spiders have become my friends but I was stung by a weird ant and woke up with a swollen thumb!

  • Reply
    Anonymous
    August 13, 2014 at 3:40 am

    Chris how did you house got them in the first place?Zulla

  • Reply
    Chris
    August 13, 2014 at 5:09 am

    Woodworm is a beetle so it can just fly in the window. It's larva of the beetle that eats the wood. We had already impregnated the house so the exterminator said it could even be from before we bought the house. Yuck.

  • Reply
    Unknown
    September 26, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    I sure hope the exterminators had rid your house of those woodworms. They can do a number on your house if left unchecked for long. While having a smelly house for a day or two would be inconvenient, repair costs would definitely be more so. Good luck!Alta Peng @ Liberty Pest, Inc.

  • Reply
    Unknown
    December 22, 2014 at 3:31 pm

    It's a good thing your exterminators balanced things out. Gassing could easily get things under control, but they're indiscriminate and could affect other people. Having elderly neighbors probably convinced the exterminators to pass up on the gassing. The solution they used is just as good, and is perfect for your house as the beams are exposed, making it easier to install and is non-invasive. Either way, good luck!Debra Owen @ Invader Pest Management

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