Woodworm alarm

elbsegler's picture
Submitted by elbsegler on Wed, 01/18/2017 - 12:21

Forums:

Help!

Big shock:
I discovered about 10 1mm-holes in the varnished surface of the upper part of the stern of my boat,
the thick piece of massive Wood where the hull nr. is engraved.
The holes are definitely caused by woodworms.
I bought the boat 9 months ago, so the wood must have been already infected before. the old owner stored it in a garage.
Now it is stored dry under a roof, but in fresh air. without cover, hatches closed, drain holes open
- what do you think is the better storge?
- does anyone have experience with fighting wood worms? Does epoxying the surface help? Do the Worms infect plywood too?

Greetings from Hamburg
Ferdi

Alan

Wed, 01/18/2017 - 16:57

Moin Moin Ferdi

marine plywood is not usually the victim of woodworm attacks, so no need for panic, I hope!

The infected areas of solid wood can be treated with "Holzwurmtod" which you can buy in a Baumarkt, either inject each hole with a syringe or keep brushing the fluid on the area letting it soak in to the holes and saturate the wood under the varnish.

Hope that helps and no doubt someone else has other ideas.

Alan (the Neckar Mirrorman)

62816inBerlin's picture

62816inBerlin

Fri, 01/20/2017 - 14:25

Hallo Ferdi,
In einem Bericht über die Renovierung einer Villa in Potsdam habe ich vor einigen Jahren gelesen, dass man den gesamte Dachstuhl auf 60°C erhitzt hat, um die Holzwürmer zu töten. Habe soeben gegoogelt und die unten aufgeführten URLs zum Thema gefunden. Evtl. kann man mit einer Heißluftpistole die befallenen Teile des Bootes aureichend erhitzen. Ich glaube nicht, dass die Schädlinge durch die Epoxidschichten zwischen den einzelnen Paneelen sich hindurchfressen. Kontrolliere aber auch die Dollbords und Blöcke unter den Püttings.
Allerdings gibt es wohl Meinungsunterschiede über Temperaturen und Einwirkdauer.

Some years ago I read, in a report on the rehabilitation of a villa in Potsdam, that the entire roof structure had been heated to 60°C in order to kill the woodworms. I just googled the subject and found the URLs given below, both discussing the topic. Perhaps one could use a paint-removal heat gun to heat up the affected parts of the boat. I don't believe that the bugs can eat their way through the epoxy layers between individual boat panels, but you should check whether the gunwales and/or blocks under the chainplates (shroud fittings) are affected.
There seem to be differences of opinion about the temperatures required and on how long the heat should be applied.
See
http://ratbox.de/holzwurm-bekaempfen
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/treat-woodworms-finished-furniture-103379.html .
(for instance).

Cheers
Gernot

JollenFlottille 2017 auf der Elbe ??

Alan

Wed, 01/25/2017 - 14:13

Moin Moin Ferdi,

if you should decide to use both heat and poison please HEAT FIRST then poison otherwise the heat will cause the poison to "Gas-Out" and is maybe not very health enhancing ;-).

Hope I`m not too late with that advice :-(

Alan (eagerly awaiting Mirror Sailing Weather)

elbsegler's picture

elbsegler

Fri, 01/27/2017 - 14:22

Hello Alan,

Thank you for your hints.
I´m still alive and will try both in the right order. I will have to remove the varnish anyway, so i can use the heat for both, removing the varnish and killing the worms.
I have bought a small can of "Holzwurmtod", 350 ml for about 10,- Euro. It will last for many worms to come.

Ferdi

Ferdi

Alan

Fri, 01/27/2017 - 16:26

Moin Ferdi,

good to hear you`re still in good health!
You seem to be on the path to success, just resist the temptation to heat too much in a small area when removing the varnish...a heat gun will scorch the wood if held too long in one place... but you may know that already!

Wishing you success,

Alan.