Author Topic: termites in antique wood chair..what to do?  (Read 1834 times)

jennil

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termites in antique wood chair..what to do?
« on: October 24, 2007, 10:31:16 am »
my husband recently bought me a gorgeous, unique wood chair from the early 20th century, handmade by the ethiopian gurage tribe.  a couple of weeks ago, we noticed an ultra small pile of dust that keeps forming on the seat. upon inspection, we see it's coming out of a pin sized hole.  we turned the chair over and found a few more of these holes, sizes varying, with the 'wood dust' spilling out of each hole.  there's obviously some sort of termite (or?) living INSIDE the chair and eating away at the wood.
does anyone have ANY advice on what i can do to fix this problem without harming the chair in any way? 
thanks for your time.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2007, 06:36:50 pm by jennil »

linkcharmer

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Re: termites in antique wood chair..what to do?
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2007, 07:59:41 pm »
Hi, I found this answer at pioneerthinking.com:

Termites are a menace to North American homes and are often found in older homes. Hopefully, you'll notice an infestation of termites in your home before they reach your furniture.

The termite solution? Professional fumigation is the best remedy.

The wood beetle is a nasty archenemy of European antiques. It's not as common in North America. Nevertheless, you want to be aware of the wood beetle in case you bring an antique from overseas into your home and infest the rest of your furniture.

The wood beetle lays its eggs in the crevices in wood; the larvae hatch and eat their way through the wood creating a series of tunnels. As the beetle ages, it digs its way out of the wood leaving a hole, flies off to lay its eggs and continues its life cycle.

A tell tale sign that you have wood beetle is the pile of frass (wood dust and insect excrement) on the floor. Another sign of a serious infestation is to pick up an item; if it is very light, likely a large portion of the inside has been eaten away.

How to rid your furniture of this pesky insect? Isolate the infested object. Ensure that the infestation has not spread. Hope that this infestation happened during the winter because the easiest way to get rid of this bothersome bug is to place the item outside on a dry sub-zero day.


I hope that this helps,


Bob

gatorloverone

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Re: termites in antique wood chair..what to do?
« Reply #2 on: November 09, 2007, 05:43:54 pm »
As a former Navy wife, I had to be on the lookout for such "activity" all the time. An acceptable practice was to take bugspray, press the nozzle hole against the hole in the wood, and spray. Wipe off any residue that oozes out. Pinpoint the uppermost hole, and work your way down. Keep an eye on the piece to see if there is still activity, and retreat once, if needed.

Hope this helps.