If a home or object is made from the right timber - borer will attack it. From a four million dollar home in Parnell, to a state house in Mt Roskill the borer beetle doesn’t care.  Wood is wood and any untreated house may be on the menu. Wood is food to the borer and it has an insatiable appetite. I have seen wooden tools, sports equipment, precious antiques, even a wooden dashboard on a classic car ruined by borer infestation.

The problem with many home owners is that they do nothing when they first spot the borer holes hoping it will go away by itself (a bit like the ostrich head in the sand).

 We have many species of borer beetles in new Zealand but the four main species that cause most of the trouble in are: common borer(anobium puntatum), two tooth longhorn borer(ambeodontis tritis), powderpost beetle (lyctus bruneus) and NZ drywood termite(kalotermes brouni) the two main problem borer we find in Auckland are common borer and two tooth borer. Our temperate and humid climate offers them the perfect conditions to live out their lifecycle and thrive.

Aucklanders have a love affair with 1900s-1940s villas (bread and butter for borer).  Eight out of ten villas I inspect for borer control in Auckland will have some degree of borer infestation it could be in the roof cavity, subfloor, wall lining, interior trim, doors, floorboards, or the exterior weatherboards.

The borer thinks your house is a big lovely big old dead tree just waiting to be infested.  Rimu, Kauri, Matai, Totara, Pine - are the timbers it would usually infest in the New Zealand bush.

 Just think two-tooth borer has a hole of 5-7mm in size; these holes weaken wooden structures to such a degree that many floors become weak and unsafe. Many villas in Auckland have what we call in the trade a broken back. The top-line roof support timbers are so weakened by borer that they sink and bow downwards. Often it’s only the old corrugated iron that’s holding the roof structure together. Have a look at some old villas in Ponsonby, Newton or Greylynn to see what I mean many will have the sunken top line visible from the road.

In my opinion “the bad old days” of borer treatment in Auckland with kerosene, diesel (both highly flammable) or organophosphate (thought by some to be carcinogenic) are over.  Many insurance companies and local councils are pleased to see the back of flammable chemicals liberally soaked into peoples houses. Unfortunately a lot of pest controllers just won’t give up these toxic soups as they just can’t believe that an eco friendly and safe treatment will work. These old dangerous and flammable dinosaurs have been replaced with many safer to use natural organic treatments such as disodium octaborate - tetra hydrate borate. These water base soluble borate/boron compounds are almost odourless, environmentally friendly and safe for the operator and the family/pets living in the home. Ask your operator to supply a FAQ sheet with all the product information included, I always supply my customers with an up to date copy.  These newer compounds crystallise on to the wood and when applied correctly and protect the wood for many years.

In my eighteen years of pest control and borer treatment in Auckland, these new organic compounds are one of the biggest breakthroughs in terms of customer safety.  For more information on having your house treated feel free to e-mail me (Bob) at borerbob@gmail.com