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Inspection & Species ID
We inspect all accessible timber, identify the borer species (e.g., Powderpost, Furniture Beetle), and assess the extent of the activity and damage.
Borer Control Sydney & Perth
Protect Your Timber from Wood Borers with Expert Treatment
Our licensed team identifies the borer species and provides targeted, effective treatments for structural timber, flooring, and furniture in homes and businesses across Sydney and Perth and Perth.
Borer Infestations - The Silent Destroyers
Why Borers Cause Costly Damage to Homes & Furniture
Wood-boring beetles lay eggs in timber, and their larvae (grubs) can spend years tunnelling undetected inside the wood, feeding on it. The damage often becomes visible only when the adult beetles emerge, leaving behind tell-tale exit holes and potentially widespread internal weakening.
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Structural Weakening
Active infestations in floor joists, roof beams, or foundations can seriously compromise the structural integrity and safety of your property over time.
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Damage to Valuables
Furniture, antiques, flooring, and decorative timber can be ruined by borer larvae, leading to significant financial and sentimental loss.
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Hidden & Hard to Treat
Because the larvae are deep inside the wood, DIY surface sprays are ineffective. Professional treatment is required to penetrate the timber and stop the lifecycle.
Book a Borer Assessment
Protect your investment today
Common Signs
- • Small, round exit holes
- • 'Frass' (powdery dust)
- • Clicking sounds in timber
- • Crumbling wood edges
Our Approach
- • Species identification
- • Damage assessment
- • Targeted timber treatment
Professional Borer Control
Sydney
Perth
How We Eradicate Borers: Our 4-Step Method
A science-led workflow that targets the entire borer lifecycle from egg to adult beetle, protecting your timber for years to come.
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Tailored Treatment Plan
Based on the species and timber type, we create a plan using specialised insecticides, surface sprays, or fumigation for maximum effectiveness.
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Treatment & Eradication
We apply treatments by injecting flight holes, spraying surfaces, or using other methods to ensure deep penetration and full eradication of the larvae.
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Prevention & Advice
We provide crucial advice on timber care, moisture control, and using treated wood for future repairs to prevent re-infestation.
Family & pet friendly treatments • Warranty on services • Same‑day bookings
Why Choose Us?
We’re not just another pest control company. Here’s why homeowners and businesses trust us to protect their timber assets.
Local Experts
We understand the borer species and timber types common to homes in Sydney and Perth.
Eco‑friendly & Safe
Our treatments are selected for their effectiveness and safety for your family and pets.
Guaranteed Results
Our borer treatments come with a written service warranty.
24/7 Support
We’re available around the clock for urgent inspections and professional advice.
Simple, Proven Tips to Prevent Wood Borers
Quick steps our Sydney & Perth customers use to make their property less vulnerable to borer attack.
Control Moisture
Borers are attracted to damp timber. Fix leaks, improve drainage, and use dehumidifiers in damp areas.
Ensure Ventilation
Good airflow in sub-floor areas and attics helps keep timber dry and less appealing to borers.
Seal & Varnish Wood
A good quality paint or varnish can prevent egg-laying beetles from accessing the bare wood.
Inspect Firewood
Check firewood for borer holes before bringing it inside, and store it away from the house.
Check Secondhand Furniture
Thoroughly inspect any antique or secondhand wooden items for exit holes before purchase.
Use Treated Timber
For new construction, extensions, or repairs, always use professionally pre-treated timber.
Do this
- • Schedule regular professional timber pest inspections
- • Address any plumbing leaks or moisture issues quickly
- • Keep sub-floor ventilation clear and unobstructed
Avoid this
- • Storing untreated firewood or timber against the house
- • Ignoring small exit holes or piles of fine dust (frass)
- • Using unseasoned or untreated timber for DIY projects
Seeing signs of borers? Our licensed techs can identify the species and treat the infestation for lasting results.
Quick answer
How do you treat wood borer in a house?
Wood borer is treated by first confirming the infestation is active, then applying a boron-based or permethrin timber preservative to the affected surfaces so emerging adults and newly hatched larvae are killed. Badly weakened members are replaced. Not every exit hole means a live problem, because most Australian borer damage is historic and the beetles are long gone. A borer inspection costs $250 to $400 and treatment runs $500 to $2,500 depending on the area involved.
- Life cycle
- 1 to 5 years inside the timber before emergence
- Emergence season
- Spring and early summer, October to January
- Treatment life
- Protection for the life of the treated timber
Identification
Which Borer Is In Your Timber?
The exit hole tells you a great deal. Its size and shape, together with the type of timber and the texture of the frass, identify the species and determine whether treatment is even needed.
| Borer | Exit hole | Timber attacked | Treatment needed |
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| Common furniture beetle Anobium punctatum | 1 to 2 mm, round, with gritty pellet-like frass | Seasoned softwood, pine flooring, plywood, older furniture, Baltic pine | Yes, if active. This is the most common structural borer in Australian homes |
| Powderpost beetle Lyctus brunneus | 1 to 1.5 mm, round, frass like fine talcum powder | Sapwood of wide-pored hardwoods only, including oak, ash and some eucalypts | Limited. Attack stops once the starch in the sapwood is exhausted, usually within a few years |
| Queensland pine beetle Calymmaderus incisus | 1.5 to 2 mm, round | Hoop pine and softwood in warmer northern regions | Yes. Can cause serious structural weakening over time |
| Auger beetle and bostrichid borers | 3 to 6 mm, round, coarse frass packed in the tunnel | Freshly felled and unseasoned hardwood, bamboo, imported furniture | Sometimes. Often arrives inside imported items rather than spreading in the house |
| Longhorn and pinhole borers | Oval or slot-shaped, 4 to 10 mm, or very fine dark pinholes | Standing or recently felled trees, milled into the timber before it arrived | No. The damage is historic and the beetle cannot reinfest seasoned timber |
Borer or termite? Borer damage shows as clean round exit holes with dry powdery frass, and the timber surface is intact between the holes. Termite damage has no exit holes at all, contains mud and moisture inside the galleries, and leaves the timber hollow with a paper-thin surface. If there is any doubt, our timber pest inspection covers both in a single visit.
Before you spend money
Is The Borer Infestation Actually Active?
This question decides whether you need a treatment or nothing at all. Many homeowners pay for treatment on damage that stopped decades ago.
Signs of an active infestation
- Fresh frass, the colour of new-cut timber, reappearing after you clean it away
- Exit holes with sharp, clean, pale edges rather than dark oxidised rims
- Small brown beetles on windowsills or in light fittings in spring and early summer
- A faint tapping or rasping sound inside timber on a warm, quiet night
- Timber that flexes underfoot, or a floorboard edge that crumbles when pressed
Signs the damage is historic
- Holes darkened and dulled with age, sometimes filled with old polish or paint
- No new frass after the surface has been cleaned and left for a season
- Damage confined to the sapwood edge of hardwood, typical of powderpost beetle that has run out of starch
- Oval or slot-shaped holes from longhorn borers, which cannot reinfest seasoned timber
- Holes present when you bought the house, with no change since
A reliable check is the tissue paper test. Clean the surface, tape white paper beneath the holes, and leave it for four to six weeks through spring. New frass on the paper confirms live activity. We do the same thing more precisely with moisture metering and sounding during an inspection.
Treatment and pricing
Borer Treatment Options And Cost
| Service | Typical price | Suited to |
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| Borer and timber pest inspection | $250 to $400 | Confirming whether activity is live, and ruling out termites |
| Surface preservative treatment, single room | $500 to $900 | Exposed flooring, joists, roof timbers and lining boards |
| Subfloor or roof void treatment | $900 to $2,500 | Widespread activity through bearers, joists and rafters |
| Furniture and antique treatment | $150 to $450 per item | Injection and preservative applied without damaging the finish |
| Timber replacement and repair | Quoted with a builder | Structurally weakened members that treatment cannot restore |
Treatment strengthens nothing. It stops the infestation continuing. Timber that has lost structural capacity has to be replaced, which is why the inspection report separates cosmetic damage from members that need an engineer or builder.
Prevention
Preventing Borer Attack
Control moisture. Borer larvae develop faster in timber above about 12 per cent moisture content. Keeping the subfloor ventilated and dry is the single most effective preventive measure, and it works against termites at the same time.
Seal exposed timber. Female beetles lay eggs in cracks, checks and open grain. Painted, varnished or oiled surfaces are far less attractive, which is why unfinished undersides of floorboards are attacked while the polished top face is not.
Buy treated timber. Use H2 or higher preservative treated pine for framing and structural work. Kiln-dried and preservative-treated stock is not susceptible to furniture beetle attack.
Inspect second-hand furniture. Check the unfinished back, base and drawer runners of any antique or marketplace piece before it comes inside. Borer usually enters a home in a piece of furniture rather than through the front door.
Store firewood outside. Keep firewood away from the house and off the ground, and bring in only what you will burn that day.
Help centre
Wood Borer FAQs
Straight answers about active infestations, treatment and structural risk. Book an inspection.
How do I know if borer
is still active?
Fresh frass is the
key. Clean the timber thoroughly, tape white paper underneath and check it after
four to six weeks through spring. New powder means live larvae. Clean, pale-edged
exit holes also suggest recent emergence, while dark, dulled holes are usually old.
Is borer as serious as
termites?
Generally no. Borer
works far more slowly, because the larvae take one to five years to develop, and
many species stop once the starch in the sapwood is used up. Termites can compromise
a structural member in months. Long-running furniture beetle activity in flooring or
joists is still capable of causing genuine structural damage.
Can borer spread from
furniture to the house frame?
It can, if the
species and the timber match. A common furniture beetle emerging from an antique
pine dresser will happily lay eggs in nearby untreated pine flooring or skirting.
Powderpost beetle cannot, because it needs the starch-rich sapwood of specific
hardwoods. Species identification determines the risk.
How much does borer
treatment cost?
An inspection is $250
to $400. A surface preservative treatment for a single room is $500 to $900.
Subfloor or roof void treatment ranges from $900 to $2,500. Individual furniture
items are $150 to $450. Timber replacement is quoted separately with a builder.
Will filling the holes
fix the problem?
No. Exit holes are
where adults left, not where larvae enter. Filling them hides the evidence and makes
it impossible to tell whether the infestation is still live. Fill holes only after
treatment, and only for appearance.
Is borer treatment safe
for the household?
Yes, with normal
precautions. Products are APVMA-registered timber preservatives applied to timber
surfaces, not broadcast through living areas. Vacate the treated area until it is
dry, generally four to six hours, and ventilate well. Subfloor and roof void work
rarely affects the living space at all.
Does home insurance
cover borer damage?
Almost never.
Australian building policies exclude damage by insects and vermin as a maintenance
matter, the same way they exclude termite damage. Repairs are the owner's cost,
which is why an inspection at the first sign of frass is worth doing.
Should I get a borer
inspection before buying an older house?
Yes. A timber pest
inspection to AS 4349.3 covers borer, termites and fungal decay together. Baltic
pine flooring in older terraces and cottages is a classic furniture beetle target,
and the report tells you whether the damage is historic or ongoing before you
commit.
Can I treat borer
myself with a hardware store product?
For a single piece of
furniture, a retail borer fluid can work if it is applied thoroughly to unfinished
surfaces. For structural timber it rarely does, because coverage has to be complete
across joists, bearers and the underside of boards, and gaps in coverage leave the
population running.
Why do I see beetles
indoors in spring?
Adults emerge in
spring and early summer to mate, then head for light, so windowsills and light
fittings collect them. Adults live only a couple of weeks and do no feeding damage,
but their appearance is the clearest signal that larvae have been developing in the
timber for years.
Other Pest Services
We offer a full suite of pest control services to protect your property.
Termite Treatment
Licensed termite inspections, barriers and treatments.
Rodent Control
Safe removal and exclusion of rats and mice from your home or business.
Bed Bug Control
Discreet and effective treatments to completely eliminate bed bugs.
Ant Control
Targeted solutions to eliminate ant trails and nests from your property.
Worried About Borers?
Speak with our friendly timber pest experts or book a free inspection online. We service Sydney, Perth and surrounding areas.
24/7 Hotline
+61 424 093 612
WhatsApp Support
Instant responses
Service Areas
We provide prompt borer control across both cities:
- Sydney CBD & Suburbs
- Northern Beaches & North Shore
- Perth City & Metro
- Gold Coast & Surrounds
If you’re unsure whether we cover your suburb, contact us and we will get it sorted.