Borer treatment for Nelson South's older timber homes
Nelson South has streets of older timber homes, many framed before boron treatment, and borer can work quietly inside them for years. Richard goes under the floor and up into the roof space to find it, treats the timber that's affected, and quotes the job free.
Richard under a house when the phone goes? Someone still picks up, and he calls you back.
Roof to subfloor
Under the floor: Richard goes over the piles, bearers and joists by torch for fresh borer holes and dust, and looks for droppings and nests where rats shelter.
- Where
- Between the city centre and Bishopdale, along Waimea Road
- Postcode
- 7010
- Common jobs
- Borer, rats, mice
What to send Richard
- A photo of the holes, droppings or nest
- Where you’ve seen them: roof space, inside, under the floor or outside
- How long it’s been going on
- Who’s home: kids, pets, or a business open to the public
- For borer: the rough age of the house
- Work
- Borer, rats and mice, wasps, household pests
- Area
- Nelson, Stoke and Richmond
- Experience
- 15+ years in pest control
- Quotes
- Free inspection and quote
- Phone, or fill in the formPictures of what you’ve spotted help.
- Richard rings youHe asks what you’ve seen, and where.
- Free inspection and quoteRoof space, subfloor and section, then a price.
- Treated where they’re workingThen he checks back that it’s done the job.
Borer, rats and mice in Nelson South
Borer is the job that hides. The larvae tunnel through floor joists, bearers and roof timbers for two to four years before the adult beetle chews its way out, so the first sign is a scatter of tiny round holes and a little pile of dust. In Nelson South's older weatherboard homes, between Waimea Road and the foot of the Grampians, borer has had the longest to work. Richard treats it, along with the rats and mice that move indoors each winter, plus wasps, cockroaches, fleas and spiders.
Richard crawls the subfloor with a torch and checks every pile, bearer and joist he can reach, then climbs into the roof to go over the rafters and ceiling framing. Fresh holes with clean, pale dust beneath them mean live borer; old dark holes with nothing under them are history. The treatment goes onto the timber where the larvae are working. With more than 15 years in pest control, Richard tells you straight what he's found, and a check-in from him follows the treatment.
How Richard works in Nelson South
Tell Richard what you’ve found
Call, or send the form with a photo of the holes, droppings or nest and where you saw it.
A free inspection
Richard comes out and goes through the ceiling cavity, the subfloor and the section, to find where they’re working and how they get in.
A clear quote
He shows you what he found and quotes the treatment before any work starts.
Treated where they work
Bait stations on the runs, the nest itself, the timber the borer is in: each pest is treated where it lives.
He checks in afterwards
Once the treatment has had time to work, Richard gets back in touch to see that it has.
Why Nelson South's timber gets borer
The age of the house changes the job here. More of Nelson South's houses date from the 1940s than any other decade, and New Zealand didn't start treating framing timber with boron until 1952. Before that, native timber and the first radiata pine went into houses untreated, and its soft sapwood is exactly what the common house borer eats.
On the city side of Nelson South the houses are older again. The six Dear Cottages at the top of Rutherford Street were built in 1887, five of them in timber, and nearby on Alton Street a row of villas and bungalows from about 1900 to 1925 backs onto the big linden trees at Central School. Homes like these have been through more than a hundred borer seasons.
Further out, toward Bishopdale and the foot of the Grampians, reserves such as Fairfield Park, Wigzell Park and Ronaki Reserve put green space between the streets. Homes beside green space see rats and mice move closer as winter comes, and an older house, with more gaps at the eaves and around the piles, gives them more ways in.
Richard was professional, friendly and his work was neat, detailed and efficient. I would highly recommend his company and will certainly be using his services again when the need arises.
Tips for Nelson South
- Between October and February, look along the floor joists and rafters for fresh round holes the size of a pinhead with fine dust below: that's borer coming out.
- Keep the subfloor dry and its vents clear. Borer prefer timber with some moisture in it.
- Sweep up the dust under a borer hole and look again a week later. Fresh dust means they're still working.
Nelson South questions
Our villa near Alton Street has old borer holes. Do we still need a treatment?
Old holes tell you borer has been there; they don't tell you whether it's finished. Richard checks the joists below and the rafters above for live borer, walks you through what he's seen and quotes the treatment free.
Our Nelson South bungalow went up before the war. Should we have it checked for borer?
Yes. It was framed long before boron treatment, so its timber is the kind borer eat. Richard looks under the floor and through the roof space, points out anything he finds and quotes the work at no cost to you.
How do rats get into an old Nelson South villa?
Older homes have more ways in: gaps at the eaves, around old chimneys, under weatherboards and through the subfloor vents. Richard checks the ceiling and under the house to find the one they're using, and treats them along their runs.
We also work nearby in Toi Toi, Bishopdale and The Brook. All Nelson suburbs
A free inspection in Nelson South
Tell Richard what you’ve found and where. A photo of the holes, droppings or nest helps him see it before he comes out.
What to send Richard
- A photo of the holes, droppings or nest
- Where you’ve seen them: roof space, inside, under the floor or outside
- How long it’s been going on
- Who’s home: kids, pets, or a business open to the public
- For borer: the rough age of the house
Richard will be in touch to talk it through, then come out, inspect and quote. If you go ahead, he treats them and checks in afterwards.
Rather talk? Call 0800 166 028
Thanks, we’ve got your details.
Richard will be in touch to talk it through and set a time for the free inspection.