Powder Post Beetles

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Has anyone ever dealt with active Powder Post Beetles in the wood framing of a car. Fortunately it’s not mine, it belongs to a friend.

Dave

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Buildings with those pests have to be tented and gassed; topical application is ineffective.

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Do an internet search on these beetles & you will see just how destructive these little so & so’s are. They keep on keeping on in the wood for years until it totally collapses. As George recommends, tenting with usually methyl bromide is the only sure cure if they have not done too much damage already. Good luck

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jak

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He has contacted several pest companies and most don’t want to deal with it. One quoted him a price of $7000 to tent and fumigate. His initial plan is to strip out the interior and try spraying with Timbor. The problem with this is it has to soak in and if the wood is painted or inaccessible this won’t work. If this doesn’t work he will do the tent and gas thing while the interior is out. He says that right now he is seeing evidence of beetles in one area below the front seat. I was hoping someone might have been down this road Thanks, Dave.

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Only with houses, and tenting is the way to go. You even have to do this if it is a tear down, as the beetles will cause problems if you build a new house on the same lot. As Jak says, they are pesky creatures. You may want to go back to the company and offer to hold them harmless for any damage other than the bugs. I am sure they are padding the quote for potential risk, and because it is a high end car. Their insurance might not cover treatment for a car.

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After contacting about 30 companies, my friend found a fumigator in Portland, OR that had done wood framed vehicles and will tent and fumigate the car for $800. One fumigator also told him he could put the car in a freezer for several days and that would kill the beetles. I’ve never heard of doing that. Looks like he has a reasonable solution. Thanks for the suggestions.

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David, this sounds like an terrible problem, but the $800 remedy seems reasonable. Beetle infestation when car shopping certainly adds another dimension to ‘look before you buy’.

Thanks for the interesting update.

John

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Hi John,

It is a serious problem. In addition to the potentially serious damage to the car, the beetles can move to other wood structures such as nearby cars or the building they are stored in. There is lots of info on the web about Powder Post Beetles, but nothing in regards to cars, so hopefully it’s not a common problem in wood framed car bodies. Here in humid coastal northern California we usually see them in fir, commonly used in building construction, not so much in hardwoods used in body framing.

He first noticed small piles of wood dust on the floor under the car. The extent of the damage won’t be readily visible until he gets the interior removed. It would be tough to check for when buying a car because most of the body wood isn’t visible and the beetles leave very small holes. Hopefully he caught it early. Dave

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For anyone that is interested, I found the best info on treatment here:

http://www.adamspestcontrol.com/residential-pest-information-crawling-insects-powder-post-beetles

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