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Home/Borer Control Melbourne
Floors, furniture & structural timber · Melbourne-wide · 24/7Borer Control Melbourne|Wood Borer Treatment
Small round holes in your timber? We inspect and treat wood borer across Melbourne, and tell you when it is old damage. Call 0435 073 966 for a free quote.
Holes in the timber? Start here
Tell us your postcode and where the holes are – floor, furniture or structural timber. A technician calls you back with a clear written quote.
Request your quote
Takes under a minute – postcode and what you have seen is enough.
Your details go to our Melbourne office only.
Most borer damage in Melbourne homes is old and dead
The holes people find are exit holes. They were made by adult beetles chewing their way out of the timber, which means the damage was done before the hole existed. In a great many Melbourne houses, that happened decades ago – often before the timber was even installed.
So the question is never are there holes. It is is anything still alive in there. And there is one reliable test: fresh frass. Active borer pushes out a fine, gritty powder the colour of new timber. Old damage produces nothing, or grey compacted dust that does not return after you clean it off.
The practical version: clean the timber, tape paper under it, and look again in a few weeks. No fresh powder means no active infestation and nothing to treat. We will tell you that, and we will not sell you a treatment for beetles that left in 1985.
When it is active – fresh frass, usually in old seasoned softwood like Baltic pine flooring – then treatment is worthwhile, because the common furniture beetle will re-infest the same timber generation after generation. But that is the minority of the calls we take on this.
Working Out Whether Anything Is Still Alive
This is the entire diagnosis, and for most Melbourne homes the answer means no treatment.
Fresh frass
The only reliable sign of activity
A fine, gritty powder the colour of fresh-cut timber, appearing below the holes and returning after you clean it away. Feels like flour with grit in it between your fingers.
What it means: Active infestation. Worth treating, because the common furniture beetle re-infests the same timber over successive generations rather than moving on.
Holes with no powder
Historic damage
Clean, round exit holes 1-3mm across with nothing coming out of them, often darkened inside and sometimes painted or polished over from a previous owner’s refinishing.
What it means: Nothing to treat. The beetles left long ago. If the timber is structurally sound, the honest answer is repair or fill it, and we will tell you so rather than quote a treatment.
What To Look For
Six observations that separate a live problem from an old one.
Fine powder returning after you sweep it away
The single most useful test. Fresh frass that comes back means beetles are still emerging – this is the one that justifies treatment.
Round exit holes 1-3mm across
Common furniture beetle. On their own the holes prove nothing about whether it is active – only whether it ever was.
Holes that have been painted or polished over
Historic, almost certainly. Somebody refinished that timber after the damage and nothing has emerged since.
Damage in old Baltic pine flooring or joinery
The classic Melbourne target – old, well-seasoned softwood. Period homes with original floors are where genuine activity turns up most often.
A floorboard flexing underfoot
Structural concern rather than a pest one. Worth a builder as well as us, because treatment does not restore strength that is already lost.
Small beetles at the window in early summer
Adults emerging and heading for light. Combined with fresh frass, that is a live infestation and the right time to treat.
Four Steps, One Clear Quote
Inspect, decide whether it is even active, then treat only if it is.
Inspect the timber
Floors, joinery, furniture, subfloor and roof timbers. We look for frass, not just holes, because holes alone do not tell you anything about today.
The honest verdict
Active or historic. If it is historic you get that in writing and there is nothing further to pay – that is the outcome for most of these inspections.
Clear written quote, if needed
Where it is active, treatment is priced on accessible timber area and what is involved. Boric-based treatment of accessible timber is the usual approach.
Treat and re-check
Treatment kills adults as they emerge, breaking the re-infestation cycle. We tell you what to watch for and when, so you can confirm it worked yourself.
Borer Treatment Cost Melbourne
Published, quoted in writing, and often the answer is that you need nothing.
Borer inspection
Timber inspection with a written verdict on whether it is active or historic.
Treatment, accessible timber
Boric-based treatment of accessible timber, floors and joinery.
Whole-floor treatment
Larger floor areas or subfloor timbers requiring full access.
With termite inspection
Booked alongside a termite inspection at the same visit.
What the price covers: the inspection and a written verdict on whether the damage is active or historic – including the outcome where nothing needs doing.
Comparing quotes? Melbourne borer inspections start around $135 and treatments from $369, with timber pest reports from $325. The question worth asking any company is what evidence they have that it is active. If nobody mentions frass, be careful. Send us any written quote and we will beat it by 5%.
We will tell you when there is nothing to treat
Borer is the easiest pest in this industry to oversell, because old holes look alarming and nobody can tell the difference by eye. Our position is simple.
Three Things Most Borer Companies Will Not Tell You
The holes mean the beetle already left
They are exit holes. Damage precedes the hole, often by decades. Quoting a treatment off the presence of holes alone tells you nothing about whether anything is alive.
Most of these calls need no treatment
In a great many Melbourne homes the damage is old and dead. We would rather write that on an inspection report and keep you as a customer than sell you a treatment you do not need.
You can test it yourself for free
Clean the timber, tape paper underneath, wait a few weeks. No fresh powder means no active borer. We will happily tell you to do that before booking anything.
Often Booked With Borer Control
Same crew, same visit where it makes sense.
Borer Inspections Across Every Melbourne Suburb
One number covers the whole metro area, with no travel surcharge.
Borer Control Melbourne FAQs
The questions we are asked most, answered straight.
How much does borer treatment cost in Melbourne?
Our inspection is from $149 with a written verdict on whether the damage is active or historic, and treatment from $369 for accessible timber. Melbourne inspections start around $135 and treatments from $369. In many cases the inspection concludes that no treatment is needed.
How do I know if borer is still active?
Fresh frass – a fine gritty powder the colour of new timber, appearing below the holes and returning after you clean it away. Clean the timber, tape paper underneath and check in a few weeks. No fresh powder means nothing is emerging.
Do the holes mean I have borer now?
No. Those are exit holes made by adult beetles leaving the timber, so the damage happened before the hole appeared – often decades ago, sometimes before the timber was installed. Holes tell you it happened once, not that it is happening now.
What timber does borer attack in Melbourne?
The common furniture beetle prefers old, well-seasoned softwoods – Baltic pine and New Zealand white pine especially, plus some hardwoods like blackwood. Original flooring and joinery in period homes is the classic target.
Is borer as serious as termites?
Generally no, and it is important not to confuse them. Borer works slowly over years and much of what people find is historic. Termites can do structural damage in months and Coptotermes causes over 80% of building damage in Victoria. If you are worried about timber, the termite inspection is the more urgent booking.
Can borer spread to other furniture?
It can, where timber is suitable and conditions allow – which is why an active infestation is worth treating rather than leaving. Adults emerge, mate and lay in the same or nearby timber, so it compounds in the same room over successive generations.
What does the treatment involve?
Boric-based treatment applied to accessible timber surfaces, which kills adults as they emerge before they can mate and re-infest. For furniture and severe cases there are heat and fumigation options, and we will tell you when those are the better fit.
Will treatment repair the damage?
No. Treatment stops further activity; it does not restore timber that has been hollowed. If a floorboard is flexing or a joist has lost strength, you need a builder as well, and we will say so rather than imply a spray fixes structure.
Should I get a borer inspection before buying a house?
Yes, if you have seen holes in flooring or joinery – it tells you whether you are buying a live problem or old cosmetic damage. It pairs naturally with a pre-purchase termite inspection, and we do both at the same visit.
Do you service my suburb?
Yes – all of metro Melbourne, from the CBD out through the northern, eastern, southern, bayside and western suburbs, with no travel surcharge.
Book a borer inspection
Send your postcode and where the holes are. We will call back with a clear written quote.
Get my free quote
No obligation. Answered 24/7.
Your details go to our Melbourne office only.
Get your free quote
Quoted in writing before we start. Answered 24/7.