Should I replace all the wooden beams? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by umulu@lemmy.world to c/woodworking@lemmy.ca

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Hi, I am new here, so I want to apologize if I mess something up. I have the following problem...

I am restoring a division in my house. It's a high ceilling area, with wooden beams supporting a hardwood floor that divides the space into a dining room (lower) and an office (upper).

My father thought the wood was in good shape, so he replaced the hardwood floor above the beams. Afterward, his plan was to apply protection to prevent woodworms and then oil for the finishing touch. But, upon closer inspection, I noticed all the wooden beams have these small holes (which I suppose are woodworms already).

Also, I knocked on the wood, and it seems hollow.

Should I replace all the wooden beams and then reapply the hardwood floor? Is there any way to recover these beams?

Thanks in advance.

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[-] snota@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

To be sure for yourself, you require two experts. 1: Get someone in to do a woodworm survey to check if there is an active infestation. There are a couple of easy checks you can do to make sure a 'specialist' doesn't try to con you. First is to get some paper and tape it to the underside of the wood, leave it a while and if little pellets appear on the paper then there are active woodworm in there. Second is a wood moisture sensor, from what I remember dry wood isn't palatable to woodworm but I could be wrong on that so do some reading. If there aren't any signs then it could have been there for a long time, depending on how old the building is. 2. You've said somewhere else that you'll be putting some stuff above it, if that concerns you then get a structural engineer to take a look at it. They can tell you if it's anything to worry about.

[-] umulu@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

if that concerns you then get a structural engineer

I did get one, and we decided to replace everything. Thank you

[-] snota@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

Sounds like a good decision. Good luck!

[-] Spacebar@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Are we looking at the bottom of the wood floor in this picture?

[-] umulu@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Yes. You are looking at the beams that hold the upper hardwood floor. What do you think I should do?

[-] Spacebar@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Woodworking attacks the outside layer of wood. They dont really eat deep into the piece.

If you don't see any of the worm frass anywhere then that looks to be old worm damage.

Wrap a length of beam in brown paper and wait a few weeks. If there is no worm dust (frass) then I would leave it be.

(The frass is the powdery dust)

If you are still super worried, you could always replace one beam and cut it up to see the inside.

[-] umulu@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

That seems like great advice. But since we have already deviced to replace everything, I will just cut the wood and inspect the inside. Maybe I will post an update afterwards. Thank you

this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2023

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