Vrillettes (Death Watch Beetles)?

[Gunner]

This has come up on our survey for our new house.

Vrillettes: presence de larves dans les charpentes de la maison et des dependances

I have translated it to be larvae of Death Watch Beetles in the house and outbuildings. Does this sound as ominous as I think it does?

Any ideas on how bad this might be would be much appreciated. I've heard of termite problems, woodworm & capricorns but am unaware how easy or expensive this might be to treat. 

We only have 6 days left until our 7 day cooling off period ends!

[Blanche Neige]

Probably not! We had the same problem 6 years ago and the man who did the suvey told me it was not that serious and was not "death watch" as we know it in U.K.

do P.M. me if you want more info.

 

Gill

[Ron Avery]

As the Charente is one of the areas of France where termites are prevalent, it might be worth having a professional timber survey ( controle)  to see if preventative or curative treatment is necessary for your wood. Most reputable wood treatment firms will do a survey without obligation, amy treament for termites will treat vrillettes as well as capricorn etc.  

[maureen]

Gunner - the person who did the survey of your house, should be able to point you to a reliable person to do any necessary treatment. Be very careful- there are a lot of charlotans out there doing so called treatments. I know an elderly couple whose french was not too good and they got taken for a huge sum of money. Your "seven days" shouldn't include the weekend.

maureen.

p.s. we had death watch beatles in our spuds - all part of country life!

[Kergohy]

I've learned a lot more about insectes xylophages than I would want - are your vrillettes big or little?  the little ones are woodworm.....  The others are the noisy variety, as far as I know.  Bonne courage.

[YCCMB]

I'm probably wrong, but isn't treatment of the beams, etc:

a) supposed to cover all manner of creepy-crawlies

b) mandatory before the sale, and most importantly

c) at the expense of the seller??

It certainly covers woodworm and termites and a certificate showing it's been done is, I think, required by the Notaire from the seller before the sale can be concluded.

[Gunner]

Thanks for your replies. Having looked into this further, it seems that we only have the small variety which are in fact woodworm (not Death Watch Beetles). Having compared surveys, the house we are selling has more than the house we are going to, so that makes me feel a bit better!!

[WJT]

[quote user="Croixblanches"]

I'm probably wrong, but isn't treatment of the beams, etc:

a) supposed to cover all manner of creepy-crawlies

b) mandatory before the sale, and most importantly

c) at the expense of the seller??

It certainly covers woodworm and termites and a certificate showing it's been done is, I think, required by the Notaire from the seller before the sale can be concluded.

[/quote]

The seller is only obliged to have a survey to confirm the property is termite free. They do not have to provide any treatment. In fact the survey we received before purchasing, stated that is was termite free but in small print and in French of course, stated that it had Capricorne, Vrillettes and others [:'(]. We stupidly missed it and the agent did not feel inclined to tell us about it. [:(]