Woodlice in cavity

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cyphex85

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Hello all

I'm finding wood lice in my timber built house. I don't think I have an infestation as I'm was seeing one every 4-5 days. I've used plastic netting to block the weep holes and removed foliage near the external bricks. These 2 things have reduced the frequency of sighting but I'm still getting them enough to want to do something about it. Tonight I noticed one on the ceiling where the light fitting hole was so it must have come from there meaning they are in cavity between floors (and likely walls too). I've looked online and in America they spray a dust into the cavity but I can only find powder in the UK e.g. from amazon
BITEYI Pest Control Bulb Sprayer Handheld Pesticide Diatomaceous Earth Powder Duster With Long Copper Tube Easy-to-Use To Get Rid of Bugs & Pests (Orange)
Vitax Ltd 5WL150 Nippon Woodlice Killer Powder 150g

I'm not sure whether this power will be fine enough to work with a power duster above? Also, the above doesn't have much range so maybe putting a rubber tube on and feeding that through the cavity might have better effect?
Another thing I read was putting a dehumidifier on. I do own one but if there was a way I can funnel the machine to dehumidifier the cavity walls that might get rid of any residual ones that are in there?
I'm looking for advice & open to any and all options.
Thanks
 
Well they like damp, so fix the leak or condensation problem and they will go away.
Diatomaceous earth just tries to dessicate them. Boric acid is much more harmful to insects than people so I found it worked to get rid of a stubborn ants nest under the house.
It might be a leaky pipe, gutter or it might be the wrong vapour barriers either inside or out. You will have to look at the construction of your walls.
 
Thanks for the response. I checked some sections of the gutter a couple months back and they were fine. There wasn't even any muck. I'll have to do a full check off every part of the gutter.
How do I check the vapour barriers. I bought a Boris scope for about £50 but its not the great unless you you are only a couple of centimeters away from the target.

Can you elaborate on what I should be checking the walls for? They are typical single red brick 1985 construction bit the frame of the house is timer.

Thanks
 
cyphex85 said:
I bought a Boris scope for about £50
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boris scope.jpg



Bargain
 
My house is full timber, and never any wood lice, plenty in the damp bits round the garden. So with a brick skin you need to look for any window edges etc that might let in water. If its only at ground level could it be bridging bits of dropped mortar as the house went up? I used ebay to buy a kilo of boric acid, lasted a long time, and really does fix insects. But if there is damp anywhere they will find a suitable crevice as a home.
 
foxhole said:
They eat rotting wood , harmless .
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My concern is they are attracted to damp or rotting wood which is part of the timber infrastructure.
I've got a damp reader but that will only indicate if the plaster is damp not timber behind. The only high reading I have are near the kitchen door
 
Mike13 said:
My house is full timber, and never any wood lice, plenty in the damp bits round the garden. So with a brick skin you need to look for any window edges etc that might let in water. If its only at ground level could it be bridging bits of dropped mortar as the house went up? I used ebay to buy a kilo of boric acid, lasted a long time, and really does fix insects. But if there is damp anywhere they will find a suitable crevice as a home.
Click to expand...
They appear on ground floor, 1st floor & I've seem dead ones in the attic too. Which is why I'm worried there maybe a lot more in the cavities on both floors
 
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