Timber decay and woodworm
A large oak lintel has the sort of holes associated with deathwatch beetle, and the softwood floorboards do not. Why should those floorboards not be condemned with the lintel?
Those floorboards should not be condemned with the lintel because they do not show the holes, and the attack associated with deathwatch beetle is linked here to the oak, not to the softwood boards. Deathwatch is a hardwood problem, often in damp oak, which is a different timber from the floorboards beside it. The survey has recorded the sort of holes seen in the lintel. It has not found the same holes in the boards, has not said the floor is infested, and has not specified that the boards be replaced with the lintel. The floor stays out of that condemnation.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Condemning every timber in the room because one oak lintel is holed spreads a finding further than the evidence. Softwood floorboards commonly suffer a different beetle, or none, and these boards did not show the holes in question. The lintel may still need a timber specialist, particularly if the oak is damp and the section is reduced. That is a lintel question. The boards remain innocent of this note unless someone finds attack in them. The survey did not.
Ask a timber specialist to examine the oak lintel, how much section it has lost, and whether the bearing is still sound. Tell them the floorboards did not show these holes, so they are not part of the same instruction unless the specialist finds otherwise. Tell the solicitor the report has not condemned the floor. The survey has not specified a new lintel and has not ordered a spray of the boards. Keep the two timbers apart when you ask for quotes.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Were the deathwatch-type holes confined to the oak lintel?
- Did the softwood floorboards show any of those holes, or none?
- Have you avoided condemning the floor with the lintel?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the lintel finding off the softwood floorboards.
- Ask a timber specialist to assess the oak lintel on its own.
- Do not include the floorboards in a replacement of the lintel by default.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If one board beside the lintel is creaky, is it infested too?
A creak is not a flight hole. The survey did not find these holes in the softwood boards and has not condemned them. Creaking boards are a separate, ordinary floor note. Asking about it again later still leaves this creak point outside what the survey decided.
Does damp in the oak mean the whole room's timber is wet rot as well?
Damp oak is relevant to the lintel and to why deathwatch is suspected there. The survey has not diagnosed wet rot in the floorboards, and it has not spread that damp note across the room. The home survey itself did not pursue this oakdamp question any further than the visit.