Timber decay and woodworm

A reclaimed beam has old flight holes. Can the survey treat the house as having active woodworm?

No. Holes in a beam brought from somewhere else may have been made years before it was fixed here, and they do not show live insects in the joists. The survey can note old holes in that piece, but it cannot date them. It should not spread a diagnosis from reclaimed timber onto timber it has not seen attacked.

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?

Reclaimed oak and softwood are sold with the marks of their first life, including furniture-beetle holes. Once the timber is dry and the beetles have long gone, the holes are scars. The Property Care Association distinguishes damage that threatens the structure from marks that do not. Fresh bright dust falling from a structural joist is a different observation from dark holes in a mantel that arrived already perforated. Ask whether the beam is even structural. A stuck-on face beam over a modern steel is not the floor.

The surveyor should say “old flight holes in the reclaimed beam; no fresh dust seen; other timbers not described as attacked” if that is the case. Do not let a treatment quote sandblast the lounge because the fireplace looks historic. Do not ignore fresh dust in the loft because the mantel explanation was available downstairs. Each timber stands on its own. If the reclaimed piece is soft, or the holes are in a beam that supports a floor and fresh dust is present, then that piece needs its own comment. The rest of the house is not condemned by the antique.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Is this beam structural, or is it a reclaimed face fixed over something else?
Did you see fresh dust, or only old holes?
Which other timbers, if any, showed attack? Please do not infer them from this beam.

What are the typical next steps?

Do not treat the house because a reclaimed beam has old holes.
Do not sand the beam to make the holes go away. You will not learn whether they are historic.
If fresh dust is in structural timber elsewhere, deal with that timber, not with the mantel.

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

Can beetles in an old beam wake up and attack the joists?

Old empty holes are not a colony you have identified. The survey cannot make that leap. Fresh dust and firmness are the observations that matter.

Does varnish over the holes prove they are dead?

Varnish proves someone finished the surface. It does not date the insects. Lack of fresh dust is the more useful note.