New parquet has small holes - parquet beetles? Parquet in new building

Hi,

about two months ago (at the end of February 2018) the floor layer installed parquet (Haro country house planks oak oiled) in a new apartment. Everything was covered with such a thin fleece so that the other craftsmen would not scratch/damage anything. Finally, most of the work is done and the move should take place in the next few days, but after we removed the fleece in most rooms today, we discovered "strange" holes in a plank while vacuuming/cleaning in one room. After a short Google search, we found a "suspicious" beetle in another room. We have two pictures of the plank and one of the beetle. Can someone help us here and say whether we have a problem or what exactly the pictures show or could be? With Google, I came across the "parquet beetle" and visually the holes look like that and the beetle could also match. As laymen, of course, we cannot say for sure. If it is this type of beetle, the only option is almost to remove the entire floor and redo it, right!?

Here are the mentioned pictures (click to enlarge):

Plank Part1


Plank Part2


Beetle


Thank you very much for any help and best regards!

This is a bark beetle, more precisely a sapwood beetle. It is referred to as the parquet beetle. It often occurs in wood storage and lays its larvae in the wood. So presumably your entire floor is affected.

The best way to combat it in inhabited buildings is with a hot air method.

It’s best to talk to the parquet fitter about it. Did you get the parquet from him? I would also insist on replacing the entire floor.

Thank you for your assessment. Yes, we also got the parquet from the floor layer. How sure are you that it is the sapwood beetle? Do you possibly have any special knowledge about it? We have only checked 40 sqm out of about 100 sqm of wooden floor today. That would really be the worst-case scenario... The move-in should be this weekend. We have to move out of the current apartment because the new tenant is moving in on 1.5. So far, nothing is in the new apartment except the kitchen, and there is also this parquet flooring everywhere there. Does it also nest in the kitchen furniture? The kitchen would have to be dismantled again if the floor really had to be replaced, but can the kitchen then be put back on top afterwards, or does the beetle crawl from the kitchen back to the new and freshly laid feast parquet? The new furniture (wardrobes, dressers) is supposed to be delivered this Tuesday... I can probably cancel that directly, right!? And who actually pays for the damage and everything related to it in such cases? The floor layer??? I don’t even know where we should store all the furniture from the current apartment... not to mention living there.

So with coated wood it has a hard time but in principle that cannot be answered. The larvae also survive at 15 percent residual moisture in the wood so they are rather robust. Yes, I am sure it is a sapwood beetle, but I do not know which type.

In principle, I would keep everything that is [aholz] away from it. Also, as long as no furniture and such are inside, there is still the possibility of heat treatment or even chemicals.

Whoever pays for it I would discuss with the parquet installer and if they refuse with a lawyer.

Difficult topic also with the planned move.

The parquet installer will probably say that it’s not his problem or that the beetles were already in your house or that you brought them in.

No, I am not an expert, a colleague with a carpentry had to close his carpentry for a few weeks because of such beetles, I helped with clearing out.

PS: Autocorrect meant not bark beetle but wood-boring beetle.

In principle, I would keep everything that is aholz away from it.

What is "aholz" or did you mean "made of wood"? The kitchen furniture is also made of wood... well, not sure what kind... maybe particleboard or something? There are also things like the room doors and frames made of wood.

Since there are no furniture and so on inside yet, there is still the possibility of heat treatment or even chemicals.

Chemicals are out of the question for me, as I doubt whether it's truly completely gone afterward. Regarding heat treatment, I have now read that it is rather not advisable for parquet, since the required core temperature cannot be reached.

Whoever covers the costs I would discuss with the parquet layer and, if rejected, with a lawyer.

Difficult topic, also with the planned move.

The parquet layer will probably say it's not his problem or that the beetles were already in your house or that you brought them in.

That we brought the beetles in is practically impossible. Since there is nothing in the apartment, really nothing yet, except the kitchen. As far as I know, the kitchen is not real wood, but standard... so I suspect particleboard. Or can the beetle also be in there? Although the kitchen was installed on 4/4, only 19 days ago. The bugs don’t nest in the parquet that quickly and also hatch through these "flight holes" as shown in my pictures, right!? If I understood correctly, the time span from laying the floor until now is not even sufficient to justify an infestation or introduction by us. Am I wrong?

Aholz is a typo on my part, I'm online with the phone. It actually means wood.

Basically, the beetles love the starch in the wood which is too little contained in the core of the wood. That is why this one does not have to be heated through. The exact composition of particleboard is unknown to me, and I also do not know if these chips were ever in a drying chamber, but I could imagine that.

It would be best to clarify everything further with the parquet layer and consult an expert.
If necessary, then go to a lawyer.

Then the expert for the door frames of the kitchen, etc.

But for liability and especially in your scope with relocation installation, etc., you should get a lawyer if the parquet layer does not decide in your favor. Of course, it also depends on what the expert thinks.

If he now says relocation installation is nonsense, go ahead and move in, then it will be treated with heat and everything will be fine and for the damage incurred there will then be compensation from the parquet layer or his supplier, then that's just how it is.

I would wait with the move-in until the expert appointment and then see further.