Woodworm can be a nightmare if you find them in your home. The name implies they’re only found in wood, but it’s still fair to wonder whether you can find them in other materials around your home.
So, does woodworm eat plaster? Woodworm won’t necessarily eat plaster, but you might find the adults burrow through plaster to escape the surface they’ve been living in. However, you might find plaster beetles in your plaster. As the name suggests, these are basically a species of woodworm that lives in plaster.
In this article, we’ll look in more detail at the type of beetles you’ll find in plaster, and what you can do about it.
Woodworm and Plaster
It’s worth noting that the type of beetles you’ll find actually living in plaster won’t be woodworm. This is because woodworm, unsurprisingly, lives in and feeds on wood. They eat cellulose in the wood, so wouldn’t be able to survive eating plaster.
Plaster beetles also don’t eat plaster. Instead, they feed on mould spores as larvae before pupating into adults. After that happens, their lifecycle is pretty much identical to that of a woodworm.
For the purposes of this article, though, we’ll continue to use the term woodworm because it doesn’t make much difference with the topic.
Either way, woodworm won’t eat plaster because it has no nutritional value for them. In fact, there’s every chance that consuming plaster would actually poison them (or so we can hope!).
Woodworm Holes in Plaster
If you’ve noticed woodworm holes in plaster on a wall, it’s most likely these were caused by adults. Woodworm holes aren’t a result of feeding, but are made by the adults as they exit the timber to breed.
As such, it’s not unreasonable to assume woodworm might need to bore through plaster to get out.
Unless you can see small piles of dust on the floor, these holes aren’t a new infestation, and you probably don’t have loads to worry about. Of course, if you’re unsure, get a professional out to take a look.
Can You Get Woodworm in Plasterboard?
You can’t get woodworm in the plasterboard itself, as the conditions aren’t right to sustain a woodworm population. However, there’s every chance woodworm are living in the supporting timbers and are exiting through the plasterboard.
Woodworm like warm and damp conditions, so it’s not too common to find them in an interior wall unless you’ve got a leak or serious damp problem.
This is why we mostly find woodworm living in attics, as it’s more common for an attic to have problems with damp. That said, it’s not common to find woodworm in any modern property that uses treated timber.
Even if plasterboard were to be damp, it doesn’t provide a source of food for woodworm. As such, they can’t live in the plasterboard.
If you’ve noticed small holes in the plasterboard, it’ll be because the adult woodworm are exiting the structure to breed. If this is the case, you’ll want to take the plasterboard down to inspect the support beams for damage.
Final Thoughts
The bottom line is that woodworm can’t live in plaster or plasterboard because these materials aren’t suitable. However, it’s common to use timber as support for plasterboard, and this is where you’re more likely to find woodworm.
Of course, if you notice signs of woodworm damage in plaster, it’ll be worth calling a professional to tell you whether it’s new or old.
