Timber roof structure treatment
House longhorn beetles, woodworm, termites, fungi: when the timber of a roof structure is under attack, every season counts. Alpilles Rénovation treats roof structures throughout the Alpilles range, curative on infested timbers and preventive during works, and replaces members too far gone. An answer within 48 h; a survey on site, then a free quotation with no obligation.
What we offer
Survey of the infestation
Sounding the timbers member by member, identifying the insect or fungus, extent of the damage.
Curative treatment
Removing the worm-eaten parts, then treating the structural timbers in depth and at the surface.
Preventive treatment
Protecting sound timbers, in particular during a roof renewal or repairs to the structure.
Replacing members beyond saving
When a purlin or a tie beam is too far gone, we replace it: that is our trade as carpenters.
Treating the source of the damp
Infested timber is often damp timber; we deal with the leak or the defect in the covering at the same time as the insect.
How do you recognise an infested roof structure?
Look for the exit holes in the timber: about a millimetre across for woodworm, oval and distinctly wider for the house longhorn beetle. Frass (a fine dust) on the floor or in the cobwebs, timber that gives way under the tip of a screwdriver, galleries just below the surface: the attack is active.
Termites, present in the Bouches-du-Rhône, are more discreet: they eat from the inside, and the timber sounds hollow long before it shows anything. Wood-rotting fungi, for their part, settle on timbers that have stayed damp, often after a leak that went unnoticed, or beneath ventilation wrongly discharged into the roof space, which wets the roof structure every winter night without ever being seen.
Sounded early, a roof structure can still be treated; found late, it often has to be replaced. That holds for all these pests. The first step, which costs nothing, is to have us climb up and look.
Our method
A full sounding
The whole roof structure, member by member, loft included.
Identification
Insect or fungus, activity, extent, moisture content of the timber.
A suitable treatment
Curative on affected timbers, preventive on sound ones, replacement of members beyond saving.
Follow-up advice
Loft ventilation, points to keep an eye on, periodic checks.
The house longhorn beetle likes southern roof structures
The house longhorn beetle attacks the softwood of roof structures and thrives in mild climates: the lofts of old mas, warm in summer and barely ventilated, suit it perfectly. It is the insect most often met under the roofs of the Alpilles, ahead of the woodworm of old furniture and hardwoods.
For a Provençal roof structure, the soundest long-term protection is a roof cleaning that keeps the covering watertight, a ventilated loft and preventive treatment at the right moment.
In pictures
Our advice on the subject
Wood-boring insects in the roof structure
Recognising a roof structure attacked by house longhorn beetles, woodworm or termites, and understanding a roofer-carpenter's treatment.
Mechanical ventilation outlet through the roof
What a badly made mechanical ventilation outlet does to a roof structure, from discharge banned into the roof space to an uninsulated duct and an undersized vent tile, and the marks that should raise the alarm.
Inspect your roof without climbing on it
From the ground and from the attic: the ten-minute walk-around, the photo record, the check after a mistral episode and the five signs that justify a call.
Where we work
Based in Maussane-les-Alpilles, we work throughout the Alpilles range (roofer in Maussane-les-Alpilles, roofer in Le Paradou, roofer in Fontvieille, roofer in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence) and, further north, in the Vaucluse around Avignon: Avignon, Cavaillon and L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. Browse our service area, from the Alpilles to the Vaucluse.
Unsure about your roof structure?
Free quotation, no obligation, answered within 48 h. We climb onto the roof and really look; our roofing and timber work is covered for ten years by our garantie décennale.