Home / Cost guides / How much does woodworm treatment cost in Cheshire?
How much does woodworm treatment cost in Cheshire?
In Cheshire, a woodworm treatment price depends on which timber, how much of it, and whether a repair is included as well as a product. This page does not print a figure, because we could not find two dated public sources that agree on one.
Last reviewed:Holes in timber are not a price list
In Cheshire, woodworm treatment means a quote to deal with insects in timber, or to preserve that timber, not a bottle you are told to apply. The lofts and floors people describe in Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach are where this guide starts. People elsewhere in the UK can post the same description. QuoteZila is new, so how many quotes you get depends on how many businesses near you have joined [QZ5].
Write what you can see: small round holes, fresh dust on a sill, or a board that sounds different when you walk on it. Do not scrape the timber, do not inject it, and do not buy a product to "start the job" before a quote. If the timber is a stair, a joist or a lintel, say "it may be holding something up" and leave it alone.
What the HSE says about biocides
The Health and Safety Executive says everyone who uses biocides is responsible for using them correctly [S1]. Consider whether a biocide is needed at all, and whether a non-chemical approach would do [S1]. If you are not a professional, consider a professional pest controller [S1]. HSE cannot recommend companies [S1]. That last sentence matters on a page like this: a guide can tell you to ask a controller, and it still cannot point at a named firm.
The public must never use biocidal products that are supplied only for professional users [S1]. You must read and understand the label, and you must follow it [S1]. This page will not repeat a label, because the label is the instruction and a web page is not. Store any product in its original container, closed, out of the reach of children and pets [S1]. If you are unsure how to dispose of it, contact the council waste team [S1].
The overview is on the HSE biocides pages [S1].
Health and Safety Executive (HSE). QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.
Product type 8 is a category, not a shopping list
HSE product type 8 covers wood preservatives: products used to preserve wood or wood products by controlling organisms that destroy wood or disfigure it, including insects [S2]. Preventive products and curative products both sit in that type [S2]. A quote that says "woodworm treatment" should say whether it is preventive, curative, or a repair with no product at all. Those are different lines. The type-8 page is here: regulated product types [S2].
This page names no brand and no active ingredient. A lower price that names no product and no timber is not comparable with a price that lists the rooms and says the product is one the householder is allowed to have in the house.
What the quote should separate
| Line | Why it changes the visit |
|---|---|
| Which rooms | A loft is not a sideboard |
| Furniture or structure | A chair is not a joist |
| Preventive or curative | Product type 8 includes both [S2] |
| Repair of timber | Cutting out and replacing is building work |
| Who supplies the product | A professional-only product is not for you to apply [S1] |
| Access | Floorboards up, or a look only |
| Waste | Containers leave with the firm |
| VAT | Threshold £90,000 [S3] |
None of those rows is a Cheshire tariff.
Paper, money and the visit
Citizens Advice says get the price in writing: a quote is fixed, an estimate is a rough guess, and accepting the quote is a binding agreement [S4]. Try for at least 3 written quotes [S4]. Ask whether they charge to prepare the quote before they visit [S4]. The breakdown should show a fixed total, how long the price lasts, whether VAT is included, and when the price can rise [S4].
A business must register for VAT when taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or when it expects to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days [S3].
If the advert says there is no call-out charge, the Advertising Standards Authority says that claim is fair only when you are not charged for travelling to the premises, the initial diagnosis, or any other charge before the work is agreed [S5]. A survey of the loft can be the whole of that first visit.
Where a deposit cannot be avoided, Citizens Advice says not to agree more than 25%, and to take a receipt [S4]. Pay by card rather than cash up front [S4]. Ask to see insurance that covers the dates of the visit [S4]. A much lower figure may mean the work is not the same work, or that the trader lacks the skills [S4].
Do not open the floor to be helpful
Photographs of holes, of dust on a sheet you placed under a board, and of the room name, are enough. Do not lift a floorboard over a joist. Do not sand the timber. Do not put a household insecticide on a beam because a shop shelf looked close to the job. If the label says the product is for professional users, you must not use it [S1].
If you rent, say so. The person who can authorise work on the structure may be the landlord. This page does not decide that. It does say you should not start on timber you do not own.
Pest control is the trade page for the insect work. Builders are the page if a joist or a lintel has to be replaced. Ask for two headings when both are involved, so you can accept a look and decline a rebuild.
Furniture, firewood and timber that holds the house up
Split the post into three piles, even if you are wrong about which pile a piece belongs in. Furniture you can lift is one quote. Firewood and a shed door are another. Joists, stairs, lintels and roof timbers are a third, because a repair there is building work as well as an insect question. A firm that prices all three as "the woodworm" has not given you a breakdown [S4]. Ask them to separate the piles. You can accept the chair and refuse the joist, or the other way round.
Old holes with no fresh dust are a description, not a diagnosis. Say "holes, no fresh dust that I can see" rather than "inactive". You are not the person who decides the insects have gone. A quote to treat every hole in a Victorian house can be far larger than a quote to look at one sill. Ask which rooms they have allowed for. If they have allowed for the whole house because you mentioned one window, send the paper back.
A loft full of boarding, a tank and stored boxes is an access problem. Say so. Do not clear the loft by walking on the ceiling. Do not move a tank. Ask the quote to say whether the price assumes an empty loft. If it does, and yours is not empty, the price is for a different visit.
If a previous owner left a tin or a bottle, do not open it and do not put it in the kitchen bin. The label decides who may use it [S1]. Ask the firm whether they will remove unknown containers as part of the visit, and ask the council waste team if the firm will not [S1]. A treatment price that ignores a leaking tin is not a finished job.
Jobs you might post
These are examples, not taken from real job posts.
- Small holes in a loft timber, with fresh dust on the insulation below. You have not treated it. Ask for a quote that says whether any product would be one you are allowed to have in the house, and whether a repair is extra.
- Holes in a stair string. You are worried it is structural. Ask a pest controller and, as a separate line, ask a builder to say whether the timber needs replacing. Do not ask either of them for a method you can finish at the weekend.
- A dining chair with old holes and no fresh dust. Ask the quote to say if they are pricing furniture only, and to leave the house timbers out unless they have seen them.
How to compare two treatment quotes
Match the rooms, then whether a product is included, then whether any timber is replaced. A price to "have a look" is not a price to treat a roof. Be wary of a trader who will not write the quote down [S4]. HSE's refusal to recommend companies is a reason to read the paper yourself, not a reason to pick the first reply [S1].
This page is general information, not professional or legal advice. QuoteZila does not check Gas Safe, WaterSafe, NFRC, NICEIC or other registrations against the register on your behalf: look them up yourself.
Honest status: QuoteZila is new. We're starting in Cheshire, beginning with Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach, and growing area by area. Anyone in the UK can still post a job or register a business. How fast you get quotes depends on how many local businesses have joined near you. Businesses can register and receive jobs straight away. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire.
Posting a job is not open yet
Questions about woodworm
How much does woodworm treatment cost in Cheshire?
The amount of timber, whether furniture is included, and whether a joist is repaired all change the visit. Compare written quotes that name the same rooms and say a repair is either in or out, so a treatment of furniture is not set beside a structural repair.
Can I treat the timber myself?
This page does not give a method. The Health and Safety Executive says everyone who uses a biocide is responsible for using it correctly, and that if you are not a professional you should consider a professional pest controller. The public must never use a biocidal product that is only for professional users. Read the label, and do not buy a product you are not allowed to use.
What is a wood preservative in this context?
Product type 8, on the HSE biocide pages, is preservatives for wood or wood products, used to control organisms that destroy or disfigure wood, including insects. The page says that includes both preventive and curative products. Naming the type is not a product recommendation, and this guide names no brand.
What if the holes are in a joist?
Say so, and stop there. A floorboard you can see from the cellar is a different quote from a joist that holds a floor up. Ask the firm to split insect treatment from any structural repair. This page does not tell you whether the timber is still sound. A builder and a pest controller may both need a line.
How should the product be stored if it is left in the house?
The HSE says biocides should be stored in the original container, closed, and out of the reach of children and pets. If you are not sure how to dispose of a product, contact your council's waste team. Do not pour leftovers away. Ask the firm to take their own containers with them.
Does QuoteZila check pest controllers?
No. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire. You can report a quote or a business from your job page.
Can I post a woodworm job?
Yes. Say which rooms, whether you have only seen small holes, and add a Cheshire postcode. Up to five matched local businesses can quote. QuoteZila is free for customers and local businesses. HSE cannot recommend a company.
Related reading
Part of Cost guides. All services
Related trades
Related pages
- Bees Nest Removal Cost: What Changes the Price. What changes the cost of bees nest removal in Cheshire: the type of bee, where the nest is, whether it can be left or moved, access at height and repairs after.
- Pest control visits: what to ask. A pest visit in Cheshire depends on the pest, the rooms and whether the council charges a fee. This guide prints no treatment figure and no method.
Sources
- QZ1: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila home and jobs copy.
- QZ2: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila terms, customers.
- QZ5: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila FAQ.
- S1: Using biocides: overview, Health and Safety Executive. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.hse.gov.uk/Biocides/using/overview.htm
- S2: Product type 8 wood preservatives, Health and Safety Executive. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.hse.gov.uk/Biocides/regulated/regulated-2.htm
- S3: Register for VAT, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat
- S4: Before you get work done on your home, Citizens Advice. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/before-you-get-building-work-done/
- S5: Call-out charges, Advertising Standards Authority. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/call-out-charges.html