Batzner Investigates Powderpost Beetles in Kitchen Table

Imagine buying your first home and filling it up with your dream furniture, only to discover that the furniture you’ve just purchased came with some hitchhikers. That’s what happened to one of our new clients.

The engaged couple had just bought their first home together and decided to splurge on their “dream kitchen table”. It was in their kitchen for a few days when she noticed a very fine, powdery sawdust accumulating on the seats of the chairs that were pushed under the table.

After purchasing the home, she noticed there had been some of Batzner’s bait stations in the basement left behind by the previous owner, so she decided to give Batzner a call. She described her situation and the evidence she was seeing to one of our Residential Service Consultants (RSC), who concluded her table was possibly the home to some powderpost beetles. The RSC recommended she wrap the table in plastic and place it in the garage until it could be shipped back to the company.

Since powderpost beetles are covered under Batzner’s pestfree365 program, the homeowner decided to sign up for our protection program. When Jack Yoo, Lead Service Specialist, showed up for her initial appointment, the kitchen table was still in her garage. He was able to analyze the table and spotted some live beetles crawling beneath the plastic wrap. This and the evidence of the fine powder left behind on her kitchen chairs (she saved it for Jack to see) was enough to confirm the presence of powderpost beetles. The owner also informed Jack that the table originated from India and was then shipped to her from a warehouse in Chicago. The powderpost beetles could have originated in India; however the customs process is pretty intense and items are usually keep in quarantine for a time to watch for pest activity, so the pests could have been picked up while in storage in Chicago as well.

When bringing new items into your home, it is always advised to visually inspect the package as you open it. By doing this, you can protect yourself and your family from allowing a possible pest infestation to occur.