How much does woodworm treatment cost in the UK?
Woodworm treatment costs £1,000 on average in the UK. Most jobs fall between £500 and £4,000 for the job. Area treated: One room or small area £500 to £1,000; Whole loft or floor £1,000 to £2,000; Whole house £2,000 to £4,000. Prices reviewed July 2026.
Woodworm treatment is priced by how much timber is affected. A single room is cheap; a whole house, or timber that needs replacing, costs more. Most jobs start with a survey.
Woodworm treatment cost calculator
Use the calculator to price your woodworm treatment in 2026. Adjust the options and area for a UK cost range. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Woodworm treatment cost breakdown
Typical woodworm treatment costs, by option:
| Area treated | Typical UK cost |
|---|---|
| One room or small area | £500 to £1,000 |
| Whole loft or floor | £1,000 to £2,000 |
| Whole house | £2,000 to £4,000 |
| + Replace weakened timber | add £300 to £1,500 |
| + Survey and report | add £100 to £300 |
What's included in the price?
Typical woodworm treatment prices include:
- A survey to confirm active woodworm
- Treating the affected timber
- A guarantee on the treated area
- Advice on the underlying damp cause
What changes the price?
The things that move woodworm treatment prices most:
How much timber is affected
Whether any timber needs replacing
Access to floors, joists and roof timbers
Dealing with the damp that let woodworm in
These are why two quotes for the same job can differ, and the only way to know your price is to get prices from local firms (through Bark; we may earn a fee, at no extra cost to you).
Does where you live change the cost?
In London, woodworm treatment typically costs around £1,200 for the job, about 20% above the UK average of £1,000. In the North, Scotland and Wales the guide figure is nearer £970.
| Region | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midlands / East (UK average) | £500 | £1,000 | £4,000 |
| London | £600 | £1,200 | £4,800 |
| South East / South West | £530 | £1,100 | £4,200 |
| North / Scotland / Wales | £490 | £970 | £3,900 |
Guide prices for the job, scaled with the same regional multipliers as the calculator. Not quotes.
Woodworm treatment cost in major UK cities
| City | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | £480 | £950 | £3,800 |
| Birmingham | £500 | £1,000 | £4,000 |
| Bristol | £530 | £1,100 | £4,200 |
| Cardiff | £490 | £970 | £3,900 |
| Edinburgh | £490 | £970 | £3,900 |
| Glasgow | £490 | £970 | £3,900 |
| Leeds | £490 | £970 | £3,900 |
| Liverpool | £490 | £970 | £3,900 |
| London | £600 | £1,200 | £4,800 |
| Manchester | £490 | £970 | £3,900 |
| Newcastle | £490 | £970 | £3,900 |
| Sheffield | £490 | £970 | £3,900 |
City guide estimates, scaled by local labour costs. Indicative averages for woodworm treatment, not quotes.
Fairly consistent nationally, with London and the South East a little higher on labour.
Compare this with a real quote
The figures above are guide prices. Two or three quotes for your woodworm treatment tell you what it costs where you live.
Free and no obligation. You answer a few questions on Bark, local pros get in touch, and you decide who, if anyone, to hire. We may earn a fee, at no extra cost to you.Common questions
How much does woodworm treatment cost?
Woodworm treatment costs roughly £500 to £4,000 in the UK, typically around £1,000. One room or a small area is £500 to £1,000, a whole loft or floor £1,000 to £2,000, and a whole house £2,000 to £4,000. Replacing timber that the woodworm has weakened adds £300 to £1,500, and a survey and report is usually £100 to £300.
Can you get rid of woodworm completely?
Yes. Treating the affected timber with a professional insecticide kills active woodworm, and fixing the damp that attracted it stops it coming back, because woodworm thrives in damp wood. The key is dealing with the moisture, not just spraying, so a good specialist looks at the cause. Old flight holes remain in the timber afterwards, which is normal and does not mean it is still active.
Is woodworm covered by house insurance?
Usually not. Most buildings insurance treats woodworm as a maintenance issue rather than sudden damage, so treatment is normally paid for by the homeowner. It is worth checking your policy, but do not count on a claim. The bigger cost to watch is the damp that caused it and any structural timber that needs replacing, which is where a survey pays for itself.
Should I buy a house with woodworm?
Often yes, with care. Active woodworm in a home is common and treatable for £500 to £4,000, so get it surveyed, find out whether it is active or historic, and factor the treatment and any damp repairs into your offer. The real question is whether the underlying damp has weakened structural timbers, which a survey will tell you, so it is a negotiating point rather than a deal-breaker.
Is woodworm treatment worth it?
If the woodworm is active, yes: left alone it weakens floor joists, roof timbers and staircases, and the repair bill for damaged structural timber dwarfs the treatment cost. If a survey shows only old, inactive flight holes, you may not need treatment at all, just monitoring. So the first step is confirming whether it is active, rather than treating on sight.
Can I treat woodworm myself?
For a small, active outbreak you can, since DIY woodworm fluid is cheap and brushing or spraying exposed timber is straightforward. That saves most of the £500 to £1,000 a small treated area would cost. Two catches, and the second one is a legal one. You need to know whether the beetle is still active and whether the timber is still sound. And if there is any chance of bats in the roof, stop: bats and their roosts are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, several timber treatment chemicals are lethal to them, and GOV.UK publishes specific guidance on treating timber in or near a roost. A survey settles both questions. A survey at £100 to £300 tells you that, and once floors or the loft structure are weakened you want a pro and possibly new timber.
Official guidance and sources
The rules and schemes referenced on this page come from these official UK sources. The price figures are Costwise's own; see how we price.
- Timber treatments and pest control Historic England · Advises establishing whether the problem is current or historic before treating, because flight holes in structural timber do not necessarily mean an active infestation, and warns that the chemicals may harm bats, so a bat survey comes first.
- Bat roosts: chemical pest control products and timber treatments GOV.UK · Government guidance on treating timber in or near a bat roost. Bats and their roosts are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and several treatment chemicals are lethal to them.
Cite this data
These figures are free to use in articles, reports and research under a CC BY 4.0 licence. All we ask is a credit to Costwise, and online a link. Where your style allows, please make "Costwise" the linked word so readers can check the figure for their own region.
Costwise (2026): Woodworm treatment typically costs £1,000 in the UK, ranging from £500 to £4,000 for the job. Reviewed July 2026. costwiseuk.co.ukSource: Costwise (costwiseuk.co.uk)Costwise (2026). Woodworm treatment cost. Costwise UK cost data, version 2026-10-05. https://costwiseuk.co.uk/woodworm-treatment-cost/2026-10-05 (158 jobs)Dataset DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21159943 · also on Kaggle, Hugging Face and Figshare. Method: how we price. Downloadable CSV.
These are independent guide prices based on typical UK jobs in 2026. Your actual cost depends on your property, spec, access and where you live. Always get at least three written quotes before committing.