Short answer
A licensed pest manager if they are damaging books, papers or clothing in numbers — but silverfish thrive on humidity and cellulose, so improving ventilation and reducing damp does more lasting work than any spray. They are harmless to people.
What to do before anyone arrives
- Find the damp. Silverfish concentrate in bathrooms, laundries, subfloors, roof spaces and behind bookshelves on external walls.
- Improve ventilation where they are worst, and check whether subfloor vents are blocked.
- Store papers and natural-fibre clothing in sealed containers rather than cardboard.
- Check the roof space, which is the reservoir in most houses.
What to ask when you book
- Are you treating the roof space and subfloor as well as inside?
- What is the residual life of the treatment?
What changes the price
No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.
- Property size and whether roof and subfloor are included.
- Severity.
What you can do yourself
Is this licensed work?
Pest management licensing applies.
There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.
- NSWNSW Fair Tradingbuilders, electricians, plumbers and specialist trades
- VICBuilding and Plumbing Commission, and Energy Safe Victoria for electricalbuilding practitioners and plumbers; electricians are Energy Safe Victoria
- QLDQueensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)building and most trade contractor licences
- WABuilding and Energybuilders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters
- SAConsumer and Business Servicesbuilding work contractors and supervisors
- TASConsumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS)building and occupational licences
- ACTAccess Canberraconstruction occupations licensing
- NTNT Government building practitioner registrationbuilding practitioners and electrical workers
Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.
Common questions
- Who should I hire for silverfish in the cupboards
- A licensed pest manager if they are damaging books, papers or clothing in numbers — but silverfish thrive on humidity and cellulose, so improving ventilation and reducing damp does more lasting work than any spray. They are harmless to people.
- Are silverfish harmful?
- Not to people — they do not bite and they carry no disease of concern. They damage paper, book bindings, wallpaper paste and natural fibres, which is the whole of the case against them, and that is why the reasonable response is proportionate rather than urgent.
Find a Pest Controller near you
1,396 pest controllers in this directory, ranked on published evidence rather than on advertising.
Who to hire for
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General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.