Termites!!

Haha - if I can deal with banks, I can deal with anything!

 

I found termites in my Mum's PPOR. Left it as is so as not to disturb them, found a great Pest Inspector to look for further damage after that. (which was extensive). The termits had travelled from a tree on a block over 30m away.
Termits might skip certain timber but will create a mud cover to travel across anything throughout a structure. Treament in timber only lasts around 5-10 years so it is worth getting a barrier treatment done every 5 years or so.
To do it properly the soil surrounding each pylon/slab needs to be disturbed and chemicals applied. Time consuming, although if you disturb the soil yourself you would save the labour cost for a pest controller to do it.
When done the pest controller must place a sticker inside the meter box outlining what treatment has been applied.

 

Termites are *******s. Get a pro in. A good one. IMO termites are like cancer. You cant afford to leave it a little untreated.

One of our old Ips was our former house and a neigbour found termites in outer trees. We had pest treatment to provide a barrier knowing it was not minor. Cost a few K but we knew it was right. Other neighbour ummed and ahhed... Guess who got termites later ???

 

Got a guy coming Monday. It quite a decent size house, old and mostly timber - not worth trying to DIY anything. And then it's covered under their insurance also. It's worth it.

 

Hey Jess.
Ive done the pest controllers cert
All the paperwork is worded to cover the pestie's backside, the one's who do insure are that damn expensive it hardly seems worth it.
Chemical barriers are ok, but are being used way less (due to bridging), I use bait stations now as in a lot of cases they are cheaper to install and maintain.
PS, termites are determined little buggers, if they really want your floor they will find a way........

 

Had a chemical barrier for years [renewed every 3 yrs at a cost of $2,000 each service] found out that termites had eaten away timber in dining room when the house was offered for sale, cost me $25,000 to repair the damage. So much for chemical barriers

 

Wow - was the damage extensive?

 

Yes, they had chewed through the timber framing of the room and the walls and ceiling had been damaged, we hadn't realised the flooring of the bedroom upstairs had been damaged until the furniture had been removed [we moved before house was sold]. The walls and ceiling had to be removed, timber frames replaced and then plaster wall and ceiling replaced, then painted.

 

Oh wow, they don't usually pick on hardwood OR floorboards.

Thermal imaging is awesome, and fun to watch!

Is there any moisture below the boards? They like warm and moist areas, I've generally seem them chew up floorboards in wet areas.

 

termite will eat hardwood, I'm an inspector and have seen it eaten plenty of times. chemical barriers are not as good as bait stations, but you do need to right station installed. No matter what termite barrier system you decide to have, the home will still need a yearly inspection, there's no silver bullet for termites.

 

Dirty little buggers got stuck into my fence palings, I don't think the treatment is doing much anymore



.

 

I got a place which is pretty badly eaten by termites...currently rented. The pm KNOWS its a tear down to develop.. Last report she 'alerted' me to the termite damage and recommended to keep my investment in top shape I get the whole place treated. Quote was something like more than 10k.

 

Could this be a sign of termites?

 

Looks like loose dirt. Have you seen it in person? Is it actually insects?

 

I found it inside the cupboard a couple of months ago and cleaned it but found it again this evening.
Remembering some termite damage photos posted on PC, I was a bit worried if it's a sign of termites activity.

 

Garden ants and earwigs make litter like that in my shed.

 

great!

I'll clean up and spray some ant killers.

 

@EricIP We had something like that from earwigs here in Canberra. Never seen an earwig before, it scared the hell out of me!

 

I recently (knowingly) purchased a termite damaged property (cracker deal). Probably a bit late to this thread - but in the buying process I did a tonne of research about termites to determine how much of a risk I am actually taking - a few things I noted were they are just so common you don't realise until you're affected by them. Also there are a lot of great products out there that you can use like Termidor SC which infect and kill the colony, similarly there are good DIY solutions like setting traps etc. but theoretically I have found Termidor to be the best so far. Wouldn't freak out about this.