Termites

Estimates by CSIRO and other leading bodies estimate that as many as 1 in 5 homes are likely to suffer a termite attack and this may be as high as 1 in 3 homes in high-risk areas. Protect your home and investment by having a termite management plan for your property. Property owners should have a professional termite inspection at least once a year!

“Governments and building authorities recommend that regular, professional termite inspections are carried out at least on an annual basis, but more frequent inspections are strongly recommended.”

Signs You Have A Termite Problem

Kimberley’s climate is a hotspot for termite colonies. They thrive in warm, moist conditions, and often live and move underground, meaning you may have thousands of termites in your home or garden and not know it. If you do suspect you have a termite infestation, these are some of the common signs:

• Gentle knocking, tapping or clicking sounds in your walls or ceiling
• Visible traces of them – flying termites (eek), discarded termite wings, mud trails, termite droppings (small black marks and powder)
• Hollow sounding timber – termites will usually eat their way through wood from the inside out
• Electrical issues – they can chomp their way through power cables!
• Small holes in flooring and walls
• Visible damage to structure of home and/or furniture

Termite Inspection

What information will a termite inspection provide?

A termite inspection will:

• Determine if you have active termites on your property or in your buildings
• Uncover any evidence of termite damage on your property or in your buildings
• Specify if there are any conducive conditions in and around your property that will make a termite attack more likely
• Provide a report detailing the above and any recommended actions to protect your property.
• What’s involved in a termite inspection?

The termite inspection should include a visual inspection of all timber structures, fences, trees and stumps within the property boundaries up to 50 m from the main building.

If the inspector is suspicious of certain areas, he may recommend a further “invasive” inspection, which may involve superficial damage to an area in order to gain access to determine whether activity is present (eg. Drilling or cutting plaster to see inside a wall cavity).

The termite inspection report

The report should detail:

• A description of buildings and structures inspected (and not inspected)
• Any areas of termite activity and termite species present
• The general location and extent of any termite damage (and whether termites are present)
• Any evidence of previous termite treatments
• Recommendations for any further inspections to gain inaccessible / suspicious areas
• Areas with excessive moisture due to poor drainage, leaks or poor ventilation
• Any conditions or building faults that make a termite attack more likely
• Possible locations of termite nests (although locating nests is rarely possible)

Termite Treatments and Protection

The termite treatment process

There are six steps to a termite treatment and the ongoing protection from termites

• Comprehensive termite inspection

The inspection report will include the extent of the potential termite damage and activity, species of termite present, termite entries points into the building, potential termite nest sites, environment conditions that may have contributed to a termite attack and building faults that may have contributed to the termite attack

• Termite treatment proposal

The termite treatment proposal is a formal document that provides the detail of the treatment to be carried out, both for eliminating active termites from the building and recommendations for providing ongoing protection.

• Eliminate active termites

A range of treatment options are available for treating active termites; liquids, foams, dusts and baits. Elimination of termite activity may take anywhere between a couple of weeks to several months, depending on the level of activity, species present and method used.

• Remedy conditions conducive to termite attack

The homeowner has organises to remedy to any environmental conditions or building faults that contributed to the termite attack

• Install a termite management system

There are two types of termite management system: application of liquid termiticide (insecticide) to the soil around and under buildings or installation of termite monitoring / baiting systems around the perimeter of the building

• Comprehensive termite inspection

The important point to note is that neither termite management system is a set and forget treatment. Homes will still need to be inspected at least once a year to maintain any treatment warranty.