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Problems with termites

For little critters, termites cause an incredible amount of damage to Australian homes every year, with an estimated one in three dwellings having been attacked or currently under attack by them. While tiny as individuals, they can develop into a highly organised colony of a million or more. Normally you don’t realise they’re in your home until it’s too late. And the bad news is, the damage they do is generally not covered by household insurance. You can protect your home with regular inspections and by making the premises unattractive to termites. Read on for tips to help you beat the bugs.

What attracts termites?

Termites are fairly predictable and have favourite habitats. They love moisture, so the first step is to dry out any damp areas in and around your home. Fix plumbing problems, seal leaking showers, and increase ventilation and light under your floor. And don’t leave timber (food) lying on the ground. Instead, store old timber off the ground.

Wood piles

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Turn over an old woodpile and there’s every chance you will find termites, especially if you live in a heavily treed area. They may or may not be species that attack homes. But it’s best to play it safe – keep old wood away from the house and ideally store it off the ground on a metal frame.

Timber props and timber storage

Timber props supporting bearers or joists to the ground will attract termites and offer them a highway straight into your house. If your floor needs extra support, use masonry piers or stumps with termite shields, or steel posts with the top capped.

Old formwork

Decaying timber formwork under concrete slabs is very attractive to termites as it is often damp and rotting, and gives them easy access to other parts of your house.

Damp ground, rotted timber and mulch

Keep the underside and perimeter of the house as dry as possible. Repair leaky pipes and showers and ensure the ground is well drained. Keep watering systems away from walls. If the underside of your home is naturally damp, install extra vents to circulate air. This also lets in light, which termites do not like. Remember, rotting wood attracts termites. Keep mulch away from the house perimeter as it provides cover for termites and holds moisture in soil. Ideally, expose concrete slab edges by at least 75mm so you can inspect the whole house perimeter to see if termites are getting in.

Fast facts

  • Termites are more closely related to cockroaches than ants, even though they groom each other, share food and can form colonies of more than a million, with a queen, soldiers and workers.

  • There are 350 species of termites in Australia, but only a handful are thought to do major damage to homes.

  • Termites are significant contributors to both atmospheric methane and CO2 – both greenhouse gases.


Discovering your uninvited guests

They don’t ring the doorbell, they just invite themselves in and start chewing. Bad manners, really. If you haven’t had one recently, book a professional pest inspection. They cost anywhere between $200 and $500 with any treatment costs on top of that. The CSIRO recommends yearly inspections, or more frequent inspections if you are in an area known for termites. They employ visual inspections, probing, moisture detection and tree drilling. Some even use dogs to sniff out termites.

Learn to do your own basic inspections at three-monthly intervals to keep an eye on your home. Termites live in controlled environments that are humid, still and dark. They live inside timber, leaving the outside skin intact, or build sand or mud tunnels to gain access to timber. It’s the hollow wood and mud tunnels that you are looking for.

Termites can also live between walls. When they nest in walls, small telltale grains of mud and termite faeces will often escape through cracks around architraves and skirtings.
If you have a house on a concrete slab there are limited areas where you can look. Examine the perimeter of the slabs for telltale mud tunnels, and tap woodwork – especially near the wet areas of the home – to check for hollow sounds. Also check in the roof space if you can access it safely.

Termite shields

If your house is off the ground, put on overalls and gloves, grab a torch and enter the home of the bugs that hide in the subfloor. Look at each termite shield (or ant cap). Termites must go around them with their mud tunnels, making it easy to check the piers.

Mud tunnels on brickwork

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To gain entry to the house termites often build mud tunnels up corners or in cracks in brickwork. Check all likely spots. If you find a tunnel, resist the temptation to break it open to see if termites are present. They need to remain intact for effective eradication treatments. Once opened, termites will scatter and retreat, only to reappear elsewhere.

Mudding on timber

Tunnels may also be constructed on the surface of timber where the termites decide to go around, rather than through, timber they don’t like.

Getting them to leave

One of the preferred current methods of treating termites is to use
in-ground bait stations to entice them away from the house and then apply
a bait-and-treatment system such as Exterra, available through many licensed pest control companies. The system works because termites groom each other and often cannibalise their dead, so the termites carry and spread the treatment to the nest and the entire colony is eliminated.

Step 1
Dig a hole to suit the bait station. The trick to attracting termites, rather than having them find the station, is to sprinkle a small amount of attractant called Exterra Focus into the hole. This emits CO², which termites associate with rotting wood, a favourite food.

Step 2
Install the bait station. It has slotted sides and wood strips around the perimeter to provide termite food. Once in place, snap on the top.

Step 3
Stations are installed around the perimeter of the house so that all termites will be drawn by the trace of CO² in the ground. The stations are checked regularly and once termites are present, the treatment can start. This is with a product called Exterra Requiem, a pulpy cellulose-based termite bait that termites find irresistible. It is actually a chitin synthesis inhibitor, and affects a termite’s ability to moult, and leads them to die. This avoids the use of toxic chemicals.

Step 4
The same principle can be used on timber in or under the house. A tiny area of termite activity is exposed and a small plastic box is screwed over the hole. The box is filled with the Requiem bait. The termites transfer their attention to the bait and eradication commences.

At the end of the day

Once termites are eliminated, either keep the perimeter bait stations going to monitor new attacks, or talk to your pest controller about barrier systems.
You’ll have to repair the damage, and this should be done using termite-resistant materials, with detailing that keeps termites out or allows access to check whether they’ve come back. If building a new home, use one of the approved termite-protection systems such as stainless steel mesh, size-graded gravel or permanent chemical barriers.

Who should I use?

Choose a pest-inspection service that is a member of a professional industry organisation such as the Australian Environmental Pest Managers Association (AEPMA). Ensure they are licensed by the relevant department in your state, and have professional indemnity and public liability insurance (check the policies are current).