Termites are a valid concern for homeowners in Australia, with wood being a primary construction material for many homes, especially traditional Queenslanders.
They can cause hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage in a short space of time if left untreated. With more than one in four homes coming under attack during the lifetime of ownership, it’s important to have termite protection measures in place to protect your largest investment!
With new homes expanding into wooded areas termites are becoming more prevalent than ever.
Signs of termites
- Foundational damage. Keep an eye out for cracks or weakness in wooden floors, support beams or walls.
- Keep your eye out for white bugs. Termites are similar shape and size to ants, but ants are never white, termites are. If you spot any white insects in your home – you may have termites; take action straight away!
- Sawdust on floors. Termite excrements look like sawdust. This generally accumulates near the entrances to termite nests. If you have termites it is likely that this sawdust will be located near cracks in your home.
- Hollow walls. If you notice when tapping walls that they are hollow when they weren’t before, you could have termites. Over time they significantly weaken the integrity of the structure of the home.
- Noisy walls. Yes you heard correctly – if you hear the sound of tapping or clicking coming from behind your walls, you’re probably not going mad, you might have termites! You can hear them eating and working.
DIY termite prevention tips
Termite prevention is a lifelong task. It is much cheaper and easier to take all necessary precautions to conduct do it yourself termite prevention than have to all out the professionals at every sign of attack, where it may be too late to avoid expensive repairs and pest control.
Follow these rules to significantly reduce a termite attack on your home:
- When conducting any painting your home, add a 0.1% solution of permethrin to varnish or paint. This is a safe concentration for humans, but repels termites.
- Keep basements and under areas of the house dry, install mosquito nets for ventilation where possible
- Regularly check for leaks and fix any immediately
- Keep any unnecessary wood away from the home. Remove any tree stumps which are notorious for attracting termites and other pests, as well as keeping firewood, leaves and branches away from the house
- Seal cracks in wood with cement
- Regularly check wooden beams and supports for signs of termites
If you have noticed termite damage or suspect them I your home; call a professional
If you notice signs of termites you need to call a professional pest controller ASAP. Termite protection comes with warranty so if you have had a management plan in place call the pest control property so they can come and review.
