Re: Termites
 

Yup, the ants are always the first thing to come back after a pest treatment, I think we got 2 weeks ant free before they returned.

Re: Termites
 

We've just had a building and pest report back for a house we want to buy (in Springfield QLD). There were no signs of termites, but the property was assessed as HIGH risk for infestation because some areas were inaccessible to the inspectors. Anyone had any experience of this? Should I be worried? :confused:

Re: Termites
 

Depends on what is deemred inaccessible. Underfloor due to restricted access can be very high risk. No roof access is a lower risk. Etc.

Also depends on the age of the house as older houses had little termite protection.

WW

Re: Termites
 

Yes, I'd recently discovered that black ants eat the white ones so now, much as I dont like the little critters, I try and avoid killing black ants (unless they are in the house of course!)

We had a termite mound in our garden, recently got it treated and as he was putting the spray in he said they eat trees but arent interested in houses.... dont know if that's true or not but I felt really bad for killing them after that. :(

Re: Termites
 

Older houses built from White Cypress. ( Callitris glaucophylla ) and
River Red Gum ( Eucalyptus camaldulensis) are regarded as immune to
termite attack , as the oils in the timber are a deterrent .
Using White Cypress in new builds will still give protection (its usually only
available in flooring now direct from the mills) River Red Gum has to be of
an age which is not found readily today (too much heart wood in younger
trees-we are talking 80yrs as young!)
Look at the biggest wooden structures in rural Australia -the iconic
shearing shed -many are over 150yrs old with out any termite damage.

Back on subject -any risk with termites is too much risk, most insurers
only allow a retreatment under the policy not repairs. Read the fine print
in the "warranty " given with a termite treatment. its scary

Termites can live on grass roots , you don't actually need dead or dry timber,
the only way to live with them is having total access to all areas. Well
ventilated dry substructure easily accessible

Re: Termites
 

A backyard full of black ants does NOT guarantee No white ants. I can tell you that from experience.

Re: Termites
 

As there have been some new posts I will give you an update. We did buy the house. The treatment was done after we bought the house and the chap who did it was very confident we would have no more troubles with them. Hubby has been keeping a close eye under the house to make sure they aren't coming back.

The house is fab, so I am glad we did go ahead with it. But as OP have said the pest companies wont cover any damage caused by future attacks of termites, just come out and respray. Apparantly we were lucky that the termites in our house eat slowly, rather than some types that eat very quick :huh:

We are having problems from a pesky mouse though, that is invading our kitchen and evading our mouse traps.

Thanks again for your replies
Katie

Re: Termites
 

hi all we had terrmites on report after further test by independent company they were found in old trees about 300meters from house, since moving in we have made good friends with pest inspector. If they are in the house they need to be delt with before you buy with a 5year warrenty then asked them to return every five years jonny

Re: Termites
 

Chocolate as bait in the trap usually works.
WW

Re: Termites
 

Poison seem to work best.

Re: Termites
 

They are fascinating but there are a lot of myths.

Think you find that many of the pest control people know this only too well but need to stay in business and or pander to the paranoia of their clients. The bait syste, is considered to be a license to print money especially as you say there are termites everywhere.

Spraying (with Termidor etc) does work in that it is the same principle- a peristant fairly safe agent that will be taken back to the nest.

The important thing I reckon is regular inspections. I would not trust physical barriers at all. I like having stumps - I can check them.

cheers

B

Re: Termites
 

Agreed! Termites like any material that is cellulose based.

Yeah - well accessible dry substructure is vital. Termites need damp to do damage and maintain their ecosystem.

Re: Termites
 

Ta. We tried chocolate and the pesky thing ate it off the trap and got away. The last time the trap went off, but got caught on the oven pipe. :blink: Lucky mouse.

Re: Termites
 

Hi
We bought our house 6 months ago. The pest inspectors said there was minimal old termite damage but no new termites. They could not access certain areas so there were so many exclusions in their report it was a worthless piece of paper anyway. Decided to go ahead and buy the house. We wanted to do some renovations so decided if there was any termite damage we would live with it. There was more than some termite damage - the whole front of the house is riddled with it. The house originally had vj walls but the whole house had been covered with plasterboard and painted - should have been a warning sign! Took off the plasterboard in teh porch and all we could see was mud everywhere - it was all the mud tubes and eaten timber. The VJs were non existent - pine apparently. When we took the plasterboard off, the windows just about fell out. The windowframes were made of pine. It was just paint keeping the windows in the frame. We felt we had no option but to strip the adjoining room - our bedroom. We were hoping for good VJs as we wanted to retain them. We had to replace 1/3 of the VJs in the bedroom. We have ornate plaster ceilings in the house so replacing VJs is not easy without ruining the ceiling. Next adjoining room is the verandah - 12 new VJ's, some new window frames and door frame. This is just the front wall of the house and 2 internal walls at the front. OH also had to cut out the rotten stumps at the front of the house and has welded on metal ones. We are lucky as OH has done all the work himself. The cost would have been astronomical if we had employed tradesmen. We havent even started towards the back of the house yet!!
I would say if you hear the word termite be very cautious. I have some photos if anyone is interested.

Re: Termites
 

Ouch. That's got to hurt.