RenShen

Hello all,

This morning I noticed 2 little mud tunnels traveling up the brickwork at the front of our house. I called the pest company who came round straight away and conducted a termite inspection ($300 thank you very much)

It appears that there is no evidence of termites in the house (thank goodness) but there are "lots" in the garden and in a wooden fence about 5 feet from the left hand side of the house (its a retaining wall/fence thing so may be hard to move).

The pest man is recomending installation of a termite barrier. He is in his car outside now preparing a quote - will post the price on here when I get it.

Thing is, I am a bit of a sceptic when it comes to pest guys (and anyone really that comes to the house and delivers a quote for something ). I have trawled the net during the 2 hours he has been here and found all sorts of comments about barriers, sprays, chemical treatments. Also, a large percentage of comments that claim its OK to have termites in the garden.

Our house is largely surrounded by concrete and pretty well maintained.

I was wondering if anybody had any helpful thoughts on the installation of termite barriers, costs, recomendations, just help in general?? I live on the Gold Coast.

I am trying to get the problem identified and have a remedy ready with quotes and all, by the time my husband gets back from work. We are both mega stressed at the moment due to family illness and I did not want to let him know about it until I could give him the whole story

Ren

IvanM

It is normal to have them but essential to ensure house is regularly maintained. Nothing like termites to eat you house value. Others can comment on cost.

moneypenny20

From memory you're on a decent sized block. If there is termite life away from the house - which there is everywhere, to be honest I wouldn't worry about it, especially not at the moment when you have so much else on your plate. Our pest guys come once a year to do the bug spraying and do a termite check. There is always activity in wood but there's nothing (that we or they are aware of) close to the house and we keep the immediate area clear.

'They' always advise termite barriers etc. They'd be out of business if they didn't probably.

RenShen

The quotes are in (after him bizarrely spending an hour in his car).

Pest company monitored exterra baiting system $3026 (for 23 in ground monitoring stations)
Client maintained " " "" " " $1596
Remedial treatment to the active areas (fence etc) $550

Of course, he strongly advises that we take the first option. He has assessed our susceptibility to timber pests as medium to high. No evidence of borers was located.

The termites have been identified by him as Schedorhinotermes spp and Microcerotermes spp.

IvanM

Prices just sound wrong to me.

DeadVim

Sounds pretty much the situation we were in, we decided to go for the barrier just after we put the new patio on. This was mostly driven by my (Aussie) OH who has seen termite damage and is in no mood to repeat the experience.

I can't remember the cost, I'll see if I can dig out the reciept.

We also have a pest guy in to lob some 'humane' poison (that I can't source myself) up in the loft once a year to stop the wildlife lunching on our wiring, seems to work well and the price doesn't go up if we keep using him

DeadVim

OK, amazing news, I found the receipt from 2008 ...

We were given two options:
Bitflex Barrier $1500
Termidor Barrier $2000

We went with Bitflex for reasons that escape me but probably financial

Sorry to hear about the illness, dealing with tradies is the last thing you need.

aston

i just thought i should tell you this just in case it happens to someone on here...

my mother in law came over for a holiday and fell asleep by our pool..the kids were messing around in the pool and splashed her wooden leg,which of cource termites love..

anyway to cut a long story short,my sun done this massive bellyflop making a loud clapping noise ,the mother in law jumps up..and falls straight into the pool because the bleedin termites had eaten her flippin wooden leg....

i hope this helps,be carefull out there..

xxxxxxxxxxx

chris955

Welcome to SE Queensland, it is termite central all around here.
Termite barriers are of limited use, if there is any break in the 'fence' they will just go straight through it into the house.
Try these guys http://www.greenpest.com.au/
Many of the pest controllers will rip you off blind because they prey on your fear of getting the little bastards in your house. It is very easy to buy the traps and install them yourself.

Prudi

Expensive!!!!

A couple of months ago, we paid $825, minus $75 discount for vodka and the guy doing our house and the neighbours at the same time after my husband found termites in the garden. The quote (which was so thorough it was more like an inspection) was free.

That was for "Maxxthor (bifenthrin) - House external perimeter barrier/sub floor vertical and/or horizontal barrier, free spider spray to exterior and Permethor (permethrin) roof space dusting." Plus the guy comes back every year for $165 and does an inspection and treatment top-up if necessary.

OH says maybe liabilities are different over there, hence the price difference.

Ren - hope things get less stressful soon.

Aston - thanks for advice. I will warn my pirate brother.

lesleys

We use this lot

http://www.termicide.com.au/

The builder used them when the house was built and they do our annual inspections and sprays (about $330 pa). They always seem professional and well organised.

BadgeIsBack

I'm a bit dubious of barriers. The best cure is prevention, and a spray if they are actually in the house - take out the nest and the Queen and they're history.

Most important thing is ventilation and dryness, and regular inspections.

PaulandNic

Slightly off topic, but me boss was telling me recently how his solicitor was telling him that his best advice for buying property, was termite ridden houses ...

He reckons a house that has been smashed with termites, can still be lived in for up to 15 years! ...

A nice Gold Coast suburb called Robina where they live. Now this solicitor recently bought 2 standard 4 x 2 houses that were termite ridden and is gonna rent them out for 15 years.

He paid $275k & $260k for these houses, 'good' houses median I dunno, but a LOT more ... $400k - $500k *I* guess.

Anyway, we all know the biggest chunk of a house value is the land.

$275k x 15 years on the Goldie ...

Win win apparently, and the hottest tip around ...

True? ... can't confirm, but bloke is pretty on the ball for an Aussie!



Refute anyone? ... curious myself.

Wendy66

We had termites, the monitoring stations are expensive the bait they like to get two lots into them to ensure they have the nest.

At this time of year I think I read you are in SE Queensland it's probably too cold for them to be too active so see what your pestie says about that and maybe wait till it warms up when they will be up and on the go!

Lots of people leave them if they are in the garden but they probably do need monitoring just in case.

I'd find a pestie that you are totally happy with, ours got the termites after a while and now we have him back every 6 months for a quick check then we'll go back to yearly that way we have a record that they have been treated and no future sign. It took a while to get our as we brought the house in June and they weren't active.

RenShen

Wow, brilliant replies, thanks all.

Looks like we may leave them a little while till they warm up and start partying, then get the remedial work done (will find a cheaper quote for that) and blast the little monsters, then just keep up the annual checks

Very interesting about the buying of termite damaged houses. In print it makes perfect sense, as long as the tennants don't want to hang any pictures or mirrors in the house