annqldau

OK buying a house that is termite free and want it to stay that way but it does have one termite mound in the garden. How have the rest of you killed them and what's the best method???

movetoperth

we had a similar situation, but the house had previously had them, we were advised to make sure our house protection was kept up to date and have regular (6 monthly) inspections, we also got termite baits which are in the garden to let us know if the little munchers are back in the garden then we can get the pest control people back in.

Lynn

BadgeIsBack

There are termites everywhere, in the ground. It's normal. The inspections are a good idea.

There is a school of thought that those little traps just attract the ones that are always there and create a market for pest control. Killing them though is not a bad option.

annqldau

House has evidence of previous ground spraying for protection i.e. holes in concorete where they have sprayed down then sealed up. Pest man fairly sure as he can be none in house and house mainly brick and hardwood so preferable.

We have looked at so many houses that probably had termites in the garden as well that were just not our thing we don't want to miss this one just because they are in the garden as only one mound.

But would sleep happier if we could kill of the ones already there. Had read that bait was preferable but then other things said spray so each one contradicts the other.

That's why I posted the thread in the hope sensible Brits had already had the problem and killed the little buggers off.

moneypenny20

Get another Termite guy round to check and see what he says. Asking on here is a bit like asking Jasper Carrott about moles You'll get about 20 different suggestions and they will all counteract each other

luvit

We moved into our house 2 years ago, no termites but we had a termite barrier done ($2000) because the house had been a rental property and nothing done for over 5 years. The barrier took a day of drilling and injecting into the boundary of the house but so far so good. However we have termites on the fence border which is wood and old, we are currently replacing with colorbond, pest guy said all gardens have them but as long as you have plenty of black ants they will eat them !!! and you have a barrier for your property you will be okay, when he left he said see you in 5 years so he must be confident. Once asked about killing them and was told its pretty impossible you just have to deter them or drive them away.

movetoperth

according to a roof carpenter i know they little buggers prefer hard wood to soft, he recons their favouruite stuff to munch on is Karri (is that how you spell it ). he says they will climb over softer stuff to get to it, i think so long as you keep the treatment up and the inspections you should be safe. The problem is they work so quickly that even with inspections sometimes you don't know you have them until the roof falls on your head :scared:

Lynn

sassenach

a friend of mine who works for termimesh suggested a bait box ,first take a polystrene box they carry fruit in and cut a hole in it about 80 mm diameter about 25 mmfrom the top and stick apiece of perspex to form a window ,then put loads of little holes in the bottom of the box for the little munchers to get in then put layers of newspaper ,thin strips of pine for brick packs and separate with mulch and potting mix thus forming a lovely cocktail for the little buggers then dig a hole and bury the box right up to the lid and then hose some water in the box to dampen down then put lid on ,go back about a week later and gently scrape the dirt away from the window and take a little look and you will most likely find termites whatever you do dont take the lid off they scarper back to the nest so call your friendly pest man and get him to squirts some arsenic through the lid without removing it and this gets taken back to the queen who could be a 100 meters away thus killing the whole colony and you have done the whole street a favour foor about 50 dollars

stevemich

Put on some clown shoes and tap along to Riverdance?

annqldau

It looks like termite barrier has already been done at least once... all the aussies at work think i'm mad worrying and all keep saying they are in almost every garden especially if you have trees. Quite a few say as long as there are trees and they are happly munching in the garden should be ok. Think we have the ants but termites must be winning so far or mound wouldn't be there.

Larissa

Haven't anything much to add, except great thread! Termites are one of those grey areas for me, so I'd like to find out as much as possible.
We had an inspection done before we bought the place and they identified areas of risk. So far we have got rid of some untreated logs in the back yard, but hub now needs to dig out the pergola stands, so that the wooden legs don't go directly into the soil (they should stand on metal leg things)... also I think we need to replace or treat a fence post which is wooden and screwed into the garage wall. Must admit the whole termite thing is a bit confusing, even the inspection wasn't that detailed, as the previous owner was storing stuff next to where the guy wanted to check, and they (termite co.) wouldn't move any obstructions.
It all seems a bit hit and miss, so I might book another inspection at 6mths... soon! I haven't actually seen any yet though, got plenty of black ants, I have been tempted to kill them until now, but I think I will leave them now.

movetoperth

Larissa

chances are you wont see them aparantly they eat from inside out. I've seen some roof timbers that were removed from a house where there had been termites, the treatment killed them but the timbers were unsafe, there was virtually nothing left and they said that damage like that can be done in around 3 months :scared:

There is a guy an inspection comapny in Hillarys who are supposed to be great, i'll have the number somwewhere if you needit.

Lynn

Wol

It's a minefield!

We spent 12 years in the Southern USA, and there were something in the dozens of colonies to the acre there. Everyone had termite protection of one sort or another, and even then houses became infested and had to have hundreds of thousands of $$ spent to eradicate and repair.

There are always characters who will "inspect" and while under the floor tip a jarful onto some wood, explaining that it will cost a thousand or two! there's a lot of money in anything which scares folk.

Termites are very very careful feeders: they won't normally touch anything suspect. Dow chemical market a system whereby the franchise puts down tubes every 8' or so around the house, each containing a block of poplar (yum yum!). Each month they pull the tube, read the barcode on each and if there are any termites they tip them into an enclosed cellulose tube which contains slow-acting poison and replace this in the bait tube. The little ****s HAVE to eat the poison to get out, then they return to the nest: since they come to no immediate harm they put out a pheromone which says "OK" - and the whole colony comes 'n gets it. We used to get on average a couple of tubes "hit" every month. It wasn't all that expensive (about US$285 pa IIRC) and came with a $300000 insurance against any damage. I believe there is a similar system in Oz now.

BadgeIsBack

In really bad infestations you can hear them eating at night.

They can also vibrate against each other when disturbed and you can hear this if a load are in a subwall.

MrsDagboy

:scared: And I thought it was just Dagboy snoring :scared: .