Termites work silently and invisibly sawing into your home floor joists, cutting into your wall studs, hollowing out the heart of your home and hiding the damage until it's too late.
| One of the greatest hazards any homeowner faces are termites, which do more damage than fires, storms and earthquakes combined. Termites survive by eating wood, paper, fiberboard, cotton fabrics, and other cellulose products. If ignored, termites can actually threaten the structural integrity of your house, this is where the danger lies. |  |
Termites infest millions of homes nationwide, causing over $100 million damage annually, according to information available from the National Registration Authority.
What should I know about a termite colony?
Subterranean termites are native to virtually every state in Australia. Although small in size they are large in numbers. Termites congregate in enormous underground colonies, as deep as 5m underground, that houses hundreds of thousands to millions of individual termites. They are dispersed throughout the soil at feeding sites around your home.
How do termites get in?
Houses and other buildings provide termites with the ideal combination of warmth, moisture and food sources. Termites can find ways to enter your house that you've never thought of. They are small enough to gain entry into hidden areas of basements, crawl spaces, and concrete slabs, through openings as small as 0.8mm.
Termite survival depends on finding edible material to support the colony. Moving out from their colony, they tunnel through the soil in search of moisture and food. They forage around bark landscaping, near air conditioner drip lines and below gutters. They also like tree stumps, timber decks, buried wood or construction material, and piles of firewood. A loose mortar joint, a small space around a drainpipe, or a settlement crack in the concrete slab is all they need to gain entry to your home.
Aren't new houses with concrete slabs virtually termite-proof?
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The experience of homeowners nationwide shows that no home, new or old is safe from termites. By building mud tubes, termites can cross concrete, brick, metal termite shields a pre-treated wood, or even a professionally applied termite barrier. Landscaping activities by the homeowner are also capable of disturbing the barrier - thus creating entry points for termites to attack your home. |
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If I haven't seen swarming termites, or traces of damage, can my home still be in danger?
Unfortunately, yes. When a colony swarms, the winged termites are reproductive males and females and may be in the air for just a few minutes. Termites colonize structural members internally and eat wood form the inside out, making their activity detectable only by a professional termite inspection. |
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When is the right time to call in a termite professional?
The longer you delay treatment, the more damage termites will do. The termite treatment and structural repairs will become more extensive and more expensive. Generally speaking, the sooner you approve treatment, the better.
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