White Ants are everywhere and are an important part of our world by assisting with the decomposition of our natural environment. It is just that they don’t discriminate (they do tend to avoid cypress pine mulch however) and will munch on our buildings too! The average cost of termite damage to a house is $7000 so it pays to keep them at bay as cost effectively as possible.

You need to be sure that the termites found in the back garden are those from the tree in the neighbours yard. I would be speaking with the neighbour and asking them to get the nest treated by a qualified pest technician as there may also be implications for your neighbours property if termites are active. Without the nest being treated you are likely to have ongoing issues with foraging termites. If you try to treat yourself the termites could retreat and go and locate another nearby food source and this could be your home.

Subterranean termites can travel around 150m from their nest to destroy timber to feed the colony, and most do so undetected. Anywhere live termites can be located is a very good opportunity to have the entire colony of millions of termites destroyed. Termidor is the termite eradication treatment of choice which can only be applied by professional pest technicians. Aside from a baiting program which is a longer and usually more expensive process, termidore dust is used to treat termite leads and areas of live termites as it can be carried back to the nest for total eradication, where as termidor liquid is used to treat earthen nests, and for protection of structures via a chemical barrier. The treatment of live termites with liquid termidor may kill the termites before they can get back to the nest, so dusting is the recommended proceedure where live termites are found.

$3300 sounds like pricing for some baiting and monitoring systems (as opposed to a chemical barrier). We would want to have a look at the property in order to be sure that this is the best method as we normally prefer chemical systems around the base of the house as they (usually) fall in line with AS3660.2. However, sometimes due to construction methods this is not possible and a baiting and monitoring system is preferred. At any rate, it is always best to get a second opinion from another pest company in your area as pricing or management system recommendations may vary.

Keep us informed about what happens if you can, hopefully your neighbour is willing to help. Above all, have a lovely holiday!

You should definitely be having a termite inspection done on the property. It is highly likely that there may be a sub-nest in the timber. The main nest will probably be somewhere else. Unfortunately there will always be termites – especially on rural properties.

I would not suggest burning the timber as yet – you really need to ensure that you have an inspection first. As to storing the timbers – not a good idea at all to store on pine shelving where there is not regular visual contact. By the sounds of it you have stored this timber in a shed somewhere which hasn’t been inspected for years. This has given the termites an ideal, uninterrupted, food source. As it has been stored on decking, there has to be an entrance point somewhere. It is impotant to try and find the entrance point (hence why an inspection by a licenced technician is recommended) and sort out how the termites are getting to the pine shelving. There would have to be termite leads somewhere.

Once entrance point is ascertained then you could probably burn the affected timber pieces – if there are termites in the decking, these can be treated chemically to eradicate (preferably using a non- repellent termiticide so that chemical will be taken back to the nest).

We are looking at buying our first home. We have found a potential buy, however we had found out that it had white ants that have since been removed, and bathroom (infected area) has been rebuilt. What are the chances of the termites coming back? Would you suggest that we take out another inspection?

Regards
Maria

There is a chance that you have killed off all termites and you are ‘protected’ but to say that this is all that is required to know for sure would be bad advice. Termites are social pests who live in colonies, love eating away at dead or decaying wood, such as your fencing timber but hate disturbance. You may have killed a few but there is always the possibility of other active termites retreating to feed elsewhere. Depending on the species of Termite there mayb also be a high likelihood of subsidiary nests exisiting if indeed the nest was determined.

The Australian Standard in relation to termite control requires that ‘when active termites are discovered in a building then an attempt be made to treat them with the intention, if possible, of eliminating the colony’. A quick kill treatment is possible if the nest/s has been discovered but unlikely otherwise and contaminant dusts or termite treatment baiting stations may need to be used and monitored over a period of time.

The best thing for you to do would be to call on a professional, timber pest licenced and insured Pest Controllers to arrange a thorough inspection on your property.