Termites: Brisbane’s Hidden Housemates
Termites LOVE Brisbane, it’s their ultimate all-round holiday destination. They love the trees and densely wooded suburbs, they love the amount of rainfall and humidity, they like the fact that everyone has gardens and they certainly love the tasty old Queenslander.
If you don’t think you’ll ever be greeted by a rather large family of termites at your Brisbane property, think again. Termites don’t discriminate. If you have the perfect conditions (and it’s highly likely you do if you’re in Brisbane), termites will waste no time in building their mud tubes across to a nice and moist spot with some tasty timber to munch on.
Where termites like to hide in Brisbane properties
1. In the garden next to the house
When a garden bed is nice and close to the house, it’s the perfect opportunity for termites to enter via weep holes, wall cavities and cracks. Make it as difficult as possible for the little buggers and plant your garden bed no less than 75mm from your house.
2. Rotting wood
Termites love rotting wood just as much as a kid loves a lolly shop. Rotting wood is easy pickings for a termite, they love to indulge in it because it contains cellulose, a plant fibre full of nutrients. Remove any old rotting trees or piles of old timber you have lying around the house and tend to old wooden stumps and weatherboard on heritage homes. Also, if you’re looking to use timber for things like garden beds, always ensure the timber is treated.
3. Leaking taps, pipes and gutters
Termites absolutely love dark and damp environments. Although dripping taps and gutters are easy to identify and repair, leaking pipes within walls aren’t and provide the perfect combination damp and food for termites which a homeowner may not notice for quite some time.
4. The concrete slab
Wherever there is a little gap that leads to a nice timber wall to eat and a moist atmosphere, termites love to go there, and cracks in a concrete slab and expansion joints are one of them. Termites can fit through gaps as small as 2mm, but how can you see under a concrete slab? The truth is, unless you have the expertise in building and pest inspection and know precisely what to look for, you really can’t see what’s underneath.
When it comes to termites, Brisbane homeowners and home buyers need to be savvy because all the things we love about living in this part of the world it seems the termites do too. Don’t DIY your pest inspection, get a professional to do it for you.
Andrew Mackintosh is the owner and inspector at Action Property Inspections, Brisbane . Andrew has carried out over 20,000 building inspections, is a licensed builder, a licensed building inspector and a Member of Queensland Master Builders Association & Institute of Building Consultants.