Drilling & Injecting

Drilling concrete slabs and injecting chemical is one of the ways to protect a property from termites, and then there are obviously variations of those treatment methods depending on the type of construction and requirements of the treatment. However, there have to be a few specifications met to ensure it is done correctly. Here we will highlight a few for you to consider.

Hole Spacings! When holes are drilled to inject termiticide under a concrete slab to treat the footing of a wall, the holes cannot be more than 150mm from the wall. This home had holes exceeding 300mm. Needless to say, the original treatment failed and the home was re infested. 

Injecting Termidor under a slab.

Holes are often drilled around a perimeter to ensure a complete chemical barrier to prevent termites getting in.

Hole spacings on this property exceeded 300mm! Once again, they were beyond specification, holes should be between 150-300mm apart. The greater tolerance is reserved for porous soil types and rarely used in our practice. Ironically this was done on an internal wall that was a 

Once again, hole spacing was beyond specification. More examples below.... 

Baiting for Colony eradication.

Eradicating termites involves more than just "killing the termites"!

The aim is to kill off the whole nest rather than just the ones that are attacking your home. 

Baiting involves more than just putting a bait box where termites are found.

Once the termites have been identified, it's important to bait correctly, this involves:

1. . Baiting at a feeding site - termites will rarely want to feed along a shelter tube, they have areas where they are feeding and all the termites know where they are as they communicate via pheromones, so it's important to install the bait at the correct location.
2. Bait without disturbance - termites shy away from any dangers, particularly the workers - which do the feeding. As soon as a breach of their workings occurs, the termite workers evacuate the area and the soldiers head straight for the breach to defend the colony. The Soldiers don't do any feeding, so you want to keep this situation to a minimum, otherwise the termites might shut down the feeding site and go elsewhere.
3. Supplying the bait in a way that termites will find desirable - Termites know what they like, and each species is different, so it's important that bait placement and consistency is in line with the preference of the termites that have been found. If it's not done correctly, the termites may just bypass the bait and keep feeding on your home.

A baiting program commenced on a property, here the termites were found indoors in the flooring. Being careful when installing the bait station is imperative to getting them to feed. 

One week in and they have already devoured all of the bait, this was replenished and they continued to feed....

A tight spot between levels on a multi-storey building meant being creative with the bait. These were Schedorhinotermes being baited, they can be very difficult to bait and in this case, required several baiting locations, this colony consumed more than 800g of bait!

These Coptotermes had to be baited in a subfloor, there were very few feeding sites, so finding a spot where they would feed took a lot of hunting!

Determining termite genus & species - another part of an inspection.

Getting a termite inspection also involves determining the species of termites in a building and also the species of those surrounding the building. Each species have their own characteristics, interestingly only About 12 Species of termite damage sound timber in Australia. That's of the approximately 350 species in Australia, so determining termite species is important. The behaviour of these timber destroying species does vary, so an accurate identification is essential. 

A Coptotermes acinaciformus worker. The Coptotermes genus is one of the most destructive termites in Australia, accounting for the majority of the timber damage in structures. These were found in a subfloor and were consuming leftover formwork in the subfloor.

Nasutitermes on a fence post, this genus are very destructive termites, and are a threat to homes and timber structures. These were within 50m of a house and are a direct threat to the home.

The destructive Schedorhinotermes can be very difficult to control because of their their shy behaviour. And yes, they are very destructive! Here are some during a baiting programme we're carrying out.

So, make sure that termites are identified correctly during an inspection. The threat to your property, the type of treatment options and the effectiveness on control all depend on correctly identifying the termites in and around your home!

Termatrac - Detecting termites in difficult places.

Termites often like to hide out in concealed places, it's the very nature of their existence, so it's important to have the right tools to find them.

We use a Termatrac extensively during our inspections, it helps us to identify termite activity or often just for peace of mind that there really is no activity. The unit uses a radar to bounce signals into wood and other materials to determine if there's movement, it's so sensitive that it's best to set up on a tripod as you can see in the pictures. The benefit is that we can get an extremely accurate understanding of what's happening inside walls and means we don't have to do any destructive inspecting.

Checking a door jamb where evidence of termite mudding existed.

The unit sends signals deep into the timber to accurately measure movement.

Termites were discovered in this wall because of the Termatrac. 

It's abandoned - termite bait stations!

Termite bait stations can be a very effective method of controlling termites, but only if the system is maintained. More often than not, a building with bait stations has an infestation due to a lack of proper maintenance of the perimeter baiting system. It's not uncommon for us to be called to a house with an infestation that already had a perimeter bait station monitoring system in place. When we check the bait stations, the attractant wood has been eaten out long ago......

So what can be done?

Well, the safest thing is to make sure that you have a reputable pest controller monitoring the bait stations, this may seem costly but it is so much cheaper than dealing with an infestation and subsequent damage.

Failing that, it may be prudent to check the bait stations yourself. At least something is being done to monitor termite activity, if you find termites, then you can call a pest controller (The Termite Trackers!) to eradicate the colony.

This bait station is far from effective as it is protruding significantly, the top should be flush with ground level.

This bait station was very close by to an termite entry point on a house, as you can see the termites have already eaten most of the wood out before abandoning it.

A Sentricon bait station graveyard, these bait stations were monitored for a while but have now been abandoned....

this bait station hadn't been checked for years....

Hot Water units - a constant source of moisture.

Termites love moisture, no wait, they NEED moisture to survive, so it's not surprising that a big part of a good inspection requires checking for sources of moisture. A storage hot water unit has a relief valve that is often dripping water. This persistent source of moisture is ideal for termites, as they need a reliable source of water to survive. Ensure that this water is piped away rather than dripping against the footing of your house, openly inviting termites.

The Overflow on this hot water unit (Copper pipe going into the soil) drains near the base of the house, coupled with all the vegetation nearby, this is a great invitation for termites.

This overflow is actually plumbed around the hot water unit, but still drains right against the house, it actually drains next to timber lattice! Once again, vegetation is prevalent around the base of the building.

Even concealed hot water units have insufficient drainage. 

Identifying termite galleries.

Evidence of termite damage is often visible before significant damage is done, obviously this depends on the type of timber, structure and termites that are infesting the property, however, with some familiarisation, you'll be able to pick up termite damage, hopefully before too much damage is done. 😊

Evidence of termite activity is clearly visible due to the mudding behind the studs and top plates of this cottage. 

You can clearly see how the termites have made it all the way to the roof trusses.

Although the mud gallery has been removed (this damage was done years before) you can clearly see the signs of termite damage. This spotting and staining on the surface are signs of termite activity, although it has not caused any structural damage to the timber. 

As you can see, if you become familiar with signs of termite activity, you have the knowledge of being able to detect activity yourself before too much damage occurs. Whilst we always recommend you get an insured professional to do a termite inspection in accord with AS3660 at least every 12 Months, it's great to have this knowledge as you might just pick up the evidence before your next inspection was due....

Moisture in subfloors.

Part of a good termite inspection will involve an inspection and report on subfloor conditions. Termites and other timber pests (including wood rot) need moisture to survive. So it's important to know if your subfloor is wet or if there are moisture problems, things such as leaking pipes or overflows need to be reported on to make sure your property is at least risk of timber pests. 

Steel rusting from the high moisture in the subfloor.

Wood rotting due to extremely high constant moisture in the subfloor.

Subfloor covering

Access to the subfloor area of a house is vital for a proper termite inspection. More often than not, if there is a termite infestation then there will be evidence in the subfloor. Not only that, but anything that might be inviting termites into the building will probably be evident in the subfloor (Think leaking pipes and random bits of timber stored in the subfloor)

This garden area not only restricts access to the subfloor, but the plants and decaying organic matter is like a billboard inviting the termites in!

There's little hope of doing a good termite inspection with this much foliage! (And a greater chance of finding termites!)

Not only do the plants against the building compromise the building, but having the timber in the garden makes a great appetizer for the termites before they make it inside.

This subfloor opening was ONLY JUST big enough!