Delignification - or chemical defibration.

Chemical delignification is a process that breaks down the lignin in timber. Lignin is an organic polymer that acts as a glue in timber (amongst other things), giving structural integrity to cell walls and thus holding the fibres together. It's the same material that gets attacked by fungal decay. The result is similar, the timber loses its structural integrity and slowly flakes apart. 

Chemical delignification gives this roof batten its "hairy" appearance.  

Delignification is often found in roof timber battens as depicted in these pictures, being caused by chemicals in the air. Often it is found near heavy industry, major roads or not far from the Sea.  

If there is significant damage caused by delignification then it's best to get it checked for structural integrity by a builder, seeing that roof battens are often affected by this phenomenon, caution should be exercised when walking around on roofs.

This chemical defibration was discovered in Newcastle, an area with historically a lot of heavy industry and is not too far from the ocean!

See a video showing the obvious effects of chemical defibration on roof battens.  

Baiting in concrete

Termite baiting allows a home to be protected from Termite colonies by eliminating the colony before it gets to the home. 

Baits are installed around the perimeter to feed the termites a bait that eradicates the colony. But what if the home is surrounded by concrete? 

That's where we use in concrete bait stations. 

First - we make a nice round hole in the concrete..

BORING! Hmm.. Soft like butter!

A Sentricon Always active bait rod, along with it's built in extraction plastic ring thingy and a stainless steel cap.

Next - We clean up our mess and install a Sentricon Always active termiticide rod in the hole.

And Voila! We put a beautiful stainless steel cap on top which seals with an expandable rubber grommit.

The Sentricon Always active rod will now protect the home from any termites foraging in the vicinity of the home. The termites will feed on the rod and take the termiticide back to the nest, this will gradually eliminate the colony so it's no longer a threat to the home!

An in concrete baiting system ready to go!

The cap is installed and seals the rod in it's little hidey hole!

Termites found in a garden - in their mud shelter tube.

These Nasutitermes were discovered in a garden area during an inspection, they were building mud shelter tubes foraging for food. A baiting program was established to eradicate the colony so that they wouldn't forage toward the house.

Timber post severly damaged by wood rot (fungal decay).

This highlights the damaging affect of fungal decay (commonly known as wood rot) on timber.
This post at the bottom of a staircase is severely structurally compromised as the fungus breaks down the timber structure.
This post was very fragile and could easily be broken into pieces by hand.
This was found during a termite inspection, many people do not realise how important it is for timber to be protected against fungal decay by sealing it. Although not as quick to act as termites are, ultimately it is just as destructive as it causes structural failure of the timber. It is also a conducive condition for termites.

Ant capping - how does it work?

This ant capping actually did it's job, making sure the termites are visible.

It's often thought that Ant capping will keep termites out of a building, unfortunately it doesn't quite work that way. Ant capping prevents termites entering undetected, rather than stopping them completely. This is why regular inspections are important, not checking ant capping regularly is like having a security camera that is never looked at, it's not going to be of any use unless it's actively used!

Read our detailed blog post on how ant capping here.

Read Posts on all things Ant Capping.