Jul 15, 20233 min read

Termites - Tips on What You Can do to Reduce The Risk of Termite Attack To Your Home.

Updated: Mar 19

Welcome to Wipeout Termites and Pests, Pesty Tips.

Firstly, I've been doing pest control for 20 years - since I was 20, and love it! I'm now based on the Sunshine Coast, and I can with confidence, give you some advice and answer some fequently ask questions, that I encounter day to day.

Yes, subterranean termites can, and do, cause major damage to homes all over Australia, and its important to arm yourself with the right information on what you should look out for, and rectify around your home, to reduce the risk of subterranean termite attack.

So subterranean termites tunnel undergound, you won't see them running around like ants, and if you find what you think is a termite one easy way to identify them is termites only have a head and a body where ants have three segments. Worker termite can't see, but are experts in keeping them selves sealed off from preadtors like Ants. Which brings me to the first old wives tale I hear:

If you have ants you won't get termites...this is absolutley not true. You can be unlucky enough to have both. Yes, ants will eat termites if they can get to them, but termites have soilders to protect the colony, and are very good at protecting their workings.

If termites have to come out of the ground they will make a mud tunnel called a shelter tube or lead, this allows them safe passage over things like the edge of your concrete slab or up your piers or posts and you should keep an eye out for any mud tunnels around your home but don't distrub them if you find them.

Termites use miosture to maintain a humid enviroment and actuallly grow fungus within their workings that they then eat.

Termites will be on the look out for moisture, if you have a leaking bathroom plumbing issue, leaking roof they may know before you. These leaks cause timber to decay and thats the signal termites are looking for to attack. So it's important that you fix any internal moisture problems asap.

But don't stop at internal moisture problems, external sources of moisture will also attract subterranean termites. I've been told inadequate drainage around the home is the number one reason for having subterranean termites around your home, so rainwater pipes flowing to the base of your walls should be redirected, install better drainage systems to reduce the chance of your yard become termite heaven.

It's also small constant moisture sources, like air con waste pipes, hotwater system overflows that will attract termites and these should be plumbed in.

Once you have reduced to moisture sources attracting termites it's time to get to the food sources, if people left cold beers all over thier yard I would be there in a flash and its the same principal for termites, give them old timber sleepers, piles of wood, tree stumps, logs and you guessed it, you will attaract termites!

The second old wives tale I hear is - I have all this food for the termites so they won't attack my home! This is often a costly mistake if you provide places for termite to nest around your home these termite colonies will grow in size every day and after 5 years can have over one million termites, but it gets worse... As one colony will send out new kings and queens during annual swarms to create new termite colonines incresing the risk of attack to your home every day.

It's simple, reduce the feeding and nesting sites, and you reduce the risk to a termite colony making your home the next meal.

These quick tips should be used as part of a termite management plan, and you should always have your home inspected by a professional. In Australia, a minimum of every 12 months, but the fequency of inspections may need to increase if the home is at a higer risk based on location, construction style and other factors. I work on the Sunshine Coast and North Brisbane please contact me for any questions.