3 Things you didn’t know about termite damage…
1. Your home, business or investment property offers the warmth, food, and moisture that termites need to survive, which means that termites may have already invaded your property without your knowledge!
2. Termite damage is often extensive and usually not covered by home or property insurance, forcing you to break the bank for repairs.
3. The length of time termites have been nesting in your property will determine the cost of repairs. Often times it is only when the vacuum cleaner breaks through a skirting board, or you finger presses through a door frame that you realise there is a major problem!
Telltale Signs of Termite Infestation
Hollow Sounding Timber
There are several telltale signs that your home or business is infested with termites, the first being papery or hollow sounding timber, as termites usually consume timber from the inside out. These wood-boring insects will often only leave a thin veneer of timber or just the paint if not stopped in their tracks.
Tight Fitting Openings
The second sign of termite infestation is tight fitting doors and hard to open windows. The weather can also contribute to difficulty opening windows and doors, however, there is a good to fair chance that the stiffness is caused due to the timber warping of termites. The moisture they produce when tunnelling through these frames warps the timber, hence the stiffness.
Galleries
The third sign of termite infestation is tunnelling in your timber. These tunnels, also known as galleries, are typically not visible from the outside. However, if you have noticed that there are termites wondering outside your home, it is a sure sign that they have set up camp somewhere in your property.
Frass
Another telltale sign of termite infestation is frass, also known as termite excretion. A key sign in detecting termite action is their excretion, which appears in the form of a dark, powdery substance. Termite frass is also a good indication to the entrance of their nest.
Termite Identification
There are several species of termites in Australia, and they don’t just attack timber – they also consume materials such as cardboard and drywall lining. Read on to identify the types of termites that could be invading your home.
All termite species have the following characteristics:
- Resembles an ant – often labelled ‘white ants’
- White or brown in colour – winged termites appear brown in colour
- Have social structure in colony – queens, fertile males, soldiers, and workers
- Reproduce inside their nest – mature queens can lay several thousand eggs per day!
Coptotermes – Subterranean Termites
- Very aggressive
- Most easily recognised by the milky substance produced by soldier termites when disturbed
- Reside underground, in tree stumps, hollow trees, or in mounds above the ground
- Consume timber
- Attack wood, cardboard, wall linings, electrical wires, and personal possessions
Heterotermes, Nasutitermes & Microcerotermes – Outdoor Termites
- Outdoor termite – prefers to chew through timber fences, decking, and posts
- Occasionally cause structural damage inside homes
- Nasutitermes can use their snout to squirt fluid that is irritating to other animals
Mastotermes – Giant Northern Termite
- Very aggressive
- Sub-colonizes
- Builds a network of interconnecting nests
- Difficult to control
- Known to devastate bridges, poles, buildings, trees, and crops such as sugar cane
Schedorhinotermes – Indoor Termites
- Very aggressive – similar to characteristics to Coptotermes
- Build nests in old tree stumps, buried timber, patios, and under fireplaces
- Extensive damage can be caused to structural property – often patchy, with gouges taken out of sound timbers
Tips for Control
Termite inspections are the most effective way to reduce your property’s chances of termite infestation. Professional assistance is always required in termite cases and should be sought as soon as possible. Enviro Guard Pest Management will quickly and effectively find a solution to prevent and eradicate termite damage to your property.
Contact Us
Don’t wait for termites to invade your property, call Enviro Guard Pest Management on 1300 669 092 today!