Termite Control Brisbane
All you need to know about how to protect your home from termites…
Comprehensive Termite Protection Services from the Brisbane Termite Specialists
Termite protection is essential for homes in Brisbane and southeast Queensland. Brisbane is a real termite hotspot and it has been estimated as many as 1 in 3 homes will experience a termite attack at least once! The costs to repair termite damage can range from $10,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and sometimes the damage is so extensive that the home needs to be destroyed! As termite damage is not covered by standard home insurance, homeowners need to take action to protect their home.
In order to protect a home from termites, it’s important to have a termite management plan. MAD ANT Termite and Pest Control provide a range of specialist termite control services which allows us to develop a termite management plan tailored to your property, taking into account the construction type and soil conditions. Our proven termite management plans will provide ongoing termite protection for your property, allowing us to offer long-lasting warranties.
Our Specialist Termite Control Services
Termite Inspections
We provide trusted, comprehensive termite inspections from North Brisbane to Caboolture. It’s important to have a professional termite inspection at least once a year, to make sure your home is free from termites.
The Key Elements of a Termite Management Plan
A successful termite management plan requires 4 key elements to work together to prevent termites accessing the building:
- Termite protection integrated into the building construction
- Annual termite inspections
- Installation of a termite management system around the building (if the in-built termite protection is insufficient)
- Actions to eliminate conditions and building faults that may make a termite attack more likely
The important thing to understand is that termite protection products and termite treatments are designed to protect concealed termite entry points – hidden gaps in the construction that may allow termites to enter the building without being noticed. On their own they don’t provide 100% protection against termite attacks. If installed correctly, it forces the termites to make themselves visible if they want to access the house. It requires annual termite inspections to be carried out, so any visible attempts by termites to access the building can be spotted and dealt with. For example, termites trying to move inside brick piers will hit a metal termite cap. To get around the termite cap they will need to build a mud tube on the outside of the termite cap, making themselves visible. This activity will be detected during a termite inspection (if not before by the homeowner).
Annual termite inspections are the minimum action all homeowners must take. Not only will they identify any termite activity on the property, they will also identify conditions around the house or building faults that may make a termite attack more likely. For example, the inspection should identify any drainage issues or plumbing leaks – termites lover moisture! Eliminating these conducive conditions will significantly reduce the chances of a termite attack.
However, termite inspections by themselves will not stop a termite attack, so if the house does not have suitable termite protection built into the construction, it is necessary to install a termite management system (termite treatment) to prevent concealed termite entry.
Building regulations stipulate a range of requirements to make sure the house is protected from termites. The key objective of any termite protection or treatment is to eliminate concealed termite entry points. These are potential entry points that simply cannot be seen during an inspection. Largely, these entry points are below the soil surface. When the house is built, termite protection measures are integrated with the physical features of the construction to eliminate these concealed termite entry points.
For example, termites cannot get through a well made concrete slab. However, there are always gaps in the slab that need protecting, such as the gaps around utility pipe entry points which pass through the concrete slab. Termite physical protection collars are placed around these pipes. When the slab is poured the termite physical protection collars seal the gaps. A range of different protection measures are installed at weak points under the house or in the perimeter walls.
A well-built home, with properly installed termite protection measures will protect these concealed termite entry points for many years. However, over time these may become compromised, and many homes, especially older homes may lack suitable termite protection altogether. In such situations is it necessary to install a termite management system (chemical soil treatment or termite baiting system).
Termite management systems are termite treatment treatments applied to the soil around a building (and sometimes underneath for homes built on piers). There are two types of termite management systems – soil treatments and termite baiting systems.
Soil treatments have an 8-year life expectancy to treated areas – at MAD ANT Termite and Pest Control we offer an 8-year service guarantee to treated areas which is subject to annual termite inspections.
Termite baiting systems require regular inspections (every 3 months) in addition to the annual building termite inspection. The life expectancy of the baits is 5 years or until consumed. The regular 3 monthly inspections of these stations is critical for the performance of the system and protection of the building.
Actions to reduce the risks of a termite attack fall into three main areas: reduce moisture, reduce food, keep access clear in sub-floor and roof void (for inspections):
- Reduce moisture
- Fix any internal leaks
- Fix any external leaks (dripping taps and gutter)
- Ensure there is good drainage around and under the house
- Make sure AC and hot water tank overflows go to drains
- Make sure external taps and downpipes go to drains
- Don’t have watered garden beds immediately next to the house
- Remove food sources
- Avoid using wood mulch
- Dig up any tree stumps
- Avoid using timber in retaining walls and fences
- Keep any firewood off the ground and well away from the house
- Improve access for inspections
- Trim back any vegetation from next to the house
- Avoid storing good in the sub-floor or roof void (especially in cardboard boxes)
Why Choose MAD ANT to Protect Your Home From Termites?
- Trusted, local, family run pest control business
- Exceptional service – We treat our customers as one of the family
- Termite Specialists – Inspections and treatments
- Tailored termite solutions to protect your home
- Accredited Termidor Applicator
- $2 million Termidor Assurance Warranty available
- Servicing Caboolture, the Redcliffe Peninsula and North Brisbane
- Residential and Commercial Pest Control
- Fully qualified, licensed and insured
- Warranties with all work
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Termites in Brisbane
There are two types of termites that are considered pests of structural timber in the Brisbane area – subterranean termites and drywood termites.
Subterranean termites
Worker termites (“white ants”) are the most common type of termite in the nest and the one you are most likely to see. These are the termites that leave the nest to go foraging and do all the damage! They chew up wood to take it back to the colony.
The soldier termites provide the defence for the colony. You may see a few of these soldiers out foraging with the workers. As termite professionals we use the termite soldiers to help us identify what species we are dealing with.
The termite queen is the most important queen in the colony, as she produces all the eggs. Sometimes there may be more than one queen in the colony. The queen looks after the first brood herself, but once the first brood has developed into workers, the queen focuses solely on egg laying. She becomes very enlarged and can produce thousands of eggs per day.
Flying termites are the new kings and queens that get released from mature termite colonies in big swarms. The swarms generally appear on warm, humid nights in spring and summer. After a short flight, the kings and queens drop to the ground, lose their wings and try and find a mate. Successful kings and queens move off as a pair to try and find a suitable site to start a new nest.
Termite babies (termite nymphs) are the young termites. They look like small worker termites, only more translucent. They will stay in the nest until they have had a couple of moults.
Drywood termites
Although subterranean termites are the most common pest termite in Brisbane, drywood termites are the hardest to spot and treat. They do not live in the ground like subterranean termites but rather live as small colonies in the wood in which they feed. However, there can be many small colonies in an infested house. The most common way to spot their activity is through the appearance of piles of hexagonal droppings which get pushed out of holes in the wood. Often the only way to deal with drywood termite infestations is through fumigation (which is expensive).