Brisbane's leading Termite & Pest inspection company
A big congratulations to Andy and Kym on their new baby girl, Emma Mary Elizabeth Clarkin, born on Easter Sunday at 3.18am. Birth weight: 7lb 6oz (3345g).
Mother and baby are doing well. New dad Andy is adjusting to the new routine at night – lack of sleep and attention.
One of the first things any termite expert will tell you is that termites are drawn to moisture. It is, in fact the number one attractant for termites even above food sources (timber etc). So it’s safe to say that when termites are given free reign of untreated timber and an ample water source, the results can be disastrous for the home owner.
When called out to a house at The Gap recently we noticed that this home had quite an issue with moisture and drainage. The house has a current termite infestation and has had several other infestations over the last couple of years, all dealt with by another pest management firm.
Clear drainage issues in the sub floor of this home mean that termites keep returning.
The problem is obviously, that termites keep re-infesting this house. This is due to two main factors:
1. Inadequate drainage – excessive moisture is building up against the structure at the foundation level and in the subfloor.
2. No current termite preventative system is in place.
Clearly, previous treatments have been ineffective. For more than one reason. Firstly, no preventative chemical barrier was in place at this home. Foaming and dusting can be a temporarily ‘fix’, but they aren’t dealing the real issue, the thing that keeps the termites coming back. The first thing the home owner needs to do is address the drainage problem. Termites won’t be able to resist such a ready source of moisture and timber.
The first step needs to be getting in a licensed plumber to fix up any moisture or drainage issues on your property. Moisture can interfere with a chemical termite prevention system especially when there is soil subsidence or movement.
After the moisture has been properly dealt with, a comprehensive chemical termite prevention system should be installed by a qualified pest control company. These two steps, together will help this home owner feel confident that his home will remain termite free for years to come.
It was the time to be merry and jolly at the annual Conquer Termites Christmas picnic held at Pandanus Beach foreshore, Wynnum. Of course, the usual Secret Santa and sweets bags were disbursed to the eager recipients, nibbles consumed and wine and beers drunk. But probably the most anticipated event was the cricket match between the North side
and the South side. Who would get the bragging rights and who would have to sing a Christmas carol at the Tuesday breakfast meeting as the payout for the wager?
It was a keenly contested match that had a complicated form of scoring. The pair of batsmen would face 4 overs, regardless of being bowled or caught. Basically, if you hit the ball too hard and you went over the path or road – you were out and recorded a negative score of 5. If you were bowled or caught out, same thing.Most partnerships recorded a negative total after facing 24 balls.
The eventual winner and grinner’s were the ragamuffin North side team. Well done.
To see the Christmas carol sung by the losers: Click here
Good morning Brisbane! Happy Monday. A busy day in the office today as our phones run hot and more and more people getting inspections and treatments done. We’re certainly heading into our busiest time of year, when termites are at their most active – they do love this heat and humidity.
It’s lovely to have positive feedback from our customers. It helps us to know where we are going right, and, where necessary what needs work.
A couple of wonderful testimonials to share with you this morning for two of our North Side techs, Joel and Andy.
Wendy from Chapel Hill recently had a Termite inspection performed by Joel. She stated:
Joel was a very kind, patient and systematic technician who went about the house inspection extremely thoroughly. He explained everything in a way that was easy to
understand. He was very punctual, courteous and thorough.
It’s very important, when anyone is doing work on your home, that they take the time to properly explain to you what they’re doing. It’s easy for experts to forget that not every homeowner is going to be familiar with the technical terms they are using, the tools, the chemicals or even what your treatment plan really entails. If they haven’t explained it to you in a way that makes it crystal clear to you – Stop them. Ask them to be more clear. YOU are the customer. It is YOUR home, so you, above all else need to be comfortable and confident in what is happening, and the technician doing the job. Happily, in Wendy’s case, Joel was able to provide her with all of the information she needed to make informed decisions and be confident going ahead with the job.
Les and Sandy from Stafford Heights had Andy out to do a chemical and physical termite treatment installed in their home recently. They were thrilled with Andy and his team, and the work they did.
Andy and the team were extremely punctual, courteous and explained everything in a way that was easily understood. The work was carried out quickly with minimal disruption to the exterior of the house and the are was left clean and tidy. The work people were polite and very professional.
Again, when you are letting a team of professionals into your home, you should expect that they act in exactly that manner – as professionals. How many times have you seen tradesmen or teams acting in a less than professional manner, messy, late, poor people skills? All technicians at Conquer Termite Brisbane are expected to be extremely punctual, courteous and professional, at all times.
And it is a condition of the job that we leave your home as we found it, wherever possible. We want to leave your home protected, but without leaving an unsightly mess that you are left to clean up. You should expect nothing less from the people you choose to allow to work on your biggest investment.
We thank you so much for your feedback and testimonials. If a Conquer Team works on your home and leaves you with the quick questionnaire (there are only 4 questions on it, it takes just a minute or two), please consider filling it out. It can only help us improve our service to you and future customers.
There is no question that effective treatment of termites in some homes can be more difficult than in others. Installing Termite treatments to stop termites moving into your home can take time, effort and sometimes a little careful strategy. Of course it goes without saying that, while Termite Control and regular Pest Inspections are an essential investment into the safety of your home, it doesn’t always come without significant cost.
So with all of that on the line, it’s important to us to inform you, the homeowner or occupier that diligence is required to make sure that the Termite Management System is working just as it is designed to. It is good to form a partnership between the Pest Control company and the homeowner to make sure we can control termites.
Bridging or Breaching of Termite Treatment Systems is relatively easy for termites and if we’re not following some basic steps, it can be done long before you’ve even realised it.
What is Breaching?
Termites can easily breach a termite treatment or barrier if we have for some reason removed soil that was treated with termiticide(we use Termidor but others include Biflex or Premise); or moved a physical(such as ant capping) or physical/chemical barrier (Such as Kordon or our preferred treatment – Homeguard)
What is Bridging?
Termites can bridge a termite barrier by finding a way to create a pathway (usually with their telltale mud shelter tubes) across a termite prevention system. We found the perfect example of this on Brisbane’s north side recently.
We were doing a Pest Inspection in a Chermside home recently and came across this. The picture above was taken in a subfloor, where the ladder was kept under a hatch the homeowner used to access the subfloor. As seen in the photo, there are significant termite workings (mud shelter tubes) on the ladder. This is a good example of the potential bridging of a termite management system. Had the stepladder been only a few centimentres taller, the termites would have had easy access to the housing timbers.
Homeowners need to be careful to avoid making it easy for termites to bridge the termite treatment systems. Taking note of where we store items is an imperative step. Things to watch out for and avoid:
*Timbers, stored items, bricks or tiles stored next to the walls of your home.
*Concrete or brick structures that are built next to the house.
*Timber decks attached to the home.
*Stored items, boxes and any timber/cardboard products in subfloors that are in contact with the flooring.
So, to make sure that the termite management system chosen to protect your house remains effective, be aware of potential bridging spots. Maintain regular inspections with professional termite management technicians and keep a regular eye on your own home.
Don’t forget – for your home’s safety, regular pest inspections are a must. Head over to our Contact Page to arrange one with Conquer Termites Brisbane now.
Here at Conquer Termites, we value your opinion and your satisfaction on our perfomance over anything. As far as we’re concerned, if we’ve gotten rid of your termites or pests, and left you happy with our professionalism and approach to you, then it’s a job well done.
If you’ve had a termite inspection or treatment recently, you may have been given a brief customer feedback form to fill out. We can’t tell you how much we appreciate having these returned to us. Your honest evaluation and comments are so important. It tells us not only whether we’re on the right track, but if there are any areas that we need to improve on.
A couple of happy customers from last week certainly made our week when they posted in their feedback forms.
Joel Mitchell - Conquer Brisbane North Technician
John from Albany Creek marked all areas of the form as “Excellent” and was kind enough to write:
Extremely Professional, courteous and thorough. Very highly recommended.
So well done to Joel, Andy and Jose for doing such a great job! It’s wonderful to hear that not only were our technicians professional and thorough, but courteous as well. Customer relations are so important in any industry, but can be sadly lacking in the people who come to do work in your home. We pride ourselves on technicians who are polite and personable.
Andy Clarkin - Conquer Brisbane North Technician
Melanie from Kenmore said the following about Andy (Andy was on a roll last week!).Again, after marking excellent in all of the boxes:
Could not possibly be more happy with everything. Andy was just great and really cared about doing the best job he could. This is so hard to come by. His helpers were wonderful also. Thank you so much for a job well done!
So a big thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to fill out their feedback forms. And if you do have a job booked in and are asked to fill one out, we’d so appreciate it if you could. They just take a minute of your time, and help us take even better care of you in the future.
Important Preparation for a Termite Inspection – An Albany Creek Case Study
From time to time, when booking a termite inspection, a client will ask us whether it is necessary to move furniture or stored items before we come. And while we certainly don’t aim to inconvenience any of our valued customers, if you want a thorough inspection done, the short answer to this is “Yes”.
Of course, not everything in your home needs to be moved. But the fact is that subterranean termite nests and bivouacs, or sub-nests (and here in South East Queensland, these are the type most commonly found to be doing damage to homes) can at times be difficult to locate.
Therefore, the only real way to detect them is to search for evidence of their workings. While they can gain entry and attack almost any area of your home, the most likely areas include sub-floors, alongside water pipes or electrical wiring built into your walls, door and window frames, skirting boards and any cracks or crevices in your foundation or walls. So you can imagine how important access to these areas is.
Case in point: a home we did in Albany Creek, on Brisbane’s north just a week ago. It was a typical two-storey home that had been built in underneath by the previous owner-builder, with plenty of cupboards and storage space.
The current owner and her son had had a lot of personal items and boxes stored down there for the past two or three years and they were all still there when we arrived to do the inspection. During the inspection, we found live termites in the laundry wall and in one of the adjacent walls, but we were unable to gain access to the cupboards due to the stored items. We were uncomfortable with skipping that area, so we arranged for the customer to have her things moved over the weekend, and agreed to return to finish the inspection once that was done, as we were confident we would discover that termites were attacking that section of the structure as well.
Once the items had been removed and we access to these cupboards, we found that termites were in fact active in 4 different areas, the worst, not surprisingly being the cupboard nearest the hot water system.
You can see in these pictures just how much termite activity is visible here – none of this would have been detected had the areas not been cleared and had we not had decent access to them. Imagine the amount of damage that could have continued to go on unabated!
So, remember. The most important factor in your termite inspection is that it is thorough; and the only way a termite technician can get that is if he or she has access to all areas. It might be a slight inconvenience now, but think about how much trouble it could save you later.
For a free half hour termite check, if you live in Brisbane’s northern suburbs, call Conquer Termites North Side on 3356 8801. For those on Brisbane’s south, call Rowan on 3399 1226 and our newest franchise (more about this on Monday!), in Brisbane’s South Central suburbs, call Nick on 3343 3934.
| Find the local technician that services your area: |
Industry Expert: Asked to talk
on Channel Nine News
Conquer Termites on Seven News talk about the impact of Floods on Termites
Slider by webdesign