Recently we did a free pest control treatment of the Girl Guide hall at  7 Barramul St, Bulimba. We proudly support a great group of parents and helpers that make the Bulimba Girl Guides function.

If your group needs assistance with their pest control or termite needs, contact us and discuss how we can help.

Call Rowan, on 3399 1226.

Mother and baby are doing well. New dad Andy is adjusting to the new routine at night – lack of sleep and attention.

Now, there weren’t any signs of termites in the corner only two weeks ago when the owner pulled the sofa out. It is a scary thing to find this kind of rapid infestation in your home. If they are coming out of the wall, where else are they setting up?

We were able to apply Termidor foam to the affected area and recommend an external chemical treatment. These homeowners were lucky that the termites made themselves evident. It most situations, a lot of structural damage can occur before it become evident to anybody.

Have a look at the below photo to get an idea what kind of damage the termites had done.

If you have any concerns in regards to termites, give us a call now  and we can arrange a time to do a full visual inspection and offer treatment options.

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A house we recently treated in Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, experienced this exact problem.

The owners were not aware they had termites, let alone a nest in the shower hob (see photo) until some floorboards became soft and crumbly.

The big problem for you as a homeowner is that it is very hard to detect termites in your bathroom. Bathroom walls are normally lined with tiles and fibro board and due to the constant amount of moisture in a bathroom, the use of timber trims are normally minimized.

That is why it is important to have your house professionally inspected every 12 months by a company that has the right tools to detect termites in difficult areas like your bathroom(s). At Conquer Termites we use moisture meters, Termatrac motion detector and thermal cameras.

Call us now to arrange a comprehensive inspection so you have that peace of mind termites aren’t lurking in your bathroom

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When we arrived we quickly went up into the roof void and identified the customer definitely had subterranean termites (coptotermes acinaciformis) in the roof. We used a boroscope to see inside the walls to access the termite damage, fortunately for the homeowner the damage was minimal.  As it was getting late we used Termidor foam to kill the live termites to give the customer peace of mind, then came back Monday for a full Termite Inspection.

A full Termite Inspection starts with a visual inspection using a knocker and a moisture meter is passed over all walls.  We then use the latest thermal imaging camera the Flir E50 to measure the surface temperature of all walls. Please see the photo to the right, this is what the thermal camera found in this inspection. The darker patch above the door frame is live termites, Please ignore the glowing ceiling as this is from the sun heating it up due to no insulation. As the termites bring moisture into the house the surface temperature lowers which is a certain give away to a trained thermal camera technician. If your Termite Inspector doesn’t have a thermal camera he could easily miss termites inside your walls.

A small message to every home owner is to regularly check your house for termites to keep any termite damage to a minimal, then call us for a friendly helping hand.

Contact Nick Wood on 07 3343 3934 or  0432 721 715.

The general public does not know that when Brisbane has had no rain, termites can forage 5m down looking for moisture, but when the soil is quite moist termites will forage in your garden about 2cm or 20mm below the surface. This is the main reason why termite attack is so high in the summer months.  Most termite companies or termite eradication businesses are quite busy for about two months after a good drenching of rain treating houses that do not have a current chemical treatment.

We at Conquer Termites want to pass on this advice to you, stay vigilant and thoroughly check your house at all times to keep the damage minimal from Subterranean Termites. Please be aware of our wet weather and if you think you might have termites attacking your house, call us now to arrange a free half hour check or a full Termite Inspection.

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.

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Separation between top of the battens and the house gives you good visual to detect this kind of entry. But if you have shrubs and trees up against the house you might not detect this. If you just don’t go looking, you won’t detect this.

Remember, it is also very important to keep soil and mulch away from the base of battens to make it less conducive for foraging termites. We recommend at least 50mm gap from the ground to the base of battens. It is also recommended to install a chemical treatment into the soil directly under the battens.

If you have a house with wooden battens and it has been awhile since your last inspection – give us a call now to arrange one.

You can see how caring Daniel is with this photo of him moving a turtle off a driveway. Daniel did say he wouldn’t do the same for snakes!

There is not one approach that suite all structures. Some house can easily be treated with a chemical treatment by trenching and drill/injection. Some house need reticulation system, some houses need Homeguard sheeting and some houses might need a combination of all of these approaches.

A treatment we recently completed in Mount Gravatt, Brisbane, is a good example of combining several approaches for a perfect outcome. The house had a history of repeat termite infestations after many other companies had done treatments. It was time to do the right thing.

A trench was dug down to the footings. As it was quite deep, we proposed to apply Homeguard sheeting vertically down the external wall. At the base of the trench we installed the Altis reticulation system and applied the transfer poison – termidor.

This is an example of Conquer Termites not being restricted or bias to a brand. What is best for your home will offered to you in a 10 page treatment proposal. Call us NOW to arrange a free appraisal.

This advice became very pertinent to Matthew Green, a homeowner in Morningside, Brisbane. Matthew followed the advice that was given in the pre-purchase inspection report and engaged Conquer Termites to install a chemical treatment using the transfer poison – Termidor. He didn’t think he had live termites, but during our pre-treatment inspection, live termites were found in the laundry window frame.

Now the scary thing was, only four months before, when another company did the purchase inspection, the termites weren’t there. In that time frame, the termites had built a lead from the soil under the house and climbed a concrete stump (with ant capping) into the laundry.

If Matthew hadn’t taken the professional advice and we didn’t apply a chemical treatment, who knows how much damage would have occurred?

We apply a Termidor foam treatment to the live termites in the house as well as ensuring a complete chemical treatment was applied around all the sub floor footings and stumps.

If a professional inspector advices you that your home needs a treatment – heed his advice and don’t be one of the many homeowners in Brisbane that finds out too late.

Call us now to arrange a free appraisal:

North-side3356 8801

South-side:3399 1226

South-side Central: 3343 3934

It was just before Christmas 2011 when we had a worried customer ring asking us for a free quote and some well needed professional advice from a qualified technician, she had contacted the right people Conquer Termites South Central.  When arriving at the home in Runcorn it was soon discovered this lovely home-owner had significant termite damage to one side of her house.  Unfortunately for the home-owner termites had damaged the whole of the bottom plates, studs and even the top plates of the house (please see photo below).

Nick Wood explained that the bottom plates are what the walls sit on, studs are vertical supports to hold Gyprock or Plasterboard and top plates support the roof.  As you can see in the photo, the top plate has been eaten to a point where it has fallen away.  When termites have eaten their way to the top plate this is when the house can become structurally unsafe and a qualified builder is needed.  This can become a very costly situation to be in when the bottom plates, top plates and studs need to be replaced, possibly well in excess of $10,000.

As our technician proceeded to do a very thorough inspection of the whole house using all the tools of the trade, a tapper, termatrac, moisture meter, thermal camera and boroscope the home-owner was informed that there was significant damage behind the walls and a qualified builder would be required.  It is quite amazing how this sort of situation can come about, if this particular home-owner did not hire a possum man to remove a troublesome possum from her roof, the termite damage would have been significantly worse or not noticed at all until it was too late.

Home-owners can do their very best to keep termites out of their house but it is always recommended to hire a professional termite inspector to conduct a full termite inspection.  Don’t let them in, call Conquer Termites South Central and save your house today.

Please ring Nick on 07 3343 3934 or directly on 0432 721 715

While inspecting the gardens our Termite Technician Nick noticed two large palm stumps with termite activity, it is highly recommended that all tree stumps should be stump ground as it can entice termites to nest or forage towards them which makes it very easy for them to make their way into your home.  This particular house in Algester also had old wooden sleepers lying on the ground that also had live termites. It is not uncommon that most gardens and timber, treated or not, will have termites at some stage.

After a very thorough inspection using his Thermal Imaging Camera there was no evidence of live termites in the house structure but there was significant moisture around the main shower (please see thermal picture below).  The darker pattern on the lower wall indicates moisture or lower surface temperature from water leakage.  Due to the excess moisture in the walls around the shower the house is at high risk of subterranean termite attack as termites can detect moisture up to 100 metres away (75% of termite attack is found in the shower & bathroom). It was explained to the customer that since live termites had been found  in the garden and excess moisture around the shower, we strongly recommend to install a chemical treatment using the transfer poison Termidor.

So, if you are looking for a pest control, termite inspection or termite treatment, give Conquer Termites Brisbane a call. We are proud to offer a free half hour consultation to assess your property and give you our recommendations for the treatment that will best suit you.

Please feel free to call Nick on 07 3343 3934 or directly on 0432 721 715

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

This was what was written in the article that appeared in the Quests Newspapers throughout Brisbane, November 2011.

“Warm weather doesn’t mean more dips in the pool – it also means more termites and cockroaches around the house.

But while these pint-size pest can cause massive property destruction, Conquer Termites manage Rowan Bate said effective treatments were at hand, including chemical protection. “Clearly and honestly, the most important thing a homeowner can do is ensure they have appropriate protection” Mr Bate said.

For newer homes, typically on a concrete base, he said chemical protection was particularly beneficial, costing about $3000 for an average-size house and lasting up to 10 years.”  November 2011

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Find us here on our booking page, on Facebook or on Twitter (@ConquerTermites). Or call us direct –Southside – Rowan : 3399 1226/0408 016 090; North Side – Alan: 3356 8801/0437 655 801 or South Central – Nick: 3343 3934/0432 721 715

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The Carina Leagues CJ Swim Club holds an annual swim carnival which attracts more than 400 swimmers. It is regarded as one of the most enjoyable carnivals on the Brisbane swim calendar. This year the Swim Club decided to offer over $4,000 in prize money to be split between a men’s and women’s 50 metre freestyle race. Eight Olympic swimmers attended, making it the most competitive outdoor race in Queensland this year.

Winners and their record times

First: Richardson, Kyle 23.19. Second: Callus, Ash 23.39. Third: Kerswell, Luke  24.09

First: Campbell, Cate 25.43 Second: Campbell, Bronte 25.74 Third: Trickett, Libby 25.82

But the most satisfying thing for Conquer Termites to be associated with CJ’s Swim Club carnival was the enthusiastic swims from all the younger swimmers trying to emulate the feats of their idols in the Dash for Cash. It is great to be associated with an event that strives for participation and excellence.

Most termites you’d be familiar with are quite pale in colour, almost transparent and are wingless.  They are also blind. Swarming termites however, or Alates are specially produced reproductives with black pigment, wings and eyes, and their sole task is to find a mate of the opposite sex and set up a home in a decayed log or stump where the female can lay a couple of dozen eggs, raise the babies and then allow the new brood to take over the care and maintenance of the new colony. The queen then goes about producing literally millions of eggs for the next 20 to 30 years.

It’s very common from November to February or March to find these, especially in South East Queensland. The humidity is very attractive (indeed necessary) to them.  All termite species operate a caste system (in fact, their only real commonality with ants). One of their castes is the winged reproductive alates – or flying termites. They can be mistaken for flying ants, but it is relatively easy to spot the difference.

Clear differences between ant and termite alates

At this time of year, they leave the nests (trees, tree stumps, bushland, even your home) to fly and begin new colonies. It has been incredibly humid in Brisbane this past week, so you may have noticed them yourself.  This is what they look like (although they can vary somewhat in colour).

When a termite colony reaches a certain size and maturity several thousand reproductive termites will start growing wings, preparing for a once in a life time flight.  It can take a few months to get them ready for their big flight and during this time they’ll be given the best of the foods and will be taken care of.  When they are ready, and when weather conditions are right (some of them swarm after rains, most when the weather is very humid. Most swarm at dusk), thousands and thousands of them can take flight from nests is the area, preparing to start new ones.

You’ll often see these winged or flying termites swarming around lights, whether street lights, or your outdoor light, if it’s left on. It’s there that they meet other termites of the same species, also swarming from their own colonies. After this, the fertilised alates shed their wings and go in search of a spot to make a nest and begin a colony of their own.

Reproductive termite shedding it's wings, ready to start it's colony

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

It can be disconcerting, to say the least for a home owner to suddenly find themselves surrounded by thousands of winged termites. You may fear that your home is about to come under attack and turn into mulch overnight.  Don’t panic though. The first thing to remember – alates are terrible flyers.  They really can only fly a couple of hundred metres from their original nest. Secondly, they can’t actually do any harm to your property (although the amount of Mortein you may find yourself tempted to spray at them is a whole other story It won’t actually help though).

Unless you actually find these alates flying out of holes in your walls, cracks in your ceiling or from under your house etc, relax. Be on alert of course. But your house isn’t going to fall down tomorrow.  If you can, collect a couple of samples and put them in something like a ziplock bag, stored in the freezer.  Then book a termite inspection so that a qualified technician can come to your home and see if a nest has been set up somewhere in your property.  If you are concerned, Conquer Termites Brisbane offers a free half hour check, for peace of mind and will happily give you advice on the safety of your property. You will have time to consider your options, without having to rush into a decision or feel pressured.

If you do notice the alates actually emerging from your home, it is a cause of concern. It means there is almost certainly already an active, large colony of termites at work on your house. If that’s the case, it’s vital that you book in a full termite inspection so that a qualified technician can advise you on the extent of the infestation and give you an idea of how to proceed from here.  If termite alates are swarming from your home, time really is of the essence.

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Find us here on our booking page, on Facebook or on Twitter (@ConquerTermites). Or call us direct

Southside – Rowan : 3399 1226/0408 016 090;

North Side – Alan: 3356 8801/0437 655 801 or

South Central – Nick: 3343 3934/0432 721 715

We often see and hear so many false theories about termites, that we thought it about time to address some of the most common termite myths. You may have heard and trusted a few of these yourself.

1. Termites, or as they are often referred to in Australia-”White Ants” are a part of the ant family.

This is in fact, not true. The term ‘white ants’ is a misnomer. The only thing that termites really have in common with ants is that they operate in a caste system. In truth, they are much more closely related to cockroaches and are classified in the cockroach family. They exist as a suborder of the Blattodea order, which includes cockroaches. The famous Great Northern Termite, or Mastotermes gives us an idea of the resemblance to the cockroach family.

We can see from the Mastotermes Darwiniensis the physical similarities between cockroaches and termites.

 

2. When forests are leveled and trees are removed to make room for development, termites are destroyed or removed also.

Sub Terranean termites nest in tree stumps and in live trees. When termite colonies lose their food supply to developers, they can seek out new food sources – usually wood from newly built homes on the site.

3.  A brick house on a concrete slab is safe from termites.

In fact, virtually all homes have a wood frame, so no matter how the wood is separated from the soil, termites can work their way to it from the ground underneath. Similarly, a concrete slab does not eliminate wood-to-ground contact. Termites can construct tunnels through cracks in concrete.

 

Having said that though, we sometimes hear this one:

4. Termites can eat through concrete

This one is simply not true. What’s really happening is that termites are able to access even the tiniest cracks in the concrete, and as more and more of them pass through it (remember, a colony can have hundreds of thousands of termites in it), the crack can become a little larger. These original cracks are usually too small to be noticeable to us upon quick inspection, so it’s easy to see why someone might believe this one.

 

5. My house is built from Hardwood, so it is safe from termite attack.

Actually, the  Termite’s natural food is the gum tree, and  that is a hardwood. While there are a lot of hardwoods with natural resistance to termites, not all hardwood is resistant. Also any resistance is normally found in old growth timbers and may not apply to new growth timber.

Gum Trees such as the Eucalyptus are a termite's favourite food source, so assuming that your home is safe from termites because it is made of hardwood is a dangerous assumption to make.

 

 6.I have had a baiting system put around my home I now have a barrier that will keep termites out of my house.

Baiting systems certainly are an option you can use, and we install them ourselves. But in all honesty, they’re not our preferred method. They can, if the termites find them and take the bait back to the colony, be effective at wiping the colony out. But they’re not going to stop any termites found in your home.  Again, while we do use them for customers that request them (and in some instances, they are sufficient), we believe that a full chemical barrier treatment, such as the ones we install using Termidor, when installed correctly are the most efficient way of dealing with a termite problem.

 

7. My neighbour had termites and you did a treatment and now I have termites! You pushed them over to our home!

Termite colonies can be huge. Several houses in a neighbourhood may, indeed share a termite colony and treating one house among them, thereby making it off limits to the termites, can make them more active in the other infested homes. But you can’t cause a termite infestation in one house by treating another. Termites feeding at both House A and House B can be affected by bait brought into the colony from House A and activity suddenly dies off at the second home. But termites aren’t going to safely cross a chemical barrier (a poison to them) and then set up a colony in your home. That chemical is still going to do it’s job and kill them.

8. Termites serve no useful purpose. They are nothing but destructive pests.

Actually the truth is, termites are an incredibly useful and necessary part of our eco system. They provide a valuable service by breaking down dead wood in forests into soil. Termites were one of the earth’s first recyclers. Really, the only place you don’t want them is in your home.

9. “Twelve monthly termite control treatments are necessary to protect my home against termites.”

That’s not true. Today’s chemical termiticides last between 5 and 10 years. You won’t need to re-do your chemical treatment unless there is a breach in the system (for a chemical barrier to be effective, there needs to a complete line of checical termiticide around your home. If you renovate, wash away the treatment (Don’t panic though. Normal, even heavy rain is not going to wash away your termiticide. It would take, for example the severe Brisbane flooding of January 2011 to be enough to do that kind of damage, if at all) or anything similar, you will need to get that new area treated to keep an unbroken barrier around the property).  What you will need is a Termite Inspection every 12 months, to make sure there have been no breaches in the protective barrier around your home.

10. All termite companies are the same, so you may as well go with the cheapest.

Not true.  Different companies use different chemcials, and sometimes even different amounts of the same chemical. They may approach warranty situations differently, conduct check ups differently, or be watering down their solution. Termiticides, whichever you use, must always be used to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Shop around. Ask for testimonials. The best way to find out about a termite company is ideally, to speak to former customers, find out what they think of the service they’ve received. Or ask your friends who they have used, and whether they have been satisfied with their service.

 

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Find us here on our booking page, on Facebook or on Twitter (@ConquerTermites). Or call us direct –Southside – Rowan : 3399 1226/0408 016 090; North Side – Alan: 3356 8801/0437 655 801 or South Central – Nick: 3343 3934/0432 721 715

 

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Another quick post about Conquer Termites South Central. Nick was doing a termite inspection recently on a property at Shailer Park and very quickly confirmed the presence of active termites in one of the bedrooms.  As he made his way around the home, speaking to the homeowner he discovered that the entire family was just weeks away from an extended trip to Malaysia. Obviously, weeks before an overseas trip is a less than ideal time to have to worry about the added expense of a Termite Management System, though obviously, it is not something that can be left.

Outside the home he came across a beautiful old Redgum that clearly had a lot of termite damage. It was apparent that this was the source of the initial termite nest. 100 metres away, at the garage he found extensive damage to the external weatherboard. The termites (schedorhinotermes, the most prolific termites in South East Queensland) had managed to travel the 100 metres to the garage and then further into the home to do their damage.  Clearly, the nest had been in place for quite some time.

There was really very little choice but for the Home Owner to agree to an immediate Termite Management Treatment Plan. As soon as they understood the extent of the damage already done to the home, and more importantly, the potential for much, much more they agreed. We straight away treated the home and the detached garage with Termidor.  In addition, Nick drilled 5 holes deep into the redgum (each one of these meeting giant cavities in the tree, more evidence that this was the source of the trouble)  and injected 2L of Termidor into each of them.  This should take care of the original colony and the nest, adding further protection to this home.

Shailer Park, while being a lovely area, is very leafy and most properties are surrounded by wonderful huge trees – perfect places for subterranean termites to nest and start making thier way to your homes.  In areas such as this, regular checks are absolutely vital to the safety of your home. Had the Shailer Park home owner been having regular checks done, this tree would have been noticed by a qualified pest inspector long ago, probably before the termites made it any where near the home.

Remember, if you have ANY concerns at all, give Conquer Termites a call for a free termite check.

Find us here on our booking page, on Facebook or on Twitter (@ConquerTermites). Or call us direct –Southside – Rowan : 3399 1226/0408 016 090; North Side – Alan: 3356 8801/0437 655 801 or South Central – Nick: 3343 3934/0432 721 715

Pest Inspection Shailer Park

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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.