Brisbane North — Conquer Termites

Between Pest Inspections – How Bridging can undermine your Termite Treatment

September 27, 2011 By Melissa Mitchell Leave a Comment

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.

Important Preparation for a Termite Inspection – An Albany Creek Case Study

September 6, 2011 By Melissa Mitchell Leave a Comment

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.

Filed Under: Case Studies, North Brisbane, Uncategorized Tagged With: Access, Albany Creek, Bivouac, Brisbane North, Inspection, Storage, Sub Floors, Subterranean Termites, Termites

Termites and Ant Capping – Detecting Termites in an Albany Creek Home

August 26, 2011 By Joel Leave a Comment

One of the most common misconceptions we face in the Termite industry is regarding physical barriers, especially Ant Capping. A lot of new homes are built with phyical barriers in place to help ward off termites. And while in many cases physical termite shielding can deter termites; this is definitely not the case (or even the reason for using) Ant capping.

Ant capping is where a sheet of metal would be placed along the top of a brick wall or on the top of timber or concrete piers. Usually houses with subfloors would be the most likely to have ant capping installed.

It’s interesting to note that the most useful application for ant capping is on top of timber piers. These can often be completely hollowed out by termites, with little or no evidence on the outside for homeowners to detect. But with the ant capping, the termites are forced to get around it, making their workings visible (provided the builder didn’t nail the ant cap to the pier. This can create a hole that over time rusts and allows hidden termite access).

The most useful thing about ant capping is that it provides a visual inspection zone. It is absolutely imperative that they are checked, because as mentioned in an earlier post; ant capping won’t actually STOP termites. It will just make their workings obvious if they are active.

Subfloors are particularly susceptible because people rarely like to enter them, so this allows termite activity to go unnoticed for far longer than perhaps it would elsewhere in the property. Unfortunately, this was the case in this Albany Creek home we did recently. The photo below shows the termite workings that had been treated several years earlier, but that ant capping hadn’t stopped the termites infestation.

So, especially if you have subfloors (but for any home really with a physical barrier in place), make sure you maintain regular visual inspections of your home wherever ant capping is in place.

It is also important that a professional termite inspection is carried out at least once a year. You want a trained eye looking over your biggest possession and keeping it safe from timber pests.

You can be assured that all of Conquer Termite Brisbane’s technicians know just what they’re looking for and can help you keep your home safe.

Filed Under: Termite Detection, Termite treatment Tagged With: Albany Creek, Ant Capping, Brisbane North, Free Half Hour Check, Pest Inspection, Physical Barriers, Subfloors, Termite Detection, Termites, Timber Pests

How Termatrac can be a useful tool in detecting termites – West Chermside Termite Treatment

July 18, 2011 By Conquer Termites Leave a Comment

Termatrac uses microwave signals to detect movement

Earlier this month, we were called to a house in the Northern Brisbane suburb of Chermside West, where the homeowners suspected that they had termites inside their home.

When we arrived at the job, we did, indeed find evidence of Schedorhinotermes – a very common termite found in South East Queensland.

We do a lot of work in West Chermside and surrounding suburbs such as Chermside, Stafford, Bridgeman Downs, Stafford Heights and McDowall, and come across this timid species of termite frequently.

While they are known generally to create their nests outside of the home, they often make small sub-nests (called bivouacs) inside walls, sub-floors and roof voids.

We found evidence that the termites were coming up the bathroom wall and eating into the window frame. Even when we can initially only see evidence of termites in one wall, it is vitally important in a good termite inspection, to know just how many areas have termite involvement. The last thing you as a homeowner want from any Termite Inspection is for the termite technician to miss areas of infestation. So we turned to one of a Termite technician’s most valuable tools – a Termatrac.

Termatrac uses microwave signals to detect movement

Termatrac is a small yellow monitoring device that sends microwave signals into walls to detect movement. Tempting as it can be when you first suspect termites, it’s not always the best idea to go in all guns-blazing and start tearing apart walls, trying to catch them out. A termatrac is a reliable way to quickly and accurately detect movement without making them more skittish before we can treat them.

When we used the Termatrac in this West Chermside bathroom, we found that the termites were also inside the adjoining, internal walls of the structure. Using Termatrac as we continued on with the termite inspection, we later also detected termites entering the house in the entertainment room, on the other side of the house! Once again, the Termatrac had done its job and helped us locate all of the termites in the property.

Termite Damage in Window Frame

All areas of activity were immediately treated with a foaming treatment using Termidor and our follow up inspection showed that all termite activity had ceased. The termites were gone.

We then installed a full chemical treatment using Termidor to prevent any further termite infestations and were able to also offer the homeowner a Timbersure warranty to the value of $100 000. (Read more here to learn more about the absolute peace of mind that a Timbersure Warranty can offer you).

Overall, we left this Chermside West homeowner with an excellent result – a neat and tidy finish to the treated areas, and more importantly – no termites in their home. And with the Timbersure Warranty, he can follow up with our yearly inspections to make sure his home remains termite free.

If you have a home in any of Brisbane’s northern suburbs, from Chermside or North Lakes to Redcliffe, Chapel Hill and The Gap, be sure to call Al, Andy or Joel from Conquer Termites North Side on 3356 8801. There’s a good chance that the Termatrac will form a part of your Termite Inspection.