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| INITIAL INSPECTION & REPORT requires a complete thorough inspection of the buildings and surrounds, and a detailed written report to Australian Standard 3660 on areas inspected, evidence found of termite activity, high risk termite entry areas inaccessible to inspection and termite control options and limitations thereto. Recommended as
essential.
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| CHEMICAL SOIL TREATMENT
around the perimeter and sub-floor of a building to eradicate termites attempting
to gain entry into the building through a treated soil area. On the grounds
of safety and effectiveness Termidor
or Premise
termiticide, are recommended for this purpose - discussed in detail later
in this website.
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| TERMITE BAITING & TERMITE COLONY ELIMINATION involves the installation
and monitoring of termite bait stations, such as, Nemesis, Exterra
and Sentricon systems. This method relies heavily on the termites "finding"
and consuming sufficient bait. Recommended in some circumstances, particularly if live termite activity is found.
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| BUILDING MODIFICATIONS and MAINTENANCE including some termite risk reduction measures the home-owner carry out,
such as, improving sub-floor ventilation, removal of timber in contact with the soil and improving important inspection access areas.
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| Regular FOLLOW-UP INSPECTIONS are essential and should be carried out at least every 3 to 6 months where signs of termite activity has been located in the vicinity of susceptible buildings or timber structures. |
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| FIRSTLY, it is essential for the termite controller to complete a thorough
inspection of the buildings and surrounds. The property owner should be
supplied with a written inspection report and detailed specifications to AS.3660 for
an integrated termite control program. It is essential that the inspection
and report be received before any protective measures are commenced.
A professional termite inspection and report to AS.3660 including a termite control protection advice costs around $150 to $300 for an average size dwelling, depending upon the style of construction and ease of inspection access. |
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A professional termite inspection and report .... could save you thousands of dollars Specific areas inspected should include accessible timbers within the crawl space in the sub-floor, roof void, interior, exterior, garden landscaping, fences, other timber structures and trees in the locality. |
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| CONSUMER NOTE: Most home-owners are unaware that their general home
insurance policy does NOT cover termite damage to structural timbers. However, appropriate
professional indemnity insurance is available to professional pest controllers
to cover termite damage to structural timbers in a building caused by subterranean
termites gaining entry into the building through an abutting chemical soil
treated area.
If there are termites in the building, at the time of chemical soil treatment, they cannot safely return to their central colony nest through the chemically treated soil. Termites are compelled to return every few days to their central colony nest in the ground to obtain moisture essential for their survival and to feed and groom the nymphs (young termites), the king, queen and other termites. The installation of a chemical soil barrier requires expert knowledge and specialised equipment to form a complete and continuous barrier to protect the building from a termite entry and infestation - as illustrated below: |
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Subterranean termites may build such a nest in a roof or wall cavity where moisture is regularly supplied, say from a faulty plumbing, leaking shower recess, broken roof tiles and faulty guttering. |
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| There are several types of termite control chemicals registered by the relevant Australian Federal Government AVPMA for use in termite control as a soil treatment chemical. |
WARNING: Several outdated products are solvent
based termite control pesticides which may cause health problems to asthmatics
during the drying process.
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Termidor and Premise do NOT have an obnoxious odour or emit airborne residues or fumes. Both
are registered as a low hazard insecticide with a CAUTION notation on the
registered label.
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| Avoid repellency products: Some alternative termiticides have a strong repellency action to deter
foraging termites. Repellant products are less effective in that the termites can detect the chemical and avoid it and move
along the treated soil areas, actively seeking a gap to gain entry into
the building.
Non-repellant products, such as Termidor and Premise are more effective, in that the termites cannot avoid what they cannot detect. The chemical adheres to the skin of the worker termites or they ingest it when tunneling through treated soil areas. These products have a delayed lethal effect - enough time to be taken back to the colony nest and be spread to other termites during their mutual feeding and grooming. With sufficient consumption of the chemical, the entire colony is eliminated.
Premise will act to kill termites, in the higher concentration treated soil areas abutting the building. With Premise, termites that forage in the lower concentrated treated soil areas, will become disorientated, stop feeding, and are fatally diseased by natural fungi and micro-organisms in the soil. |
| Both Bayer Premise
and BASF Termidor products are scientifically proven to be transferred from one affected termite to another. The technology is aimed at
eradicating the queen termite and the entire colony - refer to the animated
illustration below:
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 Termites tunneling
in the Premise or Termidor treated soil area abutting the building (of high concentration
- near the point of application) are killed outright.
Termites tunneling in the outer parts of a Premise or Termidor treated soil area (of low concentration) will not detect the chemical which adheres to their bodies
and has a delayed lethal effect of several days - enough time to be transferred
back to the central colony nest.
Worker termites have a very thin waxy skin (called an exoskeleton) that readily absorbs moisture. Both Premise and Termidor adheres to the termite exoskeleton and is readily adsorbed through the exoskeleton and into the termite's body to immobilize and kill the affected termite within a few days. In that time, the termites spread the Premise or Termidor chemical to other termites during regular physical contact, particularly when working together in close proximity, grooming and feeding the rest of the colony, a regular function of their daily life. Cannibals by nature: Termites carry away or cannibalize other dead termites, further spreading the lethal effect of the Premise or Termidor chemical throughout the colony. |
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Several termite baits in Australia: There are three chemical products registered by the Australian Federal Government APVMA Registration Authority as a termite bait, namely Nemesis, Exterra and Sentricon.
We recommend Nemesis as the only AUSTRALIAN owned and developed product. Exterra and Sentricon are USA products. Each baiting system uses a number of plastic bait stations for in-ground and above-ground installation where active termites have been located. How the Nemesis Termite Bait works: The Nemesis bait contains chlorfluazuron as the active constituent, which acts as an insect growth regulator or IGR. The worker termites readily eat the bait and pass it onto other termites in the central nest as part of their mutual feeding and grooming process. Termites must regularly molt in their development from nymph to adult. Futher details in the Termites section of this website. A cascading lethal effect: The chemical prevents the termites from regrowing their external skeleton, resulting in the death of the termite. Termites cannibalize other dead termites thereby hastening the elimination of the entire colony. Nemesis, Sentricon and Exterra termite baits are designed to be slow acting, non-repellant and therefore spread to other termites in the colony before the colony can detect where the deadly effect is coming from. Termites have acute survival instincts. The location of a toxic food source if detected, will be abandoned. Too much disturbance of the foraging termites (workers and soldiers) in a particular location, will alert the termite colony to abandon the area. The termites appear to be gone, but may in fact be entering the building in other areas. Your home is a much bigger bait station. Regular monitoring is required: The Nemesis, Exterra and Sentricon termite baiting systems are subject to regular inspection and monitoring by the termite controller. The larger the number of termites that consume the bait, the quicker and more certain is the termite colony elimination process. Baiting is sometimes unreliable: Termite colony elimination in favourable circumstances may take several weeks to a few months. However, in some cases, termite colony elimination is unsuccessful or may take years, depending on the circumstances. It depends if a large number of termites find and consume the bait, then colony elimination is virtually assured within a few months. This is where the experience and skill of the pest controller is paramount, in order to properly decide if and where a baiting program is to be implemented and properly monitored. WARNING: there are many pest control operators in the field offering Termite Baiting at ridiculously low prices that would not even cover direct materials and labour. Be wary - the pest control licensing system in NSW is grossly inadequate with many people getting a full licence with little training or experience in this tricky field. Consumer note: It is usual to reinspect the bait stations and the buildings and surrounds every month to reposition, reapply or replenish the bait, if necessary. This process is labour intensive so that the long term cost of the monitoring and baiting system may accumulate out of hand before the chance of success or otherwise, is realised. |
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Ring the Experts: successful
termite protection of a building using a baiting program often requires
expert skill and judgment, based upon years of field-work experience in
termite control in a wide variety of circumstances.
Live termites found? One critical aspect is the bait stations should to installed in areas where live activity is found. Otherwise the termites must blindly "find" the stations to have any chance of bait consumption and successful elimination. |
| CONSUMER NOTICE: Be wary of companies want full payment upfront that promise a timber replacement warranty using a termite baiting and monitoring system. Be careful to read the Contract fine print which stipulates that the so called "warranty" may apply at some future point in time, but only later if the company decides that the termite colony elimination is successful. |
Your home is a much bigger bait station. Other termite nests may exist in trees, under concrete on-ground flooring and in-fill patios of neighboring properties. These termite nest may be unaffected by the baiting program and infest your home. If termites happen to 'find" the in-ground "monitoring" stations, the a bait is placed therein. If this involves sufficient disruption of the termites may avoid the in-ground bait station, entirely. RECOMMENDATION: That the Australian product Nemesis Termite Bait be applied directly onto known termite activity areas for several weeks and monitored to determine levels of bait consumption. In addition, if practicable thereafter, a complete chemical soil barrier treatment using Termidor or Premise be applied around the immediate perimeter of the building and other high risk entry points. AN INTEGRATED APPROACH: A termite monitoring and baiting program can be integrated with a range of methods including (1) drilling susceptible trees and eradication of any termite nest located therein, and (2) in conjunction with a follow up chemical soil treatment using Termidor or Premise. |
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| Listed below are some
useful recommendations for the home-owner to carry out in order to help reduce
the risk of undetected termite activity inside a building.
Rapid termite colony development and building infestation is usually associated with a readily available timber food and moisture source nearby the central nest. In addition, buildings are often constructed in a way that allow termites to gain undetectable entry from the soil to the structural timbers of the building. (1) Moisture exclusion from inside the wall cavities, around the base of the building and sub-floor area. Exclude excessive water run-off from a sub-floor area by the installation of ag-drains. Make sure there is adequate cross flow ventilation in the sub-floor area. In addition, a qualified plumber should be engaged to ensure there is no water leakage from plumbing pipes in the bathroom, the shower recess, kitchen, down pipes, guttering and air conditioning unit overflow. Look for signs of dampness in the wall cavities, broken roof tiles, faulty guttering and the like. Please note: high humidity, dampness or moisture accumulating in a wall cavity is of high risk to encouraging large scale termite activity inside the building. (2) Removal of any timber in contact with the soil. Timbers should be stored above ground level to allow full inspection for termite activity. Any landscaping using timber chip mulch and railway sleepers should be removed, as they provide ready food source to assist in rapid termite colony development. (3) Ensure inspection access is unimpeded, particularly in sub-floor areas of suspended floors, in order to look for evidence of termite activity. If your home is on concrete slab on-ground flooring, make sure you can inspect the entire external slab edge for evidence of termite mud-shelter tubes. Do NOT allow this area to be covered by pavers, landscaping, planter pots, etc, as termites often gain entry into the wall cavity through external weep holes and gaps in the mortar of brick-work. If you find live termites DO NOT disturb the area. DO NOT use spray insecticides on the termites. If sufficiently disturbed, the termites may move elsewhere and not be rediscovered until severe damage has been done. The termite controller can install a termite bait on the termite activity area aimed at maximising bait consumption by the termites and elimination of the entire colony ... discussed in detail above. |
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We usually recommend 3 or 6 monthly inspections be carried for the first 24 months following a chemical soil treatment. |
| A Word of Warning: the correct identification of a destructive termite species, inspection of a building for tell-tale signs, analysis of your circumstances and the design and implementation of an effective program for the protection of a building from termite infestations, requires expert skill and judgment based upon professional training and extensive field-work experience in termite control in a wide variety of circumstances. |
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