Although it’s essential to get a professional termite inspection annually (as recommended by the Australian Standards and CSIRO), it’s also important to keep an eye out for potential risk factors in and around your home.

Some of the risk factors to be aware of are:

• Moist or rotting wood
  Subterranean termites are attracted to moisture, so you should routinely check your home and garden for any signs, including old fences, stacks of firewood, and leaking taps.
• Timber garden mulch
  Mulch is a popular product for landscaping, but if timber mulch is kept too close to buildings, termites may start chewing on the timber inside the home as well. To reduce this risk, look at alternative types of mulch or move it a bit further away from your house.
• Dense shrubbery
  Keeping foliage and shrubs near your home trimmed helps moist areas to dry faster.
• Neighbours with risk factors
  Even if you maintain your property well, termites might still try to move onto your home if there are neighbouring properties with any of these issues.

Although the Australian Standards and CSIRO recommend an annual termite inspection, every home is different, so some may need to be checked more frequently. For example, houses in areas surrounded by trees, particularly Eucalypts, may be at more risk and need more frequent inspections.

However, an annual inspection doesn’t just check for the presence of termites!

By having an annual inspection of your family home, your professional termite controller can also assess your property for potential risk factors and make sure that your prevention methods are still working as intended.

Allstate are highly experienced in termite inspections and will make sure that your property and garden are inspected from top to bottom. Use our instant chat to book a termite inspection now.

When buying or living in an older home, you may have thought about termites. But did you know that new homes are also susceptible to termite infestations?

Once termites start feeding inside newly constructed homes, they can cause serious damage within just three months. That’s why it’s important to keep your home protected with up-to-date technology like Kordon, a barrier installed around the house during construction.

For all your termite control needs in Adelaide, call Allstate now – 8371 1277.

During an inspection, we check:

• Interiors – each room is checked from floor to ceiling including doorframes, skirting boards, and cupboards
• Roof void – if the roof void can be accessed, they will check all timber with a sounding tool
• Subfloor – in homes with a subfloor, this is where termites will usually begin their attack
• Exterior – the full perimeter of the house
• Outbuildings – interior and exterior of every outbuilding on your property
• Grounds – entire grounds, particularly landscaping timbers, garden beds, trees, stumps, and fence line

Sentricon Always Active

Sentricon AlwaysActive is an excellent option for termite control in Adelaide homes that is environmentally sensitive and secure from pets and children.

Sentricon AlwaysActive is highly effective and a long-term solution for termite control. This system preventes termites without using in-ground chemicals. It offers continuous protection by tapping into the natural behaviour and biology of termites to prevente termites before they’re discovered.

Your termite controller will place Sentricon stations strategically around your home. Termites feed on the Sentricon In-Ground Termiticide Roots, which contains a growth regulator that interrupts the termite moulting process. When the termites tunnel back to their colony, the worker termites will die. Eventually, the entire colony will be prevented, and any new termites will be prevented.

Kordon Termite Barrier

Kordon Termite Barrier is a repellent termite barrier made in Adelaide, making it the perfect solution for Adelaide construction methods and climate. This protection is backed by Bayer, one of the world’s largest environmental science companies, and is extensively tested by the CSIRO.

Kordon is a polyester webbing containing deltamethrin, a synthetic pyrethroid, which is laminated between two UV stable low-density polyethylene plastic sheets. This is then installed around the building in areas where termites are likely to find access.

The deltamethrin in Kordon is highly repellent to termites, it is perfect for residential, as well as commercial projects. White ants will avoid close contact with it and try and find food elsewhere. If the termites try to go around the Kordon, they will build mud tubes. These tubes are detectable by trained inspectors and can be quickly prevented following your annual inspection.

1. Can termites eat hardwood?

Yes. People in Adelaide often think hardwood is safe from termites, but the opposite is true. The majority of termites actually prefer hardwood over softwood, even though it takes them a little longer to eat and process.

2. Do termites live out in the open?

No. Subterranean termites (the termite common in Adelaide) travel through tunnels known as mud tubes which they make out of their own excrement and saliva. Termites need a high level of humidity to survive which is why they don’t venture out into the open.

3. Do termites eat 24 hours a day?

Yes. The majority of a termite colony consists of workers who work day and night eating wood to provide food for the colony.

6. Are termites easy to spot?

No. Once you have a heavy infestation, you may notice hollow-sounding walls on small piles of insect wings. Still, it’s almost impossible to know there’s a young colony in your house without a professional inspection.

7. Do black ants eat termites?

Yes. Black ants can attack and eat termites if given the opportunity, however this is rare: termites are rarely hanging around above ground with black ants, instead sticking to their mud tubes and the insides of your walls.

8. Do steel-framed houses stop termites?

No. Fortunately termites can’t eat steel. So, steel-framed houses certainly aren’t as susceptible to attack. However termites can still feed on any other timber parts of the house such as window frames, floor boards, fixed timber furnishings and timber fences and pergolas.

Termite prevention when building a home

At Allstate Adelaide we also provide moisture protection and concrete curing to further mitigate the risk of termites in the construction phase.

Speak with your builder about Allstate’s preconstruction division or contact us directly using the orange chat button.

Precautions when living in your existing home

Whether or not you took the right precautions when buying or building your home, there are several important steps you should take to reduce the risk of a termite infestation at any stage:

• Repair any leaks immediately – moisture-compromised wood is a haven for termites
• Make sure you have sufficient drainage and grading to keep the soil surrounding your home dry
• Keep all plants, bushes and trees trimmed away from the house
• Don’t stack firewood against your house
• Book a termite inspection from a qualified pest control professional at least once every 12 months

Why get a termite inspection?

A simple $200-$400 investment each year will save you from potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long run.

What happens during a termite inspection?

1. Once you book your inspection, a qualified termite technician will come out at the agreed time to inspect your home.
2. They use a range of tools to detect the termites and cover all areas of your house, outbuildings and grounds.
3. Once they have completed the inspection, they will explain what they have found and give you recommendations for treatment if needed, or tell you how to reduce your risk for future.
4. Your technician will email you a detailed report including photos and a proposal for any necessary termite control.

How do pest technicians detect termites?

• Sounding – a sounding tool tests the integrity of the wood.
• Moisture readings – we use a moisture meter to get the background reading for the house, then find any areas where the reading is higher, which tells us there are termites present.
• Movement detection – this tool fires infrared rays into the timber to check for termite activity.
• Borescope – this allows us to take pictures of active termites in timber.
• Visual inspection – we will also visually check for ingress points and mud tubes.

What are the Signs of Termites Infestation in Your Home

1. Clicking sounds from your walls

In a bad termite infestation you may hear clicking coming from your walls. Sometimes the sound is termites munching away, other times it’s the sound of them head banging! The soldier termites bang their head against wood when the colony is disturbed as a danger signal for the rest of the colony.

2. Tight-fitting doors and windows

If it isn’t hot or wet weather making your doors and windows hard to open, it might be termites. When the termites eat and tunnel through doors and windows, they weaken the wood which fills it with moisture. This causes them to warp in much the same way that damp weather does.

3. Flying termites and piles of wings

After three to five years, a termite colony will produce flying termites, who will leave to start a new colony elsewhere. These types of termites are known as swarmers, and you may notice them near lights or windowsills.

You may also notice piles of discarded wings near your doors and windows – a sure sign you need a termite inspection.

4. Mud tubes

Mud tubes are tubes of dirt, wood and debris, and you may notice them outside your home. Subterranean termites live underground, and build these mud tubes as a tunnel between the nest and their food source in your walls.

5. Hollow-sounding timber

Termites eat wood from the inside out, and so in a bad infestation, your walls will sound hollow when knocked. By this stage they would have severely weakened the structural integrity of your home.

Protecting yourself from termites

The CSIRO recommends a termite inspection at least every 12 months to protect yourself from the headache and heartache termites can cause. It’s essential you get this inspection with a qualified termite professional who has a reputation for thorough inspections.

At Allstate Pest Control Adelaide, our qualified termite technicians use a set inspection checklist to ensure nothing gets missed. This covers your:

• Interior
• Exterior
• Roof void
• Subfloor
• Any outbuildings
• Grounds

On completion of the termite inspection we explain our findings to you in detail then send you a comprehensive report.

To book in for a termite inspection before it’s too late, chat to us live now or phone us on (08) 6117 1247.