Termite treatments to protect your home

Termite Treatments Gold Coast and Tweed Heads

Suffering a termite attack can be a very stressful experience, but it’s important not to panic.

If you’ve got termites just give us a call and we will be around as soon as possible to determine the nature of the problem and talk through the options.

At Richards Pest Control we don’t always use the same products, we will design the best termite treatment for your particular situation, to guarantee termite elimination from your home and provide lasting protection.

TERMITE HOTLINECall 07 5533 9512

Termite Services

Termite Inspections

IMPORTANT!

If you think you have found termites, don’t disturb them further after the initial discovery:

Don’t spray them with insecticides (this only kills a few termites)

Don’t break open wood / mud tubes to investigate

Disturbing them or spraying them may temporarily scare them from the area making it more difficult to identify the species, determine the extent of the problem and they may also re-appear in a new, hidden area. All of which makes them more difficult to control.

If you’re worried you might have termites just give Richards Pest Control a call and we’ll be around to investigate.

The termite treatment process

There is a formal process to carrying out a termite treatment to be compliant with Australian Standards 3660.2 and industry insurance policies. There are 4 steps to the process:

Formal termite inspection

Even if the inspector has carried out a quick ‘inspection’ to determine enough about the issue in hand to provide a quote (termite treatment proposal), it is necessary to carry out a comprehensive, formal termite inspection before starting the treatment.

Not only does this provide a formal record of the pre-treatment situation, but it also records the levels of activity, areas of activity and potential termite entry points, all vital information for ensuring the correct treatment is applied. It also provides the detailed information for after treatment comparison to confirm the termites have been eradicated.

Termite treatment plan

Every situation is different – the house construction, type of termite species, amount of termite activity, soil type and environmental conditions, all impact the treatment strategy. If more than one treatment option is suitable the various options will be detailed in the quote. We will discuss these options with you to make sure you understand the pros and cons, before making a decision.

Eliminate active termites from the building

The agreed option will be detailed in the termite treatment proposal. This is a formal document which needs to be signed before starting work.

The first step in eliminating active termites from a building is to attempt to locate and destroy any termite nest on the property. However, this is not often possible as they can be hidden or on a neighbouring property. If we find a nest, we will treat it directly with insecticide. However, since there is no way of knowing whether any nest that is found is the same nest that is attacking the building or indeed, whether there may be more than one nest attacking the building, it is important to also tackle the active termites in the building.

Install a termite management system to provide long lasting protection

After we have confirmed active termites have been eliminated from the building, it’s necessary to install a termite management system around the perimeter of the building to prevent future termite attack. There are two types of termite management system: termiticide soil treatments, and termite monitoring and baiting systems.

Termite treatment products

Richards Pest Control are accredited to apply a wide range of termite control products. This allows us to make the best recommendation for your particular situation. However, all things being equal we prefer to use termite baiting systems as they offer 3 key advantages:

They are the only proven technique to consistently eliminate termite colonies
They are not washed away by heavy rain or floods
They have a great safety and environmental profile

Termite control products

Direct nest treatment

Eliminating active termites from buildings

The choice of product to treat active termites in the building depends on the species present, the level of activity and the conditions in the building.

Dusts and foams are applied to areas of termite activity and kill the termites directly in a couple of weeks. They also get transferred to nearby termites magnifying their effect, but they are unlikely to kill the nest. It is important to get a large number of termites to contact the insecticide to eliminate the termites from the building. Dusts are effective in drier conditions; foams are useful in areas of higher moisture. When enough termites are affected, the treatment can eliminate termites in a couple of weeks.

The alternative is to apply a termite bait to each of the areas of termite activity. Foraging termites take the bait, which contains a slow acting insecticide, back to the nest. There, it is fed to other nest mates, including the queen, and the nest slowly dies. It can take up to 3 months for the termite nest to die, but it guarantees nest elimination thus reducing termite pressure on the property.

However, once termites have been eliminated from the building it is important to install a termite management system to prevent future attacks.

Termite management systems

Termiticide soil treatments

Soil treatments involve applying liquid termiticide to the soil around and under the home (if you have a sub-floor). It is necessary to dig a trench around the perimeter of the home (to a depth just below the footings) and mix the termiticide with the soil as we fill it back in. If the soil is heavy clay or full of stones, we will need to replace it with loam. In situations where there are pavers or paths, the preferred technique is to lift the pavers or cut the concrete and apply the termiticide to the soil underneath. The alternative is to drill through the concrete and inject the termiticide through to the soil.

The treatment should last at least 5 years, depending on the chemical used (assuming there’s no flooding). However, a full comprehensive termite inspection is still required each year to maintain any warranty. Apart from the standard inspection checks, the inspection will also include checking the treated areas to make sure there has been no disturbance – building work, gardening and plant roots may all compromise the treated zone.

Termite management systems – termite baiting systems

A smart alternative to soil treatments is the use of termite monitoring and baiting systems. These systems consist of plastic monitoring stations placed in the ground every couple of metres around the home. If there are concrete areas near the house, like the soil treatments, it will be necessary to cut a core out of the concrete to install the bait station.

There are two types of system: monitoring and baiting systems, and the newer bait only systems.

Termite monitoring and baiting systems are the older style system and start with wood in the monitoring stations. If termites start attacking the wood, the wood is replaced with termite bait, which the termites then take back to the nest, eliminating the colony.

With the newer bait -only systems, the stations contain termite bait from the time of installation, ensuring that they get to work eliminating termite nests as soon as they are found by the termites.

A requirement of all these baiting systems is to have the stations inspected every 3 months, to check for any activity and add more bait if required. Like the soil treatments, a full comprehensive termite inspection is also required each year to maintain any warranty.

For comprehensive termite treatments with the latest technology call the experts at Richards Pest Control

REQUEST A QUOTECall 07 5533 9512