Building and Pest Report Questions

[MoparKevUk]

Hello Boys and Girls!

We are in the process of buying a house and have just got the building and pest report. They have found evidence of termite activity in a fence out the back and in a cupboard in a shed in the garden. They did not do an invasive report (tenants in at the moment) and are recommending an invasive search. They also say that the existing termite protection is out of date and can do a termite protection job for $2.5K. They are forever explaining that this is all for the best and that they are NOT structural engineers. Is this all scare mongering? Not having bought a wooden dwelling in a country infested by termites before I was wondering how reliable these reports are and whether they are just drumming up business.....

Extracts from report;

Degree of risk of subterranean termite infestation is considered; Moderate to high.

A management programme to AS3660 blah blah blah is; Recommended

A termite barrier thing is; Recommended

We can do it for $2,500.

Any input appreciated.

[daveylad]

Been there Kev, when we moved to Qld we bought a 100yr old Queenslander in Buderim, had the pest report done while we were still in Sydney and it came back okay. We bought the place and moved here and after a short while decided because of cockroaches and pests to have the place done over. The bloke came to do it and after 10 mins came up and said,"Bad News youve got termites" he showed me the area and I told him it was looked at how could it have been missed? must have been blind he said,Okay whats it going to cost me, I think it was almost $2000, then I showed him the pest report for the inspection, :blush: thats my company and that was my boss, cut a long story short DONT TRUST THEM!!! get someone else it may need doing but get 3 quotes for sure they change company names like the wind on Willy's weather, they ended up doing it inside a few hours drilling poisining etc, Get Someone else to look at it I would say there is hardly a fence (wooden) in Australia that dosnt have termite activity Ask around get someone elese to look they are worse then Lawyers and car salesmen

[RichH]

Ive recently resigned from a job in pest control (2 weeks ago) which i had worked in for 5 years. Some of the smaller companies (one man bands) have been known for scare tactics etc. But if it is true and the existing termite protection has expired then its wise to get an intrusive inspection done to see the extent of damage/activity. There is a possibility that they are drumming up work. But in saying that their reports have to be pretty spot on (due to legalities etc) What termite protection was there on the property (all info should be in your meter box in sticker form) Could be a Termguard reticulation system around the property , Exterra Bait stations , or possiblly an IT job where they have trenched to the footings of the soil areas and drilled concrete to fill with a certain chemical (usually Biflex/Termidor) which have a life/warranty of between 4-5 years depending on the environmental conditions and alot of other factors. Termite Colonies (main nests) not including sub nests can be approxmiatlly 200 metres from a property , so it is quite common to have a major colony infesting a number of houses in a certain area. September is traditionally the time when activity picks up ..through till May "ish" , but this doesnt meen that they are inactive other times of the year. This is normally peak time , due to higher humidity , rain , and heat. In my opinion its worth having some kind of protection as opposed to nothing. At the very least an inspection undertaken once a year. But if the report is correct and there is activity on the property , i would advise an intrusive inspection (you never know how far in the activity/damage has gotten to) hope this helps.

[faulked]

you can do a pretty good job of inspecting a house your self if its a high set anything you can walk around under and check the stumps very carefully for any sigh of damage tunneling or build up of dirt these are all signs of our house munching mates if they are in cavity walls they can be harder to find

it also sounds like they are just in the yard in spots id expect to find them

[crazywalrus]

mate I have termites in the yard - at least they are not in the house. Do not worry about them in the yard and do not pay to kill them. they can travel a long distance from the neighbor's place which u have not treated. That is scare mongering. most building inspections will check the termite barriers in think. What is the bottom story on the house?

[MoparKevUk]

It is high set and the pics of underneath the top from the rumpus and garage are good wood. No termite nest detected, but as you say, they could be further afoot. Old termite protection is holes spaced 600mm which apparently indicates older treatment. No sticker in 'leccy box, but it could have been removed......Renoed a few years ago. Keep the advice coming!

[tangles]

Whether or not the pest inspector is trying to rip you off, the question you need to ask yourself is can you afford to ignore the report. The building and pest inspection is your opportunity to deal with any concerns or bail on the contract if termite damage is found.

If you end up having to repair termite damage after taking ownership of the property, you are legally bound to disclose that when the time comes to sell, which can impact on the property's value.

[vaughan]

Be proactive.

Go to the premises and do your own inspection.

It's not rocket science.

Termites are dead easy to find....remember the nest can be 100+ metres away, therefore up to 80% of ALL properties are in the potential zone.

Go to the property and demand full access.

Take a hammer and common sense. SPEND time testing, hell, you don't even need a hammer, tell tale signs are always at ground level, as in where you can test via your tapping foot.

If anyone is hesitant in your request for access......then walk away.

I've bought and sold enough properties to be PROACTIVE. If you're going to drop $200K, THEN get involved.

V

PS Trust no one and/or the sh*t they say.

[RichH]

Renovations can be another problem in itself , over half the work we use to do was reno related , dodgy reno's , no capping/kordon or any protection , and the customer doesnt normally think of the "protection" factor , can easily slip someones mind. In regards to "dont worry about termites in your yard/fence" ..why would you not worry about them?? Considering they can travel up to 200m from a main/sub nest ..its quite possible that they can travel 5 metres from the fenceline into a structure. As i mentioned early i no longer work in the pest industry , hoping to move onto other projects , so i got no interest in any company etc , jus trying to give the right advice. There's a HUGE chance its not scare tactics , an awful lot of house have had/will have termite issues in their lives , prevention is better and cheaper than cure. A few bad operators have given the industry a bad name , jus like other industry's , there's an awful lot of professionals with alot of knowledge and know how that can inspect/treat any termite issue. Pricing will always vary ..depending ont he type of structure , lm's , chemical used etc ..for instance a 2.5 ltr bottle of Termidor is approx $420 - trade price , to do a proper job with this chemical on an average 62lm property youll need at least 5 litres (2 bottles) , plus 2 days labour / tools etc (complete barrier) plus a 4yr warranty , $2500 isnt alot to pay

[Malcolm]

Kev is it built in underneath ie slab pine frame gyprock walls? where is it?

[hooked_on_trout]

sounds like a crock of grogan to me.

talk to a builder, non interested party, they will set you straight.

A builder knows more than a bug man.

cheers

[Malcolm]

hooked_on_trout wrote:

sounds like a crock of grogan to me.

talk to a builder, non interested party, they will set you straight.

A builder knows more than a bug man.

cheers

Not true Iv seen builders stuff bug mans work many times

[RichH]

Termites are not dead easy to find , hence the use of termatracs to detect movement/ moisture meters to detect excessive moisture due to nests etc and thermal imaging. Tell tale signs are not always at ground level , if they were why do inspections involve entering roof voids? whether there has been activity found at ground level or not? A builder knows more than a bug man? your kidding? some builders have knowledge - yes , but it is not their specialty , do you go to the chiropractor to get your fillings done?

[MoparKevUk]

This is all excellent information/opinions.

Malc, it is built on a slab, unsure of woods, gyproc yeah! It's in Wynnum West.

[Davo_Dinkum]

Termites are nasty little buggers .

[Malcolm]

It's hard without seeing it Kev but it sounds like every other back yard in Brisbane if you look for Termites in your yard you will find them or signs of them most don't even eat timber.

How long have you got before decision day ?

[crazywalrus]

Rich H - I am not trying to disrespect your knowledge. I come from a Agricultural background and pest management side of things. A scorched earth policy does not work in that area. Termites are endemic in our environment. Chasing a few around your back yard is not going to keep them out of your house if there is not proper barrier. Treating them in the yard will be a very short term treatment and will only probably result in your pocket being a little litter. Any chemical deployed in an open area will not persist like it will under a slab as it will be leeched and broken down quickly.

The most important thing is the barrier. if it is not there than you are open to termites.

Kev termites are a normal thing you need to deal with here in Queensland. You need to be able to get into the house and check it. If you can not then you can be up for a lot of repairs. Not worth buying a house without a proper check. I know of folks that have bee up for $50,000 worth of repairs after not getting a correct pest inspection. There are a lot of cowboys in this industry so if you are serious get more than one inspection however do not be scared of a few termites they are part of life here.

[kmcrosby78]

Kev - I was in the same boat as you (pardon the pun!) earlier this year. We ended up buying a highset 1940/50's cottage/Qlder in Murarrie and went through the same process. Our pest guy did his inspections and found evidence of previous termite activity (which was plain obvious as the bottom of the timber stumps have the telltale signs - ours is dirt underneath)but no signs of active termite activity. Recommended getting a full protective treatment done which from memory was around the same price you were quoted. Could see signs of previous treatment but think it had expired. We decided we would purchase the chemicals from Bunnings and do it ourselves but due to slackness (and painting and ripping out about 3 tonnes of trees/garden stuff) haven't got round to it yet.

Anyway .... I found some termites yesterday in a couple of grevilleas (native trees) that we cut down in our backyard so termites are now back atop my To Do List. SO FOR THE BENEFIT OF MYSELF AND KEV, HAS ANYONE DONE THEIR OWN TREATMENT (OR RichH DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ON THEIR EFFECTIVENESS?)?

Also, when Googling a while back I noticed another alternative is Termite Traps (of which there are many variations with slightly differing costs). One example is http://www.termitetrap.com.au/index.htm In summary they are tubes that are placed around the home and garden, you put cardboard in them which termites seek out and find easier to eat then hardwood, they then call in the troops and take it back to the nest and queen. The traps have a clear lid/top and when termites are present they instinctively form a mud barrier to stop the light/provide secrecy and this is your warning that they are present. You then add the chemical which they take back to the nest and wipe out the colony. Well that's the theory of it anyway. When I last Googled it a couple of months ago some companies/products allowed you to purchase the chemical and apply it yourself whereas others you had to then pay a pest guy to come and do it.

So again with regards to 'Termite Traps', RichH or others, has anyone used them and/or have any feedback on them?

Hope this helps Kev (and helps me too!) as they are certainly a worry. I am not one to rush out and pay substantial money for stuff unless I am certain I need to but I must admit the thought that while I am putting it off the little buggers could be eating my house is certainly unsettling.

Cheers,

Kelvin.

[kmcrosby78]

Sorry Kev, couple of other things I thought of. Firstly, did they mention whether the termite signs they found were active/inactive? If active then obviously more serious, if inactive then you should have a good gauge on how much the structure has been affected. I think being recommended to get an invasive search done is pretty standard stuff as they need to cover their butt and can't say to you it is all clear without checking inside the walls, etc. I think someone mentioned getting quotes from others or getting 2 or 3 other pest guys to look at it but as you know these inspections are not free so I think (obviously without seeing your place AND I'LL LET YOU KNOW NOW THAT I AM NO EXPERT AND PROBABLY KNOW NO MORE THAN YOU DO) it comes down to you deciding whether (if there are no signs of active termites) you are prepared to assume that the whole house is inactive (we took this assumption/risk and I hope like hell it doesn't come back to bite us!!). If not but you are pretty keen on the place, it is probably worth getting the invasive report as this will/should truly tell you what state the structure is in and whether there are active termites. Once you know this you can decide whether to buy it or not, and then you can decide what treatment/prevention measures you take (hopefully my last reply will reap some replies/feedback on the different options available to you).

Once again, hope this helps and I'll stress again I'm certainly not an expert (school teacher by trade) but just hoping to help with the logical decision making process.

Cheers again,

Kelvin.

P.S. Will hopefully be joining the Wave Break group, so can chat more about it then.

[Davo_Dinkum]

i had them in my house ,i just paid the $ and got the new barrier ,treatment ,kill them from inside the house etc .

the house is 12 years old so the original barrier was out of date and i never got the yearly inspection done etc .

i went this way for peace of mind.

if more termite get into my house they will retreat it ,as long as i stick to the rules and get yearly inspections etc done.

my dad went the other way and did it him self .

both ways seam to work ,but if they have got into the house and u ever want to sell the place its good to have the paper work saying its been treated and dealt with .

i have a few quotes etc ,i picked a guy by word of mouth reference ,seamed the most honest.

here is the post from when i had them .
/>http://www.australianfishing.com.au/forum/36-wanted/253267-wanted-pest-control-termites#253331

u don't always see where they come in ,mine came in under ground on a pipe that was above the foundations but under the slab hight .

now all the yard is below the foundation and treated .

we where just poking around and found soft door way ,but there was a fair bit of damage by the time we found it .

now the door was and walls all looked ok from the out side ,it wasn't till we poke around we found lots of soft spots .

[dhess]

I have been through the pre purchase building/pest inspection a number of times and agree with a lot that has been said.

A couple of observations.:

- If termites are found the price that the inspector offers to do the treatment at is usually significantly over what a "normal" price would be.

- During the application of chemical barriers most pest controllers completely butcher tiles. They just drill holes wherever and chip the crap out of the tiles. As if a whole heap of holes in a tiled floor doesn't look bad enough it looks even worse if the edges are all chipped and they aren't in a straight line. How friggen hard is it to use a straight edge or a laser to mark holes that are in a straight line? And how hard is to use the appropriate drill bit? Not only would the holes be nice and neat drilling them would be a hell of a lot quicker.

You can take other steps to minimise the risk of termites.

- Having good drainage around the house.

- Eliminating trees or bushes that are too close to the house.

- Using hardwood or treated pine.

- Using cypress pine mulch. (Cypress is usually the last thing that they will go for.)

From what I have heard there are several different species of termites and some are a lot worse than others. We have on property that has been infested for decades and we've done nothing about it. It doesn't seem to be getting any worse. :evil:

[rayke1938]

If you are really keen on the house make termite inspection and subsequent treatment part of the sale contract. If the owner wont come to the party walk away.

Cheers

Ray

[MoparKevUk]

All great advice, thanks!

Carol went for a job with a pest control outfit a while ago. She sent the report to them and they will do the barrier and treatment for $2200 special "mates rates". We have put that quote to the solicitor and she is gonna try and get the vendor to fork out for it.....We now have the building report (by the same company) with lots of photos and "hardwood timber is fine" comments. Termite treatment for peace of mind, as alluded to in previous posts. Once again thanks for all the input. Watch this space for; "Where do I get the best deal on a petrol lawnmower and whippersnipper." "How do I hop up my petrol lawnmower and whipersnipper" "Does Nitrous Oxide Injection make gardening quicker, discuss" "Where can I get a new piston, as mine have holes in them, for a petrol lawnmower and whippersnipper" "Is Jim's Gardening worth the money compared to the price of a new petrol lawnmower and whipersnipper cos the 2 month old ones I've got have thrown a rod due to upping the nitrous tune to go for a gardening record attempt"