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Tropical Plants - Australia

Alternatives to termite spray

20 years ago

Hi All,

One of the downsides of buying an old house is that they usually dont have termite barriers installed when the slab is laid. The alternative is to have a chemical 'barrier' laid, but I have three big objections to this :

1. The toxicity of the chemicals

2. Termites are great survivors - lay chemical once, and chances are that they'll be immune to it within 6-12 months

3. The possibility of these chemicals leaching into my soil / groundwater etc.

I intend folowing the commonsense tips - no landscaping along the sides of the house, minimal junk stored under the house, attention to any drainage issues etc - but I know that termite attack is a very real possiblity anywhere in Rocky. Is there any alternative to the chemical route ?

Ta,

Artie

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Comments (5)

ree_ree
20 years ago
Hi Artie, I'm up the road in Mackay right near the beach (termite central). A few people round here have used those termite traps. Just fill them with pine/newspaper/sawdust and place a few metres from house. When the window at the top gets mudded up call the pest man.
I believe termites eat their dead (pleasant, isn't it?) so the poison is transferred to the whole colony.
I know this doesn't get away from chemicals, but it does keep them contained. As for the traps, you get a bit of notice before the little buggers get to the house.
Rose_Qld
20 years ago
Artie, I could have banged on at length about how ostrich I was about termites in Mackay (also, ree ree...hi) but this is what I've settled on for the time being. Annual inspection and termite baiting stations, as ree ree described.

If I didn't already know that this suburb is well known for termites, that several houses in this short street have had termite home invasion and that a few of us have gotten rid of termite-ridden sleeper walls, I might call them monitoring stations, or even, depending on your view, termite attracting stations :) But I'll keep 4-6 in place in various locations and check them monthly. Three have been *treated* already. This pest controller doesn't attempt to push barriers and is quite encouraging of home made stations. Ideally one would get the neighbours involved too. There's a magic figure of 50 m for travel from a nest.

The age of your house might mean that more potent chemicals were used under the slab: maybe the council would have this info?

Sometimes wonder that if they have the big three (food, moisture and shelter) in the yard, why would they want to come into the house? But that's probably back to ostrich mentality.

Cheers
Rose
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The other thing is that termite queens fly, and colonies burrow in tubes of mud into the house. Spraying would not defeat either one. Better to find someone that knows what they are doing and has insurance incase something goes wrong. Baits that the termites take back to the nest are more effective in killing the whole thing rather than just a passing insect.
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Original Author
20 years ago
Thanks for the feedback, Rose and Ree Ree.

I have a couple of quotes for the 'barrier' : both around the $1000 mark. Given that any strategy still requires diligence and regular inspections (I favour the screwdriver method), I think I will go with the traps.

Its ironic that the very thing which has caused us so much grief - the drought - has probably kept the little darlings at bay. My favourite horror story is the one about the early white settlers building brick homes in the belief that termites couldnt eat brick - they ate the *mortar* instead !

Happy trails,

Artie
Rose_Qld
20 years ago
My man has a golf ball mounted on a length of dowling for tapping timber in the ceiling space...before he came the first time, I didn't want any surprises and crawled everywhere tapping, especially over the bathrooms. Ripped my favorite RMs, sniff.
Rose
ree_ree
20 years ago
yes Artie, don't forget the neighbours. Our widow neighbour couldn't care less since her husband died.
Unfortunately for us there are old stumps all over her yard and they are full of white ants. As a result of this lack of maintenance we are also considering the buried pipe perimeter around the house.
I have also heard of nests being traced to 300 metres away, which is a bit scarey.

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