Termites Barrier - Should We Have It Installed?

cookietime on 23/10/2018 - 11:05

Short version: Found active termites in the back yard. The nest is probably in the gum tree in the neighbour's yard. Should we spend $4,500 to install the termite barrier and $250 every year over 8 years to maintain the warranty?

Longer version: The pest control guy noticed termites in our yard so he recommended us to get a termite inspection done, which we did. He showed us live termites in the backyard. We thought that the nest could be in the gum tree in our neighbour's backyard, which is about 40-50m from our yard, because there are a lot more termite damages in that direction.

The pest control guy gave us a quote of $4,500 to install the termite barrier. To maintain the barrier's warranty, we need to do termite inspection every year at a cost of $250 ($2000 over 8 years).

We spoke to our neightbours about the termites and they said that they would get their house inspected too, and seek a second opinion on the solution.

While waiting for news from them, thought I'd ask if anyone had a similar experience.

My questions are:
- I was told that a termite touching the poison would bring the poison back to its nest to kill others. As there are at least 6 houses within 100m from the gum tree, should all of us get the termite barrier installed or is that an overkill?
- The termites are currently about 20m from our house, which is on a concrete base. How soon should we get the barrier installed given summer is at the door? The pest guy of course said asap. We don't know how long it would take for the neighbours to get back to us and don't want to wait for too long.

Thank you!

CT

Home & Garden

Comments

  • HighAndDry on 23/10/2018 - 11:39
    +1

    Termites would scare the hell out of me. Once they get into your property, save for invasive inspections (ripping out timbers basically), you have no real way of knowing how much damage may have been done. I mean - how much is your house worth? (Plus check your insurance - I don't think it'd cover damage from termites, especially if you were made aware of it and did nothing).

    Longest I'd wait is to get quotes from maybe 1 or 2 other termite inspectors, but yeah - completely layperson's opinion? ASAP sounds about right.

    • cookietime on 23/10/2018 - 11:55

      You are correct about the insurance. It won't cover damages from termites.
      Many thanks for your advice. We'll talk to the neighbours again some time this weekend to see if they have arranged anything. If they seem to move too slowly, we won't wait for them then.

  • Goodiemite on 23/10/2018 - 11:43

    Where do you live?

    • cookietime on 23/10/2018 - 11:57

      I'm in South Canberra. The house isn't too far from the reserve (I don't know if that would make us more termite-proned?).

  • Glider on 23/10/2018 - 12:10
    +1

    Worth getting a couple of other quotes for the barrier and ongoing inspections/warranty. There are different barrier types available like physical mesh or chemical soil drench. You might have different initial costs and ongoing maintenance costs to choose from.

    In WA we have the chemical drench (need to re-do every 5 years) and our annual inspections are $190 which they throw in a spider spray too.

    It would be a nice neighbourly thing to do to pop a note in your other neighbours letterboxes to let them know.

    • cookietime on 23/10/2018 - 20:33

      Thank you. We'll call around to get a few more quotes.

      We already spoke to the neighbours so they are aware of the issue.

  • hawkeye on 23/10/2018 - 12:23
    +1

    Termite barrier is just a visual so if you see a mud trail built over the barrier you know termites are penetrating the house.
    A downpipe can block your visual as it did in a whole estate on the gold coast 15 years ago that's why now all down pipes are off the house.
    If you don't already have a termite barrier 1 brick up from footing I'd be using poison every year or manufactures specs.

  • Melb69 on 23/10/2018 - 13:29
    +1

    A termite infestation into a house can quicky seriously damage structural timbers in 6 months or less.

    Get extra quotes. Get house inspected. Get other neighbours within 100m to also consider it. Might be cheaper of you bulk do it.

    Supposedly you can hear them munching in the timber at night if they get in.

    Remove stored timber piles away from house.

    • cookietime on 23/10/2018 - 20:37

      Thank you!

      We got the house inspected and it's all clear for now. The pest control guy said that we keep all the timbers in place until we decide what we want to do so that we don't disturb the termites and cause them to look for new food source, which might very well be our house.

      We'll talk to the neighbours again this weekend and see how they go. I'm not too optimistic about them doing this as quickly as we want to, but we'll try :)

  • [Deactivated] on 23/10/2018 - 16:55
    +1

    This is like the scenario where you have person A and person B about to be attacked by a shark. Kill the damn shark.

    Why spray a whole lot of barrier around everyone's house when you can barrier the tree.

    Ps. Don't logic me with termites coming from other sites. Logic makes me angry!

    • cookietime on 23/10/2018 - 20:41

      This is exactly what I've been thinking. I don't think there are other termite nests in the area because this is the only place that has damages from termites.

      I just hope that the neighbours are not thinking "I'll wait for the other person to kill the shark so I don't have to do anything".

    • HighAndDry on 23/10/2018 - 21:53

      when you can barrier the tree.

      LOL!

      I mean, why stop there? Clear the ground around it, and just pour a gallon of Naphthalene into it. It'll do double duty because it's a pesticide that's derived from naphtha (aka napalm), so after you let it do its chemical work, you can set the whole thing on fire too.

  • madreece on 23/10/2018 - 20:59
    +1

    How old is the house? I'm not sure of the building regs in Canberra, but in Victoria if it is in a designated termite area it needs to have termite protection done during construction. Have you checked inside your meterbox for any attached certification?

    • cookietime on 24/10/2018 - 22:21

      The house was built in late 1980s so I don't think termite protection was done when it was built.

  • [Deactivated] on 23/10/2018 - 21:32

    We had termites in a piece of wood outside the house and got a guy in who told us modern houses you don't need to worry as all the timber is treated.

    • [Deactivated] on 23/10/2018 - 22:04
      +1

      All the treated timber is treated.

      I wouldn't run into a burning house just because I have fireproof shorts on.

    • madreece on 23/10/2018 - 22:31

      That's not true at all I'm afraid.
      Actually that might depend on your state. I know WA is very prone to termites so their rules may be different. I can only talk about Victoria.

      • [Deactivated] on 24/10/2018 - 09:13

        Yeah I am in WA. It's pretty rare that untreated timber is used for building.

        It's pretty stupid not to use treated timber as the cost is less than $1000 for a typical house.

  • alchew on 23/10/2018 - 23:57

    Termite "Barrier" Spray is waste of time and money. Termites are ubiquitous in Australia, and they are everywhere in the ground. Just need to stay on the lookout for them and if they get to your house, just do spot treatments (they take the chemical back to their queen, it is an unnecessary use of chemicals and harmful to your own family and to the environment in general to just blast chemical everywhere). In WA they drill down into the ground to spray chemicals when they do barrier spray, but only for a fairly short distance, termites will live much deeper than where they spray. Hence they are not allowed to call it a "barrier" treatment but instead call it a "perimeter" treatment.

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