White Ants
Are White Ants Destroying Your Home?
‘White ants’, more correctly called termites, are a serious pest in Australia. They have the capacity to create thousands of dollars worth of damage in a matter or weeks or destroy an entire roof structure in as little as three months. Removing the roof and re-building the roof structure of a home is a very costly affair, and if damage has also occurred to the walls or floor of the home, the repair cost would be astronomical. And as you might suspect, damage caused by termites isn’t covered by insurance – it’s preventable.
White-ants aren’t actually ants at all. They’re more closely related to cockroaches however, because they look like little pale coloured ants, many people refer to them as white ants. Whether you call them white-ants or termites the amount of damage they can do remains the same!
Are you sure you don’t have have them?
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Ensure you don’t have vegetation growing up against your house;
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Keep the area under your home and your roof space well ventilated as termies and other pests like dampness and humidity;
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Repair leaks quickly – white ants like to have a source of water too;
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If you use timber for structures or retaining walls in your garden, ensure you choose termite resistant timers, or timber that has been treated to deter termites.
Perhaps the most important thing you can do is ensure that you have regular inspections to detect the presence of timber destroyng pests in your home, or their activity level around your home. The CSIRO website suggests having an annual inspection and increasing that to twice a year if you live in a warm climate area in Australia.
When white ants damage a home the financial cost can be devastating. Having a pest control expert inspect your home, suggest white ant prevention strategies, and treat any infestations early are inexpensive ways to protect your home.