What's particular to Baldivis
European house borer
The City of Rockingham says this beetle has been found in dead wood in pine plantations, including the since-removed plantation on the corner of Sixty Eight and Eighty Roads. DPIRD calls it a destructive declared pest of seasoned pine, fir and spruce, one that can damage roof timbers, door and wall frames and flooring.
A zone map worth checking
DPIRD restricts moving pinewood in set zones. Its list dated 16 February 2022 has a Karnup zone with a boundary along Sixty Eight Road, Safety Bay Road and Baldivis Road. Don't guess from that: type your address into DPIRD's interactive map, because the zones can change.
A lot of new homes
The City's 2025 to 2030 strategy says significant residential development is planned in its eastern corridor, headlined by Baldivis and Karnup. If a builder in the past six years didn't provide the termite protection the National Construction Code requires, Building and Energy says you can refer the matter to it.
Mosquitoes from the south
The City says salt marsh mosquito numbers usually run higher around Karnup, Baldivis's southern neighbour, and a 2023 report found consistently high adult numbers in traps along Paganoni Road. Empty the water around your place before the warm months.
What house borer damage looks like
- Oval exit holes, 3 to 10 mm long, running with the grain of the wood.
- Frass, a powdery mix of wood dust and droppings, sitting below the holes.
- Damage in untreated pine, especially roof timbers, door frames, wall frames or flooring.
If you think you've found it
Report it to DPIRD's Pest and Disease Information Service or with MyPestGuide Reporter, and leave the timber where it is. DPIRD advises having homes with untreated pine inspected by an accredited pest controller with European house borer training.
It also asks people not to take pinewood from plantations or parkland, and not to collect pinewood left on verges for council pick-up. That's what the movement zones are for.
Worth asking before you say yes
- Are you trained in European house borer, and will you check the roof timbers?
- Does your termite inspection cover all accessible timber and the likely entry points?
- What's your Department of Health registration number? WA's register isn't public, so ask.
- Will I get a written report afterwards?
If this were our Baldivis place
We'd check the address on DPIRD's map, find out whether the roof timbers are treated pine, and keep the termite paperwork with the house records. New or not, we'd still want that yearly inspection. Seen something else? Tell us what and your postcode.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
