Termites around Rockhampton
On the Tropic of Capricorn
The council's Tropic of Capricorn Spire stands at the city's southern entrance. CSIRO puts the risk of termite attack on mainland Australia highest in the subtropics and tropics, which is the band Rockhampton sits in.
The West Indian drywood termite
It occurs throughout Queensland and, Business Queensland says, has caused considerable economic damage to timber homes in the state. It lives in the timber, so the soil around the house tells you nothing about it.
The nest may be next door
CSIRO says subterranean termites usually forage within 30 m of their nest and occasionally 100 m or more. The colony eating your pergola could be in a stump two yards over.
Signs the QBCC tells Queenslanders to look for
- Mud shelter tubes beside architraves or skirting boards, on brick foundations, or on outside walls at ground level.
- Sagging floors, doors or ceilings.
- Damaged skirting boards, door jambs or architraves.
- Cracked or blistered paint or plaster.
- Timber that sounds hollow when tapped.
- Discarded wings near windows, in spider webs or in light fittings.
- Dry, sand-like pellets in small cone-shaped piles: the drywood termite's calling card.
- Unexplained power failures, which the QBCC also includes on its list.
Spotted one of those? Touch nothing
Don't spray, scrape or open anything up. CSIRO says a number of control options depend on finding termites still active, and Western Australia's building regulator gives the same advice about sprays and pulling out infested wood.
Wings are the rarest clue. In CSIRO's survey of homes with termites, 86% noticed damaged wood, 34% mud tubes and just 8% wings.
What treatment involves
The inspector checks the roof space, subfloor, walls and garden, then writes up which termite it is and where it's active. For ground termites, the choice is usually a chemical soil barrier around the house, baiting, or both, followed by return visits. Drywood termites need a different plan because they never go near the soil; ask the inspector to explain theirs.
Queensland asks for two things here. Applying pesticides for a fee needs a Queensland Health pest management licence, endorsed for the type of work, and inspecting and reporting on termite systems in completed buildings sits under the QBCC's termite management (chemical) class. See our Queensland page.
If it were our house in Rockhampton
We'd leave it alone, take a photo, and book the inspection this week rather than next month. While we waited, we'd fix any leaking tap near the walls and move timber off the ground. Tap Termites with 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.
