What's different in Nambour
Character houses
The planning scheme calls Nambour the largest rural town on the Sunshine Coast. Housing is mostly detached, with pockets of character housing in the traditional Queensland style in the older streets. A raised floor helps here, because an inspector can get into the subfloor (the space under a raised floor) and see the stumps and floor framing.
Four creeks, some flooding
Petrie, Paynter, Whalleys and Tuckers creeks run through the area. Central parts, including the fringes of the town centre, are subject to periodic flooding, which can leave damp under houses and wet timber lying around.
Bushland in town
Koala Park and Cilento Bushland Conservation Reserve hold high quality remnant vegetation, and Petrie Creek and its tributaries form a green spine through town. If you back onto it, expect to share the yard with possums, rats and plenty of spiders.
Mosquitoes up the creek
Sunshine Coast Council's sheet for Bli Bli and surrounding suburbs names tidal breeding habitat along the Maroochy River and Petrie Creek, and says saltmarsh mosquitoes can fly 10 km or more. Some other species breed in local fresh and brackish pools, then rest in the plants close to your house.
After water has been through the yard
Let the subfloor dry
Move anything stacked against vents or under the house so air can get through.
Clear what the water left
Wet cardboard, fence palings and timber offcuts feed and hide termites, so lift them off the ground or bin them.
Tip out the pools
Buckets, tarps and pot bases hold floodwater for days, and mosquitoes will use it.
Look, but don't touch
Walk the stumps and piers with a torch. If you see mud leads (thin tunnels of soil on timber or brick), photograph them and leave them alone.
Book the inspection
Tell the inspector how high the water came and where it sat longest.
Termite inspections on an older house
A termite inspection on a Queensland style home takes in the stumps, floor framing, anything added over the years and the ground around it. The QBCC's advice is a yearly inspection and report, with more frequent visits where termites are busier. A newer deck or extension deserves the same look as the original house.
If something turns up, chemical termite treatment in Queensland sits under a QBCC termite management licence class, on top of the pest licence from Queensland Health. Ask for both before you say yes.
Buying in Nambour
A building and pest inspection needs two licences. The QBCC says the building report takes a licensed residential building inspector, the termite report takes a pest controller with the right licence, and one person can do both only if they hold both. Our pre purchase page has the detail. Keep in mind the QBCC also says a pre purchase building inspection isn't a warranty against future defects.
Fire ants
Fire ants are a state report first, and not a job we take. If you spot suspect ants or nests, especially in soil or mulch you've brought in, contact Biosecurity Queensland. Queensland law asks for that report within 24 hours.
If this were our place
An older house near a creek gets two habits from us: a termite inspection once a year, and a walk underneath after any flood. Everything else can wait until you can see or hear it, and then we'd like to know what it is and where you are.
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.
