Bardon is a leafy residential suburb located in the foothills on the eastern side of Mount Coot-tha, and is characterised by ridges separated by steep gullies.
Termite Solutions technicians are often challenged by the styles of construction encountered in Bardon. We have a name for some of these homes: Architect designed Nightmares.
The elderley homeowners of this ‘architecturally challenged’ home complained that after 3 expensive termite treatments, ongoing repairs and dozens of ‘recalls’ by this firm, that they believed their home had never been termite free since the first attempt in 1997. Complete perimeter termite treatments had been carried out in 1997, 2001 and 2002. They changed to another large company a few years ago with the same result.
The owners called Termite Solutions ‘Tech Direct’ number requesting assistance and a thermal inspection after their last pest controller from a well known firm told them they’d need to call another company as he could not ‘fix’ their problem.
He suggested they find a company with a thermal camera. The above photo is what we could see in one section of the wall with our thermal camera.
The glow in the wall here indicates where a large pack of termites was situated. This was not visible to the human eye, but with an infra red camera we can clearly see where we need to place our Termidor Dust treatment. This removes the termites from the home very quickly, then we treat the soil around the exterior with Termidor to keep them out for up to 8 years.
The reasons for the recalls became evident immediately when we checked the meter box termite treatment notices and the old treatment drill hole spacings.
Product guidelines required these treatments to have drill hole spacings at a maximum of 30cm.
However, as you can see by the photo below, the old drill treatment holes, marked with chalk, are around 45cm. It’s no wonder the 3 previous treatments failed. When the drill holes are too far apart with these repellant products, termites would detect the chemicals and go around them and follow the old scent lines back into the home as happened here. The products were fine but the application was flawed
.
Our recent Termidor treatment drill spacings at around 18cm as seen above
This should ensure that this home remains termite free for around 8 years. Our clients reckon that will see them out. We were able to back up our company warranty with a ‘TimberSure’ timber replacement warranty. This means that if termites come back, so do we to replace any new damage.