Termites

They live in colonies of…millions. They love to eat wood. Your building’s wood. Your wood.

They are everywhere.

You will never eradicate termites. It’s a sort of never-ending game where, for a time you are on top and they ‘seem’ to have disappeared, then one day you see little lines of 6-legged insects striding purposefully to and from your… kitchen or food store. You may even see those same insects entering and leaving through a tiny hole in a window frame or under a door.

No…you cannot rid the plot of termites but you can control them – reduce their numbers, steer them away from your food and your wood. You do this by careful choice of the wood you use, efficient sealing of all ways into the house, keeping the kitchen clean and tidy and of course…termite control chemicals.

Those chemicals and their application should be planned long before the base of your build because the feed pipes and spray nozzles need to be under the house. Once installed they should be put to immediate and continuous work. Apply the chemicals straight away, then start a contract with the termite control company to top up those chemicals on a regular basis to maintain the level of deterrent.

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A clean and tidy kitchen? Yes. Keep food in the fridge or in sealed containers. Clear up spilt food, don’t drop crumbs, or leave food out for the dog… because you are also leaving it out for the termites and ants. Maybe they don’t want to eat the food but they are attracted to the smell, and will quickly put a scent trail down to the kitchen for other insects to follow. This is how you get overrun with the termites and ants.

Termites chew wood. They love wood but some woods are off their menu. We all know of teak and its anti-termite properties in the resin. Also Mae Daeng, which is actually harder than teak is termite resistant. There are others. Plan your wood to avoid heartache when those termites reduce your beautiful wooden piece to sawdust!

Take a trip around your house, both inside and out when it is finished. Look for holes or cracks, gaps under doors, poorly sealed windows, etc. plug all those holes and cracks. Re seal the windows, fit door air extruders. In short, try to ‘termite-proof‘ the place.

You can’t avoid them, but plan to live with them…on your terms.

Good luck!!