Termites are a fact of life in all of Australia, but especially in New South Wales. Most of the state receives a ‘high’ rating on the CSIRO Termite Hazard Map.
What attracts termites? The answer is cellulose, the fibrous component of timber and plant material such as leaves. Termites don’t bother to blunt their teeth on bricks and mortar.
Every house has some timber, but the key to reducing the likelihood of termite attack is to minimise the amount of structural timber. Skirting boards that have been damaged by termites are easily replaced. The same can’t be said for a timber frame.
A full brick house with internal brick walls (that is, walls between rooms), built on a properly designed concrete slab eliminates structural timbers at the critical ground level. Of course it is still necessary to take precautions to protect non-structural timber and high-level structural timber such as roof trusses.
Sleep soundly in your full brick home. That the chewing sound in the middle of the night is just one of the kids raiding the fridge.
Did you know? Despite being called ‘white ants’ termites are closely related to cockroaches. An estimated one in five Australian houses will suffer from termite damage, an annual bill estimated at $200 million. The queen termite can lay up to 2000 eggs per day and live for over 20 years.
