Thread: Steel Frame V Timber Frame

If a subbie disturbs the mesh then I'm sure Termimesh will come down on them like a tonne of bricks in the event of a claim. Make sure you tell them that if they disturb it you will chase them if the termites get in.

Whether it works in different situations or not is a question you should ask them. They have a web site: http://www.termimesh.com/

I still think the best system is a physical barrier. Reticulated systems require ongoing maintenance and purchase/use of chemicals. The way things are going, everything that works will end up being banned.

If your neighbour's house falls down, that's not your problem. You'll never kill off all the termites in the area, so it's best to assume they are always going to be there and take steps to stop them eating your house.

not sure how the whole quick reply/ post message thing works, please disregard this if you have already seen it.

would termimesh work on hi block house? i assume not. is a reticulation system good? we would only be able to do the perimeter.

any advice on neighbours who have termites but refuse to have their house treated? the yard is full of tree stumps and when building a new fence we pulled several out for her with backhoe. They were riddled with the crawlies! Quickly went round the house with dursban (don't know how good that was)
anyway she says she doesn't care if her house gets eaten, and she couldn't care if the other houses in the neighbourhood get eaten too!

once again, thanks for the advice

surely it's agaainst the law to do nothing if your house and yard are riddled with them?

I don't think so. You could ask your local council.

The thing to remember is that termites are a part of nature and if your neighbour has a nest somewhere, it's not really their fault. The nest could be anywhere - I think termites can travel hundreds of metres from the nest in the course of their foraging. Whose responsibility is it to get rid of them? The nest could even be on your property, so it might be your termites eating his house

I put bait stations around our house but I have no idea where the nest is. I could be killing termites in a nest under a tree on the property 3 doors up, so why should I pay $80 a pop for the bait to kill his termites? The only reason I did that was because our house is old and it's too late to build a proper physical barrier, so we are trying to reduce the risk of them getting back in.

Don't fall into the blame game. We had a nest in an old tree once. The lady next door had a termite infestation which did a lot of damage to her house. We had the tree removed anyway but she tried to insinuate that it was somehow our fault because the termites were in our tree. The thing is, the termites in her house could have come from anywhere and we have no control over where they might set up a nest.

oh don't worry c we don't blame her, we would like to help her. she is an elderly widow whose husband always looked after her and now she has no idea how to get her pension out let alone what goes into maintaining her house.

we just have to be carefull we don't step on the toes of her family, who don't live here.

the lesson here is don't be too good to your partner, we may all need these life skills later on.

Ah, well that's different. If she hasn't got much money, she's probably not going to want to shell out for a full on termite treatment.

The bait stations I mentioned are expensive and they usually want to put you on a contract, which from memory is a couple of thousand. We did a deal with the guy and just paid him for the stations and agreed to pay for the baits as and when required. We sold the house, so not our problem any more. Even getting a chemical barrier in the ground around the perimeter will cost a bit. Last time I paid for it I think it was around $800.

Maybe you should put the bait stations in yourself then and hopefully that will kill the nearby nests, reducing the chance of further damage at her house as well as protecting yours. Then the state of the house becomes her family's problem when she is gone.

thanks everyone for the wonderful advice, It really helps to get a bit of advice before calling the pro's. as a begginner i can never really tell whether i'm getting a bum steer or not.

i'm sure this won't be my last post, but it gives me confidence to know that there is a great bunch of people willing to give me an insight to their years of experience.

cheers ree

During one of my many visits to the local Bunnings shop (Perth) I noticed they had hardwood named White Cedar (Canadian) with the same properties as Western Red Cedar. You may wish to check it out. Price wise it wasn't cheap but I thought reasonable.

It is a very white colour and by what I recall it had a very fine grain (as hardwoods do). I thought it would make some terrific furniture for those who had an inkling for the light colours.

Here's another option which I had on my recently built house:

http://www.granitgard.com.au/documen...nicalGuide.pdf

Uses fine granite gravel as a barrier.