It is always better to prevent a problem before it occurs, rather than having to solve it later. This is especially true when it comes to pest control. When I called in a local pest control company to deal with an infestation of termites, I asked them to give me all of their best advice about how to prevent pest problems. The contractors gave me lots of useful info about the steps I can take to deter a range of different pests from setting up home in my property. I hope you find the articles I have published here useful.
There are many hazards that poke their head up during the Australian summer. Bushfires, droughts and the often forgotten termite swarm. Termites are a very invasive species that can cause serious structural damage to your home as well as damaging how it looks and devaluing its total price. While termites can be a problem year-round the science tells us that they are more active during summer. If you have had trouble with termites before or simply want to protect your home from ever having termites then here is what to do.
Pest Inspection
A pest inspection is one of the first things you need to do to ensure that you don't already have termites without realising it. A pest inspection itself is very easy to organise and doesn't require any major effort to get the house ready on your part. A professional pest control agent will come to the house and examine all over it looking for signs of termite activity. Clues like frass, little holes, odd feeling timber and so on. A pest inspection will generally have a report at the end of it detailing what was found, what you should do and (if you do have termites) if the termite damage has affected the structure of the home.
Termite Extermination
If it is found that you do have termites then there is only one thing to do: kill them all. The problem with this is that they often live in hard to reach places and they can be quite spread out. That is why one of the most popular methods of catching and killing them is through traps. A termite trap will have something appealing to the termites (food) and also some poison that is not dangerous to humans (although you shouldn't touch it) that will instantly kill any small invertebrates. If that doesn't work you can always move onto more serious measures such as fumigation but for that you will have to vacate your home for a few days.
Termite Prevention
Once the termites are gone, or perhaps if the original pest inspection found there to be no termites but you still want to take measures against them coming in the future, there are many ways to termite-proof your home that you should consider. One of the most thorough ways to do it is to use termite barriers. These are chemical barriers that you can place around the foundations of all your homes that termites absolutely hate. As far as termite prevention goes this practically makes your home an untouchable area, as long as you correctly apply the termite barrier around all your entry points to the home (pipes, foundations, steps, wall etc).