I buried this topic at the bottom of my plateau post, which was too long, so it probably won’t be seen, but it’s the biggest hurdle to my future property investment strategy, so I’d really appreciate your input.
What does everybody else do about termites? It costs the equivalent of $40/week for a year just to put a chemical barrier in, and it is supposed to be replaced every 5 years. How do you keep that fine profit margin of $50 per week for your older country properties if you have to deal with termites Steve? Perhaps all your older ones are on stumps (slabs on the ground are bad news as far as I’m concerend) or perhaps they were made when they could use more effective (deadly) chemicals! If I’m ever to rise above this “Plateau” (topic in Steve’s book) then I need to have an answer to termites.Hi Doogs
I always get a Pest Inspection Report on a property before buying it. If the report is bad then I walk away from the purchase.
Are to saying that you have acquired a property with a termite problem?
I haven’t got my copy of Steve’s book yet. So am unsure what you mean by rising above this “Plateau”.
Cheers
NessieThanks Nessie, The property was a brand new brick veneer on a slab, from a major builder. It was attacked after 2 years, and I’m having trouble keeping the little blighters out, even after forking out for another chemical barrier ($2300). Any property should require the barrier to be replaced every 5 years, but I never hear or read about this major expense in any forums, so I’m curious to know how everyone else deals with it.
JHI ,
We are a serious termite area, and I’ll share ours, and 2 neighbours encounters.
We have an older weatherboard place on stumps, no previous infestations. We decided we’d like some paving out the back, so we paved to the back of the house – 12 months later, termite damage to 2 boards. Yep we got quotes for chemical treatments, but cause I’m such a tight~, I figured there must be a reason we’d got them, since there was no previous history in a bad area.
I read a book by a CSIRO scientist (sorry cant remember name or author) – his advice was simple – forget treatments & remove the cause. Allow airflow & light under the property and remove entry points. Got rid of them in two weekend, 4 years ago!
Neighbour 1: Beeen infested 4 times in 7 years – has concrete slab, gets treated each time, keeps getting them through new slab entry points.
Neighbour 2: Has house as per mine – totally rerenovated and replaced damaged boards, reclad & put a new deck in & got treatment. BUT hasn’t removed entry points – slab and driveway at front & side of house! Can’t tell him, cause the chemical treaters told him they’d fix it. Tried to get Nieghbour 1 to talk to nieghbour 2 – result yet unknown.
The moral? Well I guess I would only ever buy stumped houses in really bad areas, and remove any potential entry points (never build anything to the house edge that connects to the ground).
For your problem Doogs – I’d prob think seriously about selling.
If you want anymore info email me direct:
[email protected]Rgds, Damien
The topic ‘Termites!’ is closed to new replies.
