Termite Hotspots In Townsville
Spring has sprung in Townsville and these warming conditions means one thing “MORE PESTS”. As a result the need for pest control in Townsville has really cranked up this week. Can you believe we had 28 degrees with 90% humidity the other day, you could swear we were in November!!
Put simply, hot humid weather, means more bugs. We’ve been getting plenty of calls for Cockroaches in Yarrawonga, West End, Railway Estate ,Oonoonbah Mundingburra. The fleas and tick jobs have still been coming in thick and fast at Bushland Beach, Balgal Beach, Mt Low, Currajong, Jensen, Condon and Rasmussen.
The termite situation is no exception. There’s one little hill in Cranbrook that has popped it’s head up again and again. It’s easy to identify as it’s the only hill in Cranbrook! There are several streets and courts that run up and along it such as Angela Crt, Jarrah Crt, Nowland Ave, Kalinya Crt, Kieran Crt, Picton Crt, Pingel Crt and Arinya St and other surrounding streets.
Although the whole of Townsville and surrounding districts is definitely in the high risk bracket when it comes to the risk of termite attack, there are definitely areas that pop up a bit more than others and this particular hill is one of them.
Last week we were back out there again at a house on Nowland Ave. It was a home that was set into the side of the hill, part on a slab and part on poles. These homes always throw up different challenges due to their unique designs to allow them to sit on a slopping site. These designs can often create easy access points for termite infestation. This particular house had had a history of termite infestations. At this stage the house did not have active termites in it but the client had found evidence a bit too close to his home for comfort, so he decided to employ our company to install a termite protection barrier system.
Another hotspot that comes to mind is up against the hill out the back of Wulguru. Streets such as Florey Street, Dunbar Cresent, Wright Street, Coral Sea Cresent, Blueridge Avenue, Lexington Drive, Kelvin Street, Argo Crt, Haldane St, Lister Cresent, Kepler Street, Yaralla Street and Glenlyon Street. Although I have pointed these streets out as hotspot, I must add that Wulguru as a whole would have to be one of the hottest suburbs in Townsville for termite attack and a high percentage of the jobs we see there are infested by Mastotermes (Mastotermes being the most destructive termite in this country, will go more into detail about different species in a later blog). One more hotspot I’ll mention is in the Gulliver area. Streets such as Tippett Street, Halstead Street, Sargeant Street, Tobruk Street, Kayes Street, McLean Street, Pearson Street, Hand Street and Desailly Street.
A home we went to recently in Sargeant Street comes to mind. It was a high set Queenslander, raised up on concrete posts. The client assumed that her house being raised off the ground by concrete posts, was safe. When she decided to do a bit of vacuuming, to her horror the head of the vacuum pushed a hole through one of the skirting boards. She suspected termites so she gave us a call. We went ahead with a full inspection and found termite galleries (mud tubes that termites build and travel through) going up several of the concrete posts and into numerous parts of the home. They were in numerous walls through out, in the bathroom, in the kitchen cupboards and right up into the roof void attacking the trusses. Although there was a fair bit of damage, it could have been a lot worse if it had been let go any longer. If you do ever find evidence that may be termites, time is crucial and it does not pay to put it of. We went on to treat this house and she is now happily termite free.
There are plenty more of these termite hotspots around Townsville and plenty more stories like the ones above, but I’ll leave these for future blogs.
If you live in one of these areas mentioned above or in any part of Townsville and you want some advice on termites, or if you have found evidence you may have termites, you can give us a call for a no obligation, cost free quote and we can advise you what needs to be done to fix the problem.
Paul Williamson, proprietor
