Terminates Brand New Home

Hi All,

We have been in our brand new RedInk home for almost 3 months and believe we have termites in our scullery. Where do we stand on this with regards to our scullery? Will it be replaced by the builder or treated?

You will need to get proof first, and then once you have proof then you can get solid advice about where to go from there.

Thank you. We had pest control around but they were unable to identify this. Would you recommend us getting Termico around?

What makes you think you have termites ? Photos?

Stewie

We had pest control around because we keep getting this grainy powdery looking stuff on bench tops, first we thought cockroaches but since then we believe it is termites as we haven't even seen any roaches and the pest control couldn't identify the substance.

I'll put some photos up for you however it's hard to tell the difference as we have stone bench tops with specs of grey so photos don't really do it much justice.

Since doing some research and chatting with people they said its possibly termites and that would explain us not seeing anything whilst this stuff keeps reappearing.

It's not weevils is it? Do you have cereals or flour or dry products like that that are open or not airtight and you've now got weevils?

Hi no I don't think that's what it is.

When we had pest control around to spray that room all food products were removed and it was still appearing.

It's really odd, my other half noticed this before we moved in but thought nothing of it and just assumed it was dust/dirt from it being so new.

I'm not a pest controller or a builder, but I have had termites...

Based on my expert knowledge (read line 1) Termites live inside the wood. They don't leave visible traces on the surface (until you get to the stage when it's only paint holding your verandah post together...). You might see "mud tunnels" from the ground to the floor under the house in extreme cases, but as a rule you won't know you have termites.

Dad found his because a board started to squeak so he pulled back the carpet.

In our old house in early summer we had a few small piles of "sawdust" in the floor and were told it was borer. We only had a few small piles and were told the fix was worse than the cause, so it was up to us, but apart from a few pin holes in the floor there was no real damage.

Not quite true John. While they do not like light and live inside the timber as you say, when they eat the wood they leave behind a fine dirt like substance which I presume is the faeces. Being so fine it can find its way out of cracks like under the skirting, around architraves etc. This may be what the OP is seeing.
The other thing I have seen over the years too is where there is a colony of black ants living inside the walls which leave behind a similar substance. Fortunately they don't eat the timber but rely on food scraps or food from outside the house like plant matter/other bugs from the garden etc.

Stewie

gecko poo?

If you have had pest control out then they should have found and identified termites if they are there (assuming you got someone accredited and competent).

Is your new home built with termite protection? Have look at your certificates from handover.