Pest Inspection Booval – Includes Termites, Wood Borers and Wood Decay Fungus

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Pre Purchase Pest Inspection Booval – Includes Termites, Wood Borers and Wood Decay Fungus

Booval Needing a Pest inspection?

When buying property it is important to look for Moisture and Termites, our Pest Inspection Booval Teams are experts in the industry. A Pest Inspection is extremely important but what does it cover? Is it a Termite Inspection? Is it a house hold Pest Inspection? Its formal name is a Timber Pest Inspection which looks for Termites, Wood Borers, and Wood Decay Fungi and should be part of your buying checklist.

A Timber Pest Inspection could be described as an intense Termite Inspection.

We can add another detrimental element to a home that our Booval Timber Pest Inspector looks for and that is moisture. Every house carries a low threshold of moisture. Above this level is when you start running into issues, termites and wood decay will thrive in such environments.

Called a "Conducive Environment", this is a neon flashing sign showing termites that there is a favourable area where they can source food. It can be as simple as;

• Garden up against the house providing a source of food, warm and moisture
• Air Conditioning drain leaking directly onto the ground next to the house
• Hot water over flow on older systems can constantly drip providing a water source
• Trees stumps or tree crowns left in the ground to slowly rot away
• Poor drainage under the house keeping the subfloor damp

These are just a simple few and I bet you would have at least 3 out of the 5 around your house now. More information about "Conducive Environments" can be found here on our Termite Barrier Page.

Our Booval Pest Inspector uses a Thermal Camera on every Pest Inspection

A thermal camera gives our Pest Inspection Booval Teams a deeper insight helping to locate moisture and termite activity.

Termites

It is important that the Pre Purchase Pest Inspectionincludes the yard and fence line as it is common to find a nest in a garden surrounded by mulch Over time the weather will break down any soft timber previously coated in a "termite resistant" chemical and it's not uncommon to find a termite sub nest in a timber sleeper retaining wall. This is where experience matters. Our Pest Inspection Booval Teams understand the characteristics of the different termite species and this gives us a better approach to finding them.

Wood Borers

Wood Borers are also a common find. Normally brought into the home by timber furniture, these beetles don't need high moisture to survive and can eat hard and soft wood! Laying their eggs in the timber cracks, most of the time we are finding them attacking timber floor boards. They can be treated with a water based chemical but we recommend just replacing the damaged timbers.

The most common wood borers are;

• Common Furniture Beetle
• House Longhorn Beetle
• Powder Post Beetle
• Some Do-It-Yourselfers recommend wiping the affected areas with diesel. This is something we DEFINITELY do not recommend.

Wood Decay Fungus

Another timber damaging element caused by moisture is Wood Decay Fungus. Several types of fungus eat the damp wood making it rot away like dead skin. Not as damaging as Termites but given the right environment it can posed a threat to timbers in your home. In some areas of the home (hidden areas like the ceiling space) wood decay can do considerable amount of damage over the course of a year. Lignicolous Fungi is responsible for the wood decay. They can be classed as;

• Brown rot
• Soft rot and,
• White rot

The fix is to remove the damaged timber and remove the moisture source. A Pest Inspection should be part of any due diligence when purchasing a home. Most Timber Pest activity goes undiscovered to the naked eye so it's important to have our Pest Inspection Booval Experts look over the property. Give us a call and compare our quote. We will save you!