Dang It! Found termites!

[DANNY8]

We got a huge beam running along the roof (prolly a previous wall) in our kitchen and 2night we started playing with wat was just a little bit of discolouration up the end...turns out it had been infested with termites.

After pulling some of the wall to bits, we noticed the only thing holding the beam up at the end was 2 upright lengths of wood....which are both eaten out. We got a hot water tank and solar panel on the roof right above it so thought we better brace it.

Will let ya know how it turns out. Mum thought that termites aren't covered by insurance, but a relative said their insurance covered them, so Mum's gonna ring up 2morrow just to make sure.

We've been in this house for about 14 years. We're not sure if it was the previous owners that done the dodgy reno or not. It seems like a lot of offcuts slapped together, and thin board has been used as spacers to put behind the plaster board as the wood frame is not all level.

Hopefully they aren't through the whole house. A cousin next door found termites about 3 years ago, and they had to demolish half the house and rebuild it....Mum got worried and got our house checked then as well but the pest control guys said there was no signs of termites at all. They've been and gone, just not sure where too!!

[Niggadore]

Damn...
Good ol' hills hoist =D

Sucks hard...

[MasterOfReality]

I'm not sure whether your insurance will cover it, you would probably have to have a termite treatment program in place that is kept up to date to get a payout.

I found out that the place I bought had some termite damage, mainly in the bathroom, which is why the bathroom is brand new.

I ended up getting the full barrier protection installed plus a comprehensive inspection and got the all clear.

Basically what the termite guy said that if the damage is repaired properly and then treated, the chances of termites returning are almost non existent. He also proceeded to tell me that 1 on 3 houses in Brisbane will get an infestation at some time or another. It only takes 6 months to completely root the house if the colony is aggressive enough. Lucky mine was only confined to the bathroom, which was stripped out and rebuilt from the floor up.

Keep water away, fix dripping taps, if you think you have a leaking pip get it fixed, keep damp leaves and stuff away from the house etc etc as termites are attracted to moisture.

[DANNY8]

Our bathroom has been pretty cactus for a while now(behind the white door, shower behind the wall next to the washing machine and dryer), the wood behind the shower is pretty rotten from water damage.....I guess that's prolly where it started maybe.

Altho Mum's pretty stressed, there's a part of her that's excited coz it means it's time to rebuild the wall and she said she's always wanted to move those 2 bloody doors lol.

[Astranomical]

Best of luck mate. We discovered just last month that we had termites - they'd come in from next door. Thankfully, ours was just cosmetic damage, and it was all just downstairs, but the people next door had 'em all the way up to the roof. Lucky we both treated it when we did. We had the termite guy come and drill holes in the cement and pour about 300 litres of Termidor into it, which hopefully is doing the trick.

[MasterOfReality]

I know how you feel.

Although it wasn't me that had to sit though the bathroom being rebuilt, I still panic when I find old termite marks on skirting boards and doorways. I'm slowly renovating, a new kitchen is going in soon and Ill be replacing all the timber work inside the house so its all brand new. Then I'll sell it.

You never know, she might be covered with insurance so all she has to put up with is the inconvenience of the rebuilding mess.

[88GreenVN]

Pirie has plenty of the white ants. Bad luck mate. They probably hit your house at the same time as the house next door.

An investment property we had in Pirie (Pavlich St) had half the house eaten away and took several months for us to repair.

Only paid 22k for the house and as it turned out that was about the right price after all the repairs. Sold it several years later for mid 50's.

[VrWagz1]

Sucks big time, but if your a bit handy you'll fix that up in no time and do any mods you want and get it just how you like it. I dont think your insurance will cover it but check anywayz, hopfully thats all the damage they've done.

[adam69]

No good mate,hope you get it sorted soon.Lucky you decided to take a look.

[bradcad]

Man I love that acro prop! I'll pay that.. Never seen that before....

[DANNY8]

Well it keeps getting better and better......turns out our bathroom walls are asbestos. The house was once renovated (and rooms built on), and yeah the bathroom got a makeover too, and whoever did it used asbestos for the new walls. Dunno when the reno's were done tho.

[VrWagz1]

I dont recommend it as asbestos obviosly has its issues. But if you want to do your best to pull it off, then wear an asbestos approved dissposable mask and wet the walls down and just rip it off in whole sheets. Dont do anything with it that will create dust from it. Then throw it down the back yard and cover it, till you can get rid of it.

[Astranomical]

I agree with what VRWagz said. Asbestos is nasty stuff, and if its still in one piece and in good nick, I'd recommend leaving it that way.

[DANNY8]

Mum said the same thing, bout leaving it up coz it's ok as long as u leave it alone.....but she wants to fill in the door on the left, and put the door on the left as soon as u walk through the right door (on the green wall in the pics). She thinks it should be ok as long as we mask up the doors so dust doesn't get in the house, and aslong as we use respirators. She said she'd do it herself coz our Pop use to use it all the time when she was growing up, plus she said her lungs are stuffed anyway coz she's a smoker......but still, if we gotta do a bit of work, I think it would be best pulling all the asbestos down and putting up new stuff.

I guess we'll have to wait to the termite guy has been through, and get a builder mate to come have a look and see wat he rekons.

[Holdfast]

Danny

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Asbestos Removal Sydney