In this video, Jarrad Goulding of The Local Guys warns Australian homeowners about the severe threat termites pose, citing over $1.5 billion in annual damage and an estimated one‑in‑five homes affected. He explains that termites target timber‑framed houses, feeding on the wood that makes up walls, frames and skirting boards. Goulding then outlines the five most common visual indicators of termite activity: (1) blistering or abnormal paint, which can signal damage behind walls; (2) hollow‑sounding wood when knocked, indicating internal decay; (3) dirt or soil deposits in cracks, crevices or around skirting boards, used by termites to seal their tunnels; (4) mud tubes, the subterranean “highways” termites build to travel between timber pieces, often seen on slab edges; and (5) discarded wings from swarming termites, which suggest an active colony nearby. He notes termites can travel up to about 150 m from a nest, meaning neighboring properties can pose a risk. The speaker stresses the importance of professional inspection and offers The Local Guys’ services: thorough inspections, chemical barrier treatments, monitoring and baiting systems, and colony eradication solutions. Throughout, he urges viewers to act quickly, call a professional, and invest in ongoing protection because termite damage is not covered by insurance.
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Let's talk about termites. Termites are the biggest threat to your home here in Australia. It's estimated that they've caused over $1.5 billion in damage to Australian homes in last year alone. Approximately, that's 1 in every 5 houses gets affected by termite damage. So it's very important that we do the due diligence and arm ourselves with the knowledge to protect our homes. There's no insurance for termites, so it's all up to you to look after your biggest asset. So arm yourself with the knowledge, protect your home. So termites are actually looking for a food source. Food source is the frames of our homes. A lot of our homes here in Australia are built with timber framing. Termites come in and they feed off this timber. These are the top 5 signs to look for when looking for termite evidence in around your home. Let's go. Number 1, so blistering paint. If you notice blistering paint or paint that just doesn't look quite right in around your home, that could be signs of termite activity going in behind the walls, behind that paint. Now blistering paint can look like many different things. It could be just the discoloration of the paint, it could be like an indentation because the wall behind it's actually been eaten and all that's left is the paint. If you ever notice anything that doesn't quite look right, it's really good to investigate. So from here on out, a lot of these signs are a clear indication that you could have a termite problem. So be very vigilant if you notice any of these. So number 2, we would have hollow sounding wood. If you notice any hollow sounding wood in around your home, this could be a door frame, a skirting board, just something doesn't quite sound right. If you knock on it and it sounds hollow compared to the rest of the timbers around. So a lot of time people just be doing the cleaning, doing the vacuuming, and they could knock the vacuum cleaner head into the skirting board and it actually crumbles. So there's no timber left behind, it's just paint on the outside. So obviously a clear indication that they've got an issue, so you need to have that looked at immediately. Number 3 would be dirt where there shouldn't be dirt. What we tend to find is that there could be dirt in between cracks and crevices, in between the skirting boards in the wall or the doorframe in the wall, what this is is an indication that there's termites in behind there doing damage. So they use this dirt to protect themselves from the outside air. So termites actually live underground. So they come from underground and they use this dirt to fill up the cracks and crevices to prevent the outside air coming into their environment. So what it will look like is just your dirt from the outside. So it can look like coffee granules, it can be dry. So wherever there's dirt around, it's worth investigating further, making sure that it's not something nasty going on. So number 4 would be mud tubes. So again, these are made of the dirt that I just explained in the last point. But what these are, are little tubes created by termites to use as highways, typically to get from one piece of timber to get to another piece of timber so they can travel between the two without introducing themselves to the outside environment. Another place we really find these very commonly is on the outside of the house, the slab edge. So your concrete floor, you have the slab edge of the concrete floor on the outside of your house. They come from the dirt up the slab edge, underneath the brickwork, and then straight into your home. So if you notice little dirt mud tubes up the side of your slab edge, you've got an issue. Call a professional immediately. And number 5, the number one sign that you have an issue for me would be the discarded wings inside a home or even in around your home. What happens is termites actually fly at certain times of the year. They fly in thousands. When they do this, they drop their wings and look for new places to start colonies. So that's why you have these discarded wings in and around your home. So if you have them inside your home, you have a real issue because that could indicate that there's already a nest on the inside and they've had a flight while creating this damage inside of your home to look for new areas to create more damage. So if you find thousands of these in your home, you've got an issue, you need to call someone immediately. But even if you find these wings discarded around your home, even in spider webs around the window frames, whatever it may be, that indicates that there's a termite nest somewhere nearby. Now termites will travel to get to food, so don't think just because you don't have termite activity in your actual house that you're not at risk. We have a rule of thumb that termites will travel up to approximately 150 meters to get to a food source. So it could be on a neighboring property and you could still be at risk. So if you notice these around your home, you must get an inspection immediately. So if you're still unsure if you have any termites in and around your home, it's best to call a professional. Here at The Local Guys, we provide services that will do just that. We have inspections to go over your home to make sure that you're clear and free of termites, but then we have ongoing protection to protect your biggest asset. As I said earlier, there's no insurance for termites, So it's up to you to put that protection in place and we can help you with that. So if we do find termite activity in around your house, we do have services that can take care of any activity around your house. So we have chemical options where we drill and inject around the outside of your house, creating a chemical barrier where termites cross this chemical, pick up the chemical and wipe them out before getting to your house. But then we have other options like monitoring systems. These are monitored on a quarterly basis to ensure that there's no termite activity around your house. They feed on bait in these stations, track it back to the nest, and wipe out the colony this way. For any reason we did find termite activity inside your house, we do have options for this as well, where we can get them feeding on bait that is specifically designed just for them. They feed on this bait, track it back to the nest, kill off the nest, and protect your home. So no matter your case when it comes to termite activity, we will have a solution for you. So if you do find termite activity around your home, don't be too alarmed. Give us a call, let us come out and assess the situation, do an inspection, find out exactly what's going on. Then we can put a scenario into play where we can get rid of them for you, give you the peace of mind that we will have your house protected going forward. So if you do find them, give us a call.
