8 Steps Professionals Take to Exterminate Subterranean Termites
Termites are one of the most destructive household pests in Australia. Subterranean termites do a lot of damage to homes throughout Australia every year. If your home has a termite infestation, you need the help of a termite exterminator.
The termite extermination process takes several steps to complete.
Step One: Inspection
Termite controllers usually start by inspecting a property for termites. The inspection may involve tools like moisture detectors and thermal imaging cameras.
Step Two: Identification of termite species
Subterranean termites nest in the soil. Once they go above ground to find wood, subterranean termites create mud tunnels that protect them from ants and sunlight. Termite controllers look for mud tunnels when identifying the species of the invading termite.
Step Three: Removal of mud tubes
The removal of the termite mud tubes helps termite controllers to spot re-infestation. If new mud tubes appear, the termites have returned.
Step Four: Creation of a trench around your foundation
To prepare for soil treatment, termite controllers dig a trench around the foundation of a house. This trench allows them to place a chemical barrier deep within the soil.
Step Five: Soil treatment
With the trench dug, a termite controller can then treat the soil with termiticide. This termiticide acts as a barrier to keep termites away. And this barrier will kill any termites that leave a property and encounter the barrier.
Step Six: Wood treatment
If the wood in a house has an existing termite infestation, then a wood treatment will be necessary to kill the termites. Pest controllers can apply wood treatments as surface sprays, injected sprays and foam. These borate wood treatments kill termites living in the wood of a house. Along with soil treatment, wood treatments are an effective way to end an infestation.
Step Seven: Placement of bait stations
To complete the termite extermination process, a pest controller will place bait stations around a property. These bait stations contain poisoned cellulose. If termites encounter these bait stations, they don't die immediately upon contact. Instead, they take the poison back to their nest where it can then infect the other termites.
Sometimes, if a termite baiting system is successful, an entire colony may die within a few weeks.
Step Eight: Annual inspections
To ensure that your home remains free of termites, arrange for annual termite inspections. These inspections will help you to find and exterminate termites before they can cause too much damage to your home.