Termites

At Gembrook, Peter has turned his focus to the termite problem. Over the months the termite inspector made some visits and dealt with the little critters to some degree. Now that it is Winter termites are pretty quiet, so we won't know how effective the treatments have been till the Spring. In the mean time, Peter pulled up the flooring in part of the "eaten" areas and found a few stragglers! But Peter is now optimistic that he has found how they have reached the flooring. It is not as bad as it had looked earlier, and fairly simple changes to the building construction under the floor should stop them.

Termites are less of a mystery now. Firstly, they don't live in the flooring, but travel in from an nest hidden away outside. The nest can be in the trunk of a tree or simply underground somewhere, so it is very hard to find. Secondly, if there has been a water leak about the building (which has happened at the Gembrook Retreat), then with plenty to drink, they become much more active in what they do best - eating houses. The water leak may be fixed but the damage has to be repaired and the way in checked to stop reoccurrences. That is the current project.