Building and Pest Inspections Melbourne

Safehome Building Inspections Melbourne conducts a comprehensive and methodical inspection of the house, the yard, the outbuildings and the fencing during the building inspection.

Many years of experience in the Building and Pest Inspection industry in Melbourne has taught the building inspector to look in the most obvious places to locate termites during the house inspections Melbourne. As well as the building inspector's eyes and willingness to go where some building inspectors will not, we also have the latest non-invasive tools to assist us in locating any termite infestation and damage during our inspections.

Our clients can be extremely confident that we will conduct a thorough search of their potential home and supply you with a comprehensive building and pest inspection report with photographs of termite damage, termite infestation, conducive areas for termites and borer damage.

How do you look for Termites during the building and pest inspection?

Termites are subterranean and at difficult to find for most building inspectors in Melbourne. The most important part that requires a close inspection is the sub floor or under the house as this is where the building inspector or pest inspector will find termites entering the home. During some building inspections, our house inspectors have come across them quite quickly and easily as we know the more common areas where they will enter your home, however, at other house inspections, it has taken us some time to find them. Fortunately, we have very expensive tools to detect termite infestation during house inspections.

The traditional methods used to locate termites are timber tapping and moisture readings using the Tramex Moisture meter. Timber tapping or testing on all timber areas, door frames, window frames, skirting boards, floor joists and bearers can detect a "hollowness" sound similar to hitting a newspaper. This can mean termite damage within the timber. Using the Tramex moisture meter the house inspector can detect higher than normal moisture readings on timber behind a wall which can be indicative of a termite infestation.

As well as the traditional methods to locate termites during our building and pest inspections, our building inspectors will also utilise the Termatrac T3i. This house inspection instrument is a termite Detection radar, a moisture sensor and a remote thermal sensory with meter lazer guide all in one. When utilised during the building inspection, the T3i can detect minor movement of live termites behind a wall which gives us a clear idea that live termites are present. Normally, using traditional timber testing during the building and pest inspection, we are not permitted to break open timber or walls to ascertain if live termites exist. With the T3i instrument, there is no need to break open anything, thus the house inspector is obtaining highly accurate results from using this tool during the building and pest inspection.

We also have the advanced Testo 865-1 Thermal Imaging Camera that we constantly utilise during our building inspections Melbourne wide. This observes and measures thermal energy emitted from an object. The thermal imagining camera sees temperature differences and irregularities which can be caused by excessive heat or moisture on a surface. This can alert the building inspector to leaks and also can detect larger termite nests in a wall.

Why do I need a Termite inspection?

We commonly get asked – "Do I need a building and pest inspection or just the building inspection, the house is brick and on a slab?"

Termites eat wood and 99% of homes have wood. They don't worry about eating the slab or the bricks of course, but they just build mud leads or tunnels up a non-timber structure to get the timber framing. The presence of termites is not so much about the structure of the house itself, but more about the conducive areas around the home that make it attractive to termite infestation.

Since January 2007 up until March 2013, the results of our building and pest inspections Melbourne wide have shown that there have been more termite infestations in brick dwellings than weather boards. They don't just like one suburb and not another – we have found them throughout most of our building inspections in all Melbourne suburbs. We have detected termites in homes built on a concrete slab, either entering via the external weep holes, the slab edge of through bathroom pipe penetrations.

How do I keep termites away?

Termites are attracted to two things, moisture and wood.

It is important to have annual building and pest inspections carried out by a qualified building and pest inspector. Professional building inspectors have the tools to inspect your home, the house inspection knowledge and the experience to find issues during the house inspections.

Some house inspection tips to consider that may help you avoid a termite problem in Melbourne:

• Keep timber firewood off the ground and away from the house.
• Remove all timber debris, off cuts and the like from the sub floor.
• Divert your hot water overflow to a drain of into a bucket to remove a moisture source for termites.
• Replace timber sleepers with a non-susceptible product like stone or brick.
• Check you down pipes for rust and adequate connections to a point of discharge.
• Remove old tree stumps from the yard.
• Check that your drainage is adequate and surface water is not flowing under the home.
• Check for bathroom leaks annually – so often during our building and pest inspections we see leaking shower bases and termites nearby.
• If timber has to be in contact with the ground use a non-susceptible treated pine or cedar for these areas.

These are just a few precautionary measures you can look at but a thorough yearly building and pest inspection but a professional is highly recommended.

Safehome Building Inspections Melbourne believes it is extremely important to obtain a thorough building and pest inspection before you purchase. We have seen the damage termites inflict on a house range from $700.00 up to $65,000.00 and for a small fee you can avoid purchasing a home with extensive termite damage.

What do I do if I have Termites?

The main problem any building inspector has when they find termites is the fact that the amount of damage done is not known unless a more invasive inspection takes place. This involves the building inspector removing linings on walls and ceilings to get to the damage to assess. Unfortunately if you are buying a home and the building inspector locates termites during the pre-purchase building inspection, there is little chance that the vendor will allow this to occur. Thus there becomes a risk that if you purchase the home there may be considerable termite damage and large rectification costs.