The above Photograph was taken by Mr Inspector, a qualified building and pest inspector, during a building inspection in Sandringham.
The inspection photograph depicts the lower section of a bathroom door architrave with live termites attacking the timber. Look closely and you can see a termite looking out from the hole made by the building inspector.
Fortunately the owner of the home allowed us to make a small opening in the timber when we found excessive moisture readings and hollowness on the door frame.
In some circumstances a building inspector will not be permitted by the owners to conduct an invasive building and pest inspection if they find hollow timbers or high moisture readings.
In this case we can utilise the Termatrac Radar meter which will detect termite movement within the timber without having to break it open. It is very important that a pest inspector has the right equipment, including mister meters and the Termatrac radar meter.
This hole was made and live termites were visible. Equally important is to quickly cover the hole with tape because once termites are disturbed, they may leave and may come back later. If they leave, there is no way of destroying the entire termite nest.
Peter has a Diploma of Building Surveying which makes him one of the few in Melbourne who are Qualified to carry out building inspections as per the Building Act 1993. He is also qualified in Timber Pest Inspections (Cert 3), Pool Barrier Inspection (Certificate 11077454) and Non-Friable Asbestos Awareness and removal.