What is this thing with sub-floors and termites?

The area under your home where there is mainly dirt is called the “Sub-floor”. It is normally dark and damp, an ideal environment for termites. The other thing with sub-floors is that nobody gets in there regularly to check. It’s dirty, dusty and a scary place full of spider webs.

But termites love this space, they can forage in their subterranean tunnels freely and feel no threat from you or other predators. This is why you should get in there regularly to check for termite activity, like mud leads, mound nests, and flight tubes. And there is a good chance they will be eating those cardboard boxes you place on the dirt.

Now, if you have a current chemical treatment to stop them from bridging up from the ground and into your home, there is less worry. But you should still organise annual termite inspections, to maintain the treatment warranty and check for any new conducive conditions.

A recent inspection finds ‘Termite Flight Tubes’ in a subfloor - not a good sign!

When one of our inspectors, Hernan, was doing a Termite Inspection on a property in Oxley, Brisbane, he discovered a very interesting thing in the subfloor. Actually two interesting discoveries; one an old tree stump (never a good thing) and then termite flight tubes extending from this stump (definitely not a good thing)!

Termites build these tubes to assist the winged reproductives “Alates” to take to flight. If you see these Flight Tubes, it means there is a termite nest very close.