Termite season: what to check as spring arrives

Spring is when termites become visible. Warm, humid evenings — particularly after rain — trigger the annual swarming flight, which is the one time of year a colony announces itself. If you are going to find termites around your house, this is the season you will do it.

Termites cause more damage to Australian homes than fire and flood combined, and standard home insurance almost never covers it. What makes them expensive is not aggression but time: a colony can work inside a wall for years, and the timber can be substantially gone before anything shows on the surface.

What swarming actually is

When a colony matures, it releases winged reproductives — alates — to fly, pair and start new colonies. They emerge in warm humid conditions, are drawn to light, and shed their wings shortly after landing.

The practical signal for a homeowner is rarely the flight itself. It is the aftermath: small piles of discarded wings on windowsills, in cobwebs, around external lights, or in the corners of rooms. Wings all of a similar size, shed in numbers, in early spring, is worth taking seriously.

Finding wings does not mean your house is infested. It means a colony is active nearby and looking for somewhere to establish. That is the moment to check properly.

What to look for around the house

• Mud tubes. Pencil-width earthen tunnels running up brick piers, foundation walls, or the inside of the subfloor. Termites build them to travel without exposure to air and light. Break one open — if it is repaired within a week or two, it is active.
• Timber that sounds hollow. Tap skirtings, architraves, door frames and any exposed structural timber with the handle of a screwdriver. Damaged timber sounds papery rather than solid.
• Blistered or rippled paint. Often mistaken for water damage. Termites eat timber from the inside, leaving a thin surface layer that distorts.
• Doors and windows that have started sticking without a change in weather. Can indicate damage to the frame.
• Mud or soil in odd places — in a door jamb, at a wall junction, around a cornice.

Where they get in

Termites need moisture and concealed access to timber. Almost every entry point is one of the following, and all of them are within your control.

• Timber in contact with soil. Fence posts against the house, timber garden edging, stored offcuts, an old stump left in the ground.
• Firewood and mulch stacked against a wall. Both provide food and cover, and mulch holds moisture directly against the base of the house.
• Blocked or missing subfloor vents. Poor ventilation keeps the subfloor humid, which is what termites want.
• Leaking taps, air conditioning condensate and poor drainage discharging beside the house.
• Bridged inspection zones. The exposed strip at the base of a wall lets you and an inspector see mud tubes. Rendering over it, or building a garden bed against it, hides the evidence.

What to do this spring

1. Walk the perimeter and remove timber-to-soil contact, move firewood off the ground and away from walls, and pull mulch back from the base of the house.
2. Clear the subfloor vents. Garden beds, paving and stored items block them regularly.
3. Fix water discharging near the house — downpipes, condensate lines, dripping taps.
4. Look in the subfloor with a torch, or arrange for someone to.
5. Book an inspection if your last one is more than twelve months old.

On inspections

Australian guidance is that timber-framed homes should be professionally inspected at least annually, and more often in high-risk areas. An inspection is not a treatment — it is a check, and its value is in catching activity while the damage is still small.

If you find active termites, do not disturb them and do not spray them. Disturbance can cause the colony to abandon that area and re-enter somewhere else in the house, which makes treatment harder. Leave it exactly as found and call a licensed pest technician.

Common questions

Does a termite barrier mean I am protected?

Barriers and chemical treatments reduce risk and direct termites into detectable paths. They have service lives and require inspection to remain effective. A barrier is not a substitute for looking.

Does home insurance cover termite damage?

Standard policies almost universally exclude it, on the basis that it is gradual and preventable. Check your own policy wording rather than assuming.

Are brick houses safe?

Brick veneer homes have timber frames behind the brick, so they are just as vulnerable. Full masonry homes still have timber roof structures, door frames and floors.

Where to go next

Termites follow moisture, so the same drainage and ventilation work protects against rot and mould as well. Read next: Preventative Maintenance.