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White Ant - Termite - Caps
With many older timber framed homes the foundations are often timber stumps. These stumps are placed directly into the ground and, as a result, can be an ideal path for termites to find their way into the home.
Being a timber framed house, there is lots of timber in the home to attract termites.
So it is important to block this path into the house.
Termite caps are the answer. These are pressed iron metal caps shaped to fit over the top of the stumps. The are positioned on top of the stumps and underneath the main floor beams. Why don't the termites just walk around the outside of the metal cap?
Termites do not like the light and so they create paths and tunnels in the timber and soil to move around - always staying unexposed. This is not possible, most times, on a metal cap. A termite cap is a very effective and cost efficient way of providing long term termite protection to a timber structure.
In some instance termites have been know to build a mud trail over the termite cap and trail their way into the floor structure. You can see this in the photo above. This is a good reason why it is a good idea, particularly with timber framed homes, to have termite inspection undertaken every 6 months - 12 months at the maximum.
Clearly it is important that a property is checked out to ensure that no other direct paths exist between the soil and the home for termites to access. Doing this will provide the best protection against any potential termite damage in the future.
