To begin, I just want to pose the question: ‘When is a bargain still a bargain?’
Hold that thought while I speak about how a senior lady who bought a townhouse at Carina Heights earlier this year. She was thrilled to have bought it for a bargain price.
Prior to her buying the townhouse, our company was engaged to do the termite inspections for the whole complex of this Carina Heights townhouse. However, the owner at the time of said townhouse told the Body Corporate he would organise his own termite inspection. We have no way of knowing whether he did or not.
What came to light when the new owner’s son who is a builder came to do renovations was he discovered termite damage behind the plasterboard. He offered the opinion she should just sell up and move on.
Requested an Invasive Inspection
Her daughter was concerned about her mother’s situation and wanted professional advice on the extent of the termite damage. Through a Google search she found us and requested an invasive inspection.
An invasive inspection means we drill small holes in walls and use a Borescope Camera which allows our pest technician to see behind the plasterboard. This will mean the hole will need to be repaired which is inexpensive. Without the Borescope Camera, all the plasterboard would need to be removed to see the frame. That can prove very costly if no termites or termite damage is found.
Our pest technician, Brett is highly experienced. A lot more investigative work was needed to find the entry point/s of the termites and uncover the full extent of the termite damage. Most importantly, finding out if the termites were still active and then treating them if needed.
There was extensive mudding behind the walls. Mudding is the trails that termites build to make their way from their nest to a food source. This protects them from predators and prevents them from dehydrating.
What Brett discovered was the termites had entered via the slab around waste pipe penetrations due to pipes leaking into the wall void and timbers.
Fortunately, there were no active termites and they had long moved on. The previous owner did have Sentricon stations but were obviously not maintained as they were also eaten out. For the Sentricon stations to be there, he knew he had a termite issue.
Sentricon stations are filled with bait to kill the termites. They are meant to be monitored to ensure there is no future termite infestation.
Pre-purchase Building and Pest Inspection
We’re not aware of whether the current owner had a building and pest inspection done prior to buying the property. Unless the inspection company did all the moisture checks, which they should have, and had x ray vision, this still may not have been picked up without active termites present.
Having said that, there would have been damage to skirting boards, which tapping would have revealed. We have confidence that our team would have detected something amiss. The full extent of termite damage would not come to light without an invasive inspection.
Circling back to the question posed at the outset, ‘When is a bargain still a bargain?’. When it comes to buying property, even in a falling market and you think you have snagged a bargain, you can still lose out big time without a thorough building and pest inspection.
In the media last year it was reported that a new owner of a property who waived the option for a building and pest inspection to secure the property, later learned the property was so extensively damaged by termites, it was cheaper to demolish than repair.
Invasive Termite Inspection Price
We provide a custom quote for an Invasive Termite Inspection. Please call our office during business hours for a quote. Ph. 1300 304 145
