Repairing termite-damaged timber after treatment

Termites are a fact of life in South East Queensland, and they're good at staying hidden. They eat timber from the inside and leave the outer skin and paint in place, so the first sign is often a skirting board that crumbles when the vacuum bumps it, or a door frame that sounds hollow. Finding damage is stressful, but it's fixable. The key is doing things in the right order.

First: we don't treat termites

Haziza House Services is a carpentry business. We don't inspect for termites or treat them. That's the job of a licensed pest controller, and it has to come first. Replacing timber while termites are still active just gives them fresh food.

The right order of things

1. Leave the damage alone. Don't break open mud tubes, spray them or pull off damaged timber. Disturbing an active nest can make termites move to another part of the house, and it can make treatment harder.
2. Call a licensed pest controller. They'll inspect, identify the activity and recommend a treatment.
3. Let the treatment do its work. Some treatments take time, and your pest controller may want to come back and confirm activity has stopped. Ask them when it's safe to remove and replace damaged timber.
4. Get the damaged timber repaired. Once the pest controller is happy, a carpenter can open up the damaged areas, cut back to sound timber and replace what's needed.
5. Keep up the inspections. Ask your pest controller how often your home should be checked, and tell them about any repairs we've done.

It's worth asking the pest controller for their report or notes on where they found damage. It helps us see the full picture before we quote.

Where termite damage shows up

Door frames and architraves

Door jambs sit close to the floor and, on ground-level homes, close to the slab. Damage often shows as paint that has rippled or bubbled, timber that dents under a thumbnail, or a door that suddenly starts to bind as the frame loses its shape. Architraves can be eaten out from behind while looking perfect from the front.

Skirting boards

Skirting is a common place to find termites because it runs right along the base of the wall. A tap with a screwdriver handle sounds dull and hollow over damaged sections. Sometimes you'll see fine lines of mud along the top edge or where the skirting meets the floor.

Fence posts and palings

Timber posts in the ground are an easy target. A post can look sound above the soil and be hollow just below it. Palings and rails touching the ground or a garden bed are often hit too.

Deck framing

The bearers, joists and stumps under a deck are out of sight, so damage there can go unnoticed for a long time. Soft spots in the boards, a deck that has started to bounce, or mud tubes running up stumps are all worth a closer look.

Working out how far the damage goes

The damage is almost always bigger than it first looks. Because termites leave the surface intact, the only way to know is to open it up. We probe the timber, remove trims and boards around the visible damage, and keep going until we reach solid timber in every direction.

Damage to trims, skirting, fences and decks is carpentry we do every day. If it reaches the wall framing, we can replace a damaged stud or bottom plate as part of the repair. Where termites have got into main structural timbers, or a lot of framing is affected, we'll tell you if it needs a builder or engineer to assess it before any repair goes ahead.

How each area is repaired

• Door frames: damaged jambs are cut out and replaced, either in sections or as a full new frame, then the door is rehung so it closes and latches properly. New architraves go on and everything is filled and painted.
• Skirting: we replace the damaged run, usually from corner to corner so there's no visible join, and match the profile as closely as we can. In older homes some profiles can be matched by combining standard mouldings.
• Fence posts: damaged posts are dug out and replaced, keeping the good palings and rails where possible. Palings that have been eaten are swapped for new ones.
• Deck framing: affected joists and bearers are replaced and the boards over them re-fixed or replaced. We check the rest of the subframe while it's open.

Filler isn't a fix for termite damage. The timber behind the surface is usually hollow, so filling and painting over it just hides a weak spot that will fail later.

Making the repair less inviting

Your pest controller is the person to ask about protecting the house. On the carpentry side, a few things help:

• Use treated or naturally durable timber suited to where it's going, especially for anything outdoors or near the ground.
• Keep timber off the soil where possible, and keep garden beds, mulch and stored timber away from the walls, fences and deck framing.
• Don't let new work, garden beds or paving cover the edge of the slab or the areas your pest controller needs to inspect. Ask them what needs to stay visible.
• Fix leaks and drainage problems near the house. Damp timber and soil attract termites.

Our outdoor timber care guide has more on keeping fences, screens and timber doors in good shape once they've been repaired.

Getting the repairs done

Once your pest controller has treated the house and given the all-clear, we can replace damaged door frames, skirting and trims through our carpentry service, posts and palings through our fence repairs, and joists, bearers and boards through our deck repairs. We work across the Gold Coast and Brisbane.

Send us photos of the damaged areas, plus the pest controller's notes if you have them, and we'll come back with a quote. If the damage turns out to be more extensive once we open it up, we'll show you and talk it through before going further.