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Displaying Frequently Asked Questions i am soon to build in ellenbrook and am looking to get a quote to treat the pine roof timbers against the EHB. our house is a basic 4 by 2, we are building the (platinum) through blue print homes. We do not normally carry out treatment of pine timbers for EHB. We always recommend that you install pre-treated pine timbers in your roof. This is advised by the WA Department of Agriculture and Food, on their EHB website: www.ehb.wa.gov.au . According to this website: “EHB only attacks untreated, dry (seasoned) pine. Treated pine and other roofing materials are not at risk from EHB. The building advice from the Department of Housing and Works is not to use untreated pine for structural purposes in affected areas. You should seek advice from your builder about the most suitable option for your home, or contact the Department of Housing and Works Building Codes and Regulations Branch on (08) 9440 2349.” The Department of Consumer and Employment Protection has a webpage you can read for recommended treatment: http://www.docep.wa.gov.au/consumerprotection/ehb/pages/EHB_Treatments.html The DCEP state that: “Some pest treatment companies offer an additional boron spray treatment applied directly to pine framing and roof timbers as protection against EHB. The treatment consists of an initial treatment with mandatory yearly inspection. The service can coincide with termite spray treatment.” We have no confidence that borates or boron sprays will stop EHB from infesting seasoned pine timbers. We therefore recommend that you install pre-treated pine timbers rather than having untreated pine timbers sprayed with these applications after installation. Date Listed: 2010-01-25 I own a 100 year old house (timber frame) in Harvey which I am renovating. There is some whiteant activity in the bathroom and I have had baits set there to eradicate them. I have since removed a verandah and believe this was the entry point for the activity as it is adjacent the bathroom and the fascia was badly damaged as it had been buried. There is no other damage to the house. Are baits an appropriate way of dealing with the problem? I have also discovered a colony in railway sleepers near a shollow bore. I would like to eradicate these but I need the bore water to provide drinking water to the house so do not want to use chemicals in the area if possible. Please advise. Thanks. Instead of termite baiting we prefer to use liquid termite chemical in the soil, which is where termites live and attack buildings from. We have found that this treatment method actually stops termites coming into the buildings – not just a hit-and-miss attempt with baits. Therefore, we always recommend carrying out a liquid chemical treatment to soil areas under the floorboards and around concrete foundations according to Australian Standards 3660.2-2000. In your case, we would recommend a termite inspection to all accessible areas – the roof space, internal areas, sub-floor areas, gardens and outbuildings (e.g. sheds, etc). From this inspection we can identify the location of any active termites and make recommendations on how to both effectively control current termite activity, and how to reduce the risk of future termite entry. The good news is that the termite colony in the railway sleepers can be eradicated!! To do this we will move the railway sleepers to another place onto bricks placed sideways to allow ventilation underneath (to reduce moisture) and to allow for regular inspection of the undersides for termite entry. Movement of the timber will break up the nest causing the termites to retreat back into the soil, their natural environment and move to feed on bushes and grasses. This is what we want them to do - not attack our built environment or timbers in service. Date Listed: 2010-01-15 There is a large swarm of Bees in a wall of our house addition. is it possible for them to be eradicated and permanently prevented from returning? Yes, they can be eradicated but not permanently prevented from returning, especially if the walls are double brick cavity walls. Firstly the bees need to be treated with chemical. To do this a hole or several holes need to be drilled into the wall cavity to allow access for the chemical. Then chemical needs to be injected into the wall cavity through the hole. The chemical should be dry powder as electrical wiring may be installed in the wall cavity. The chemical needs to be left in the cavity for at least one week following treatment. Holes drilled need to be sealed up completely. Bee scouts are attracted to the smell of honey and honeycomb as they fly around looking for places to move a bee colony and will look to relocate the hive in locations where they have been before. Therefore, after the bee treatment the wall cladding where the bee hive is located needs to be removed to expose the hive for removal. This won’t be possible if it is a brick cavity wall, so permanently prohibiting bee re-entry cannot be guaranteed in this situation. The wall cladding needs to be removed to expose the bee hive and all hive material, especially the honey and honeycomb, needs to be scraped off and all hive-affected wall cladding and studs (timber and steel) need to be washed down with a strong disinfectant such as Domestos or Pine-O-Clean. An odour remover such as Nil Odour or No Odor, or vinegar (an effective natural bee repellent), needs to then be thoroughly applied to all hive-affected surfaces. The wall cladding can then be replaced. Alternatively new wall cladding should be fitted as it will have no smell of honey. All gaps, seams and holes in the wall must be sealed completely. Westate Pest Control can treat your wall for bees and, depending on the type of wall construction, the risk of their re-entry into those areas can be reduced but the measures need to be invasive. Date Listed: 2009-12-07 How does Westate Pest Control treat for Cockroaches in a kitchen? Westate Pest Control uses small dosages of carefully placed Cockroach gels that are not toxic to humans or pets in the most effective places in kitchen cupboards, pantries and around kitchen appliances Date Listed: 2009-11-30 Is bamboo flooring termite resistant? No. The claim that bamboo flooring is not likely to experience problems with pests, including termites, is false. An Indian study conducted in 1994 found that bamboo is susceptible to attacks from carpenter bees, borer beetles, stain fungi, various marine orgnanisms and termites (Kumar, Shukla, Dev, Dobriyal et al 1994). If left unchecked, termites can cause extensive and costly damage as they are capible of eating away nearly a metre of bamboo in a year! If your bamboo flooring is showing signs of pest attack or if you want to be safe before installing any bamboo flooring in your home, ring Westate Pest Control on 1800 647 440 to organise an inspection and a free quote if treatment is needed. Date Listed: 2009-11-03 A friend of mine has a kitchen that contains large trails of black ants. What should i recommend to her? Thank you for asking this question as it seems to come up every year around this time as ants start to move their nests and look for moisture and food for their young in the nest. They can sometimes be difficult to control, depending on the location of their nests and bivouacs (sub-nests). However, you could recommend this to your friend: 1. Move foodstuffs, especially sweet things like sugar, into sealed containers, and if necessary, into the fridge (at least temporarily, until the siege is over). 2. Wipe all counter tops with a mild disinfectant with a lavender perfume, as this will extinguish their previous trails and act as a repellent. But this will not stop them completely. 3. Contract a licensed, experienced pest control company like Westate Pest Control to treat the cracks and crevices with the registered chemical. In most cases however a nearby wall cavity may need to be treated with an appropriate registered chemical, as it is very likely that the ant nest is in your friend’s kitchen wall cavity or in the roof. But finding which wall the nest is in will be difficult as the cavity in the wall is inaccessible. For this reason a repeat treatment may be necessary several weeks after the initial treatment. 4. Move any nearby pet feeding area, both inside or outside, away from the kitchen walls and clean up straight after the pet has been fed to reduce any attraction to ants to this area. Date Listed: 2009-10-28 I have discovered what I would recognise as Termite damage in a tree in our backyard this is about 2 metres from the actual house. Should I consider getting a treatment or inspection to protect the house or is it unnecessary? You should have the property inspected as soon as possible for active termites because they could also be in other areas. A timber pest inspection to Australian Standard 4349.3-1998 should report on active and inactive (previously active) termites, wood decay fungi and borers of seasoned timber. The inspection should report on areas that are at high risk to termite, wood decay fungi and borer attack and make recommendations to control and reduce existing and future attack. If there are active termites eating your tree in the back yard then this should be found and reported on during the inspection, along with methods to kill the active termites through chemical treatment and removal of timber where reasonable and practical. A quote for this treatment can be given on site if you would like. Westate Pest Control has carried out many of these inspections and for $195.00 it is worth having the peace of mind. Date Listed: 2009-10-20 I have a bad cockroach problem in a bathroom, on what time basis are roaches treated? Cockroaches can be treated at any time of the day or night because we are now able to use gel baits in places that are effective whenever cockroaches come out to forage. These bait locations are hidden from human (and pet) view and therefore are not of any significant risk to children and pets. The larger older male cockroaches come out to forage at night and are attracted to these baits and, after eating some of them, go back to the nest to mate, cannibalise and eat the faeces of other cockroaches thereby transferring the toxic active ingredient to the rest of the colony. This method is effective over a fairly short period of time, around one to two weeks, and results in 90% to 100% eradication of the colony over that time. Finally, there is not usually very much food in a bathroom and cockroaches are attracted to moisture. Their presence in a bathroom sometimes indicates that there is excess moisture from leaking inlet or waste pipes. Controlling or repairing this problem should reduce the moisture and your cockroaches may forage elsewhere for moisture and food. Westate Pest Control would be happy to carry out a baiting to your bathroom. Our indoor cockroach treatments start at $185.00 inc GST with a free three-month call-back cover. Date Listed: 2009-09-15 How can I tell if a bedroom in my house has a bed bug infestation? Bed bugs have a very flat body shape and can hide in virtually any crack and crevice, preferring dark, isolated and protected areas. Bed bugs prefer wood, paper and fabric surfaces and so these materials should be paid special attention when you look for their dark staining blood and faeces spotting. If this is a bedroom, pull back the sheets on the bed and check under the mattress seams, beading, under buttons, handles, labels and corner protectors right around the top and bottom of the mattress for blood-spotting (dark spots). Also more concealed areas close to the walls If the bed is an ensemble with a mattress and a base, look at the material underneath the ensemble base for blood-spotting (dark spots) as these are the most likely places they will rest after feeding. For metal framed beds with wooden slats you may see the blood spotting around and on the wooden slats as these have many cracks for the bed bugs to hide in and lay their eggs. If wooden slats have been bolted to the frame, unscrew the bolts and inspect the drill holes. Also check springs and inside hollow bed posts. Areas around the bed should also be checked thoroughly, including the bed frame, the bed head (bedheads should be unscrewed and checked behind and around) and bedside furniture (bedside furniture should be turned over and checked underneath). Drawers in tables and cupboards should be removed, turned over and examined. Other furniture in the room should be inspected, especially where luggage may have been placed, such as luggage racks. Check seams and buttons (if upholstered) and any wooden joins (especially chipboard). Telephones and audio visual equipment, books, power points and behind switch plates, underneath carpet edges and carpet grippers (smooth-edge) plus under rugs, along skirting boards, joins in floor boards and under floor boards. Also check behind loose wallpaper and paint, along architraves (doorframes), old nail and screw holes, ornaments, window casings and wall voids. Bed bugs can also be found higher up on the wall behind telephone cords and electrical conduit, in wall hangings, picture frames, mirrors, vertical and Venetian blinds, curtains and curtain rods, books, ceiling joins, under ceiling mouldings, smoke detectors and light fittings. This sounds fairly rigorous but bed bugs are very flat and almost transparent until after they have had a blood meal. After feeding they appear dark maroon and slightly thicker, but are still able to crawl through and hide in very small places to rest after feeding, so you need to check very thoroughly as they may be hiding in a place you haven’t yet checked. Have look at the Australian Bed Bug Code of Practice website at: http://www.bedbug.org.au/ for more information on how to reduce the risk of a bed bug infestation in your home Date Listed: 2009-07-21 I had a termite pest treatment in the garage of my house with another company about 6 years ago. Recently I have noticed that termites have returned and have already done considerable damage. Does Westate Pest control have any guarentees or warranty after its treatments to prevent anything like this from occuring? After conducting a termite treatment, Westate Pest Control carries out low-cost yearly inspections for five years until the next Termite treatment is due. Within the one year period following a termite treatment, Westate Pest Control offers to carry out free spot treatments to treated areas to eradicate any active Termites which may emerge after the treatment. Annual inspections are recommended to prevent future termite damage during the five year period following the Termite treatment. Once the five year period following the Termite treatment is over, that free cover runs out and Westate Pest Control doesn’t provide more than one month’s free cover in the form of free spot treatments on future Termite attack. Therefore, in addition to annual reminders to have your property checked for Termite activity, at the conclusion of the five year period Westate Pest Control will recommend a renewal treatment to you to renew the chemical in the soil protecting your house. Date Listed: 2009-06-23 In what ways does Westate Pest Control attempt to be environmentally friendly regarding pest treatments and the chemicals used? Westate Pest Control only uses target-specific chemicals and methods so we kill the pest but minimise the effect on the surrounding environment as non-target chemicals can be harmful to other plants, animals and humans. Date Listed: 2009-06-17 Are the chemicals used by Westate Pest Control in termite treatments dangerous to humans? Like with all chemicals, they can effect people in different ways. We generally advise pregnant women and asthmatics to either vacate the premisis for a number of days or to take extra care around areas that have been treated. Date Listed: 2009-03-20 whats the best way to get rid of meat ants, ive used ant granules down their holes, its gets rid of them for a few weeks then they return. Any other suggestions DIY to rid these ants for good. Nearly all species of ants in their adult stage are not able to eat solids. They are only able to drink liquids (you may have several mates that are like this also). Therefore, the best way to control any ants in the soil is to use a liquid chemical flooded down their holes. A synthetic pyrethroid such as bifenthrin will do the job. This will drown a large number and those that don’t drown will be killed by the active chemical, although this may take several hours depending on how far the ants are down the nest. Ants often have many nests and sub-nests under the soil so it may be difficult to control them over all soil areas in a garden without applying the chemical treatment more than once, so a second application may need to be carried out in the case of your meat ant problem. As rain and reticulation systems can wash away chemicals take care not to water the treated areas for at least three days after the treatment so the chemical has enough time to reduce the ant population. Westate Pest Control would be pleased to carry out a treatment to your meat ants. If you would like a quote we can visit the site and provide a proposal, and even carry out the treatment while we are there. Email us on info@westatepest.com.au or ring our office on 08 6365 4800 to arrange this free visit and quotation. Date Listed: 2009-01-10 I live outside the Perth metro area (Warnbro), is it possible to still use the services of Westate Pest Control? Yes it is! Westate Pest Control Services the entire Perth metrolpolitian area right up to Pinjarra, Woorooloo, Mandurah and Yanchep. Areas outside of these may incur an additional travel charge. Date Listed: 2008-11-12 My next door neighbour has a severe rodent problem and my dog is frequently catching large brown rats in the back and side-yards. If my neighbour does not have a rodent treatment will it be likely that my house will become rodent infested? Yes, your house can become rodent infested but the species of rat you described being caught by next door’s dog seems to be Rattus norvegicus the brown river rat. These are larger than the roof rat Rattus rattus which are smaller and grey. So how can rats be attracted to your property? By a place to nest and a food source. For the roof rat your roof and wall cavities is the perfect place for its nest. Any fruit or nut bushes or trees (e.g. Cape Lilac tree or grape vine) can provide a food source. The brown rat usually lives under buildings so if you are near the river or sea and have a house on wooden suspended floor boards (with a sub-floor area) or stilts this species of rat can build nests under your house. They have plenty of water nearby so all they need is food, which they can find in the surrounding bushes and trees. Most rats can swim and run great distances if necessary to find food and water and are great opportunists – if it is there they will drink it, live in it or eat it! Therefore, it is worthwhile to have your roof and (if there are brown rats present) your house sub-floor areas baited to kill the pests. The bait should preferably be one like Racumin that has a clear safety record for secondary poisoning effects to non-target animals and can be used long term to gain control of a rodent nest. Date Listed: 2008-01-10 Can you keep ants (not white ants) from outdoor entertaining areas and how is it done? Yes you can, as adult ants cannot eat solid foods. With the use of liquid chemicals Westate Pest Control can flood and eliminate black ants from most outdoor areas. Depending on the size of the outdoor areas, ants in entertainment areas are easier to control than in garden areas or lawns as there are usually no reticulation systems capable of washing away the chemicals used. While their numbers can be substantially reduced in just one treatment, black ants can in some cases return to treated areas because their colonies are heavily interconnected and can spread over a large area. Having a second treatment within several months of the first treatment can prevent their return for a longer period or time. Date Listed: 2008-09-24 Midgies!!! I vaccuum them up every morning, and limit the lights on at night time... by the time I get home, they are everywhere again!! We have a dam on our property which we cant fill in (council rules) Is there anything I can plug in/spray/douse my house in to keep them out? What you are describing is most likely what is known as a non-biting midge fly. Their swarming behaviour is part of their mating strategy. It is usually the males that swarm. The females enter the group, mate and return to nearby water, where they lay their eggs. On hatching, the small larvae locate themselves in the silt at the bottom of the water course or body of water. Here they go through a number of instar (juvenile) stages before pupating and emerging as an adult. Non-biting midges are small flies that spend some of their time growing up in water. Midge fly larvae are usually found in rivers, swamps and other wet areas. They are generally bottom-dwelling and mainly feed on silting debris, although there are some predatory species. Midge flies are an important part of the food web in both rivers and bodies of water. As larvae they are food for a wide range of predatory aquatic animals including dragonflies and beetle larvae. They are also a food source for wading birds and bottom-feeding fish species. As adults, they fall prey to surface feeding fish, insect-eating birds and are frequently caught in spiders’ webs near aquatic environs. In Western Australia, many bodies of water and rivers are full of nutrients and frequently exhibit algal blooms in spring and summer. Decaying algal material is deposited on the bottom of these bodies of water and it is thought that this material provides a food resource for the midge larvae. With ample food available, and the right temperature and silt, midge larvae can become very abundant. Consequently, there are large numbers of adults swarming around these enriched wetlands. Midges swarm around your home, attracted by your lights at dusk. They aggregate under porches, on walls and on washing, increasing household maintenance. These swarms can be extremely dense and obviously reduce your enjoyment outdoors in the evening. In general, there is no health risk associated with midges as the adults do not bite and, unlike mosquitoes, do not require a blood meal before laying their eggs. However, the dust associated with dead adult midges can trigger asthma attacks in some people. Control of midges has largely been through the application of larvicides, such Abate. This non-specific organophosphate chemical is toxic to a range of aquatic fauna, although the rate used to control midges is comparatively low. Evidence in Western Australia suggests that midge larvae are becoming resistant to this control agent. Alternatives to organophosphates are being experimented with. Insect Growth Regulators offer some hope, but rates required to control midges can make these chemical prohibitively expensive. Also, these chemicals can also impact on non-target aquatic fauna. Westate Pest Control technicians are licensed to apply Abate and several effective Insect Growth Regulators. Other alternatives, such as light traps are effective in trapping adult midges, but are largely ineffective at reducing midge populations in the longer term. Additional control approaches, which are currently being trialled, include aerating the water surface to disrupt egg laying. Midge nuisance swarms are really an indication of the amount of nutrient in your dam. In order to address the midge nuisance, you could try clearing the sludge and silt at the bottom of your dam or, as suggested, aerating the surface water of the dam to disrupt the laying of midge fly eggs. Excess nutrients and the subsequent drop in oxygen levels in the water in your dam is the primary reason for your large midge fly populations and until these causes are addressed, your midge fly issue will remain. Date Listed: 2007-10-06 How do you inspect the subfloor of a brick veneer house? There are basically two ways to inspect the sub-floors of a house, depending on the construction of the house. Assuming the floors are made of wood and they are suspended above the soil under the house, the best way to inspect the sub-floor areas is to gain access to crawl under the house floorboards with a torch and a tapping tool to check for termite activity and damage. The house may be stumped with no wall foundations and allow sufficient access for the technician to crawl under from under the outside walls of the house. If there is not sufficient sub-floor clearance soil will need to be dug from underneath the house to allow sufficient height for a person crawl through. Many houses with closed-in foundations have an access hole cut in the brick or limestone foundation walls allowing a person to crawl under the house from that access point. This is called “open access”. If there is no “open access” from outside then access holes (“floor traps”) will need to be cut into the wooden floorboards to gain access for inspection of sub-floor areas. Some houses are constructed with no sub-floor walls and their sub-floor areas can be inspected by cutting a new or opening just one existing floor trap, depending on adequate sub-floor clearance throughout the sub-floor area. However, there are many older houses that have walls in the sub-floor blocking access from room to room. To inspect these at least one floor trap will need to be cut in each room on wooden floorboards to access the sub-floor for inspection. Westate Pest Control has inspected (and treated) many houses on wooden suspended floors, both with and without open access and is capable of inspecting and treating all types of houses for termites. Date Listed: 2006-01-02 Are you interested in the Altis Anti-Termite Reticulation System and want to know whats it about, how it works,how its installed, what type of chemcal you can use in it and how much does it cost per metre? Thank you for your enquiry. The Altis Anti-Termite Reticulation System is a termite management system approved for installing underneath the house foundation slab and around the edge of this slab once the walls are built as part of the Building Code of Australia’s pre-construction requirements. As Westate Pest Control doesn’t install pre-construction termite management systems, only post-construction pest & weed treatments, we would not be interested in this system. However, our sister company CBA Pest & Weed Control installs Camilleri Anti-Termite pre-construction termite management systems. They can be contacted on 08 9209 2588. Date Listed: 2004-07-25 How long does it take to complete a termite inspection of my house? About 1 hour for the average 4 bedroom/2 bathroom house and garden. More time may be required if access holes need to be cut in wooden floors to inspect subfloor areas. Date Listed: 2003-07-01 How can I reduce the risk of Termite attack on my property ? By regular and frequent (ie, every year) inspections by a reputable pest control company, but also by reducing the amount of moisture against house walls, under houses and in sheds, garages, etc. Store all loose timber on elevated shelves upon bricks so that all floor areas can be inspected for termite activity. Date Listed: 2003-07-01 Do you have a single treatment that kills all pests? No, each pest is controlled by different methods and pesticides because they live in different areas and are more susceptible to different chemicals, eg, cockroaches live in kitchen cupboards and rats usually live in roofs. Date Listed: 2003-07-01 Are there any effective ways to control pests other than using chemicals? Yes, physical barriers (such as flyscreens) may be used to prevent insects and animals entering buildings. Hygiene and regular cleaning can alter the living areas of cockroaches to control their numbers. Biological methods, such as nematode worms that become parasites of termites, are being examined for their effectiveness. Date Listed: 2003-07-01 Are flea and cockroach bombs effective? Not usually, they don’t give enough active chemical treatment to floors, skirting boards and subfloor areas. Date Listed: 2003-07-01

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