Termite treatment when you have found live termites

If you have found live termites, leave them where they are, take photos and get a licensed timber pest technician to look before anything is sprayed. Treatment aims to wipe out the colony that is feeding on the house, then protect the building so a new colony cannot move in. An enquiry sent through this site reaches an independent local pest business, which inspects, quotes and carries out any treatment you agree to.

No live termites yet, only a worry? Book a routine termite inspection first; treatment is only priced once someone has confirmed what is there.

What should you do the moment you find termites?

The first hour matters less than people think, but a few mistakes are hard to undo:

1. Do not break open the workings. Pulling off a skirting board or knocking down mud tubes lets the termites retreat, and the technician then has nothing active to treat.
2. Do not spray surface insect spray into them. Fly spray kills the few termites you can see and drives the rest away from the spot where bait or treatment would have reached the colony.
3. Take photos. Shoot the damage, the mud leads and any live termites, with something in the frame for scale.
4. Note where. Write down the room, the wall and whether it is inside, outside or under the house.
5. Find the paperwork. Look for a Termite Risk Management Notice in the meter box and any records of a barrier or bait stations.

How do you know they are termites and not ants?

CSIRO points out that termites are often called white ants but are unrelated to ants. One field check a technician will use: the soldiers of Coptotermes, a genus that feeds on wood and is found in every state, produce a milky substance when disturbed. CSIRO also notes that Coptotermes colonies probably contain millions of termites, which is why one damaged door frame can mean a much larger problem. Our signs of termites guide has more on telling them apart.

Who is allowed to treat termites in NSW?

Using pesticides to control termites and other timber pests for a fee is licensed work in NSW under the Pesticides Act 1999. The EPA explains that a timber pest management technician licence is being phased in for termite and other timber pest treatments. A technician who held a five-year pest management technician licence before 17 December 2021 could keep doing timber pest treatments on it until it expired or until 17 December 2023, whichever was later. Anyone who renewed or was first licensed after 17 December 2021 needs the timber licence for that work. The detail is on the EPA licence page.

Before work starts, search the technician’s name on the EPA pesticide licence public register and ask to see their photo licence card.

How does colony elimination work?

Method	How it works	Where it fits
Baiting	Bait stations are placed around the house; hipages describes baits that disrupt termite growth and eliminate colonies over time	Active termites where the colony can be reached through feeding; needs regular servicing
Direct treatment of the workings	hipages describes liquid termiticides applied directly to the affected wood	Localised infestations the technician can reach
Chemical soil barrier after the colony is dealt with	Treated soil around and under the building stops termites crossing in	Long-term protection; see termite barriers
Fumigation	Whole-house treatment that hipages says is for severe cases and means moving out while it is done	Rare; the most expensive option in the hipages guide

Choosing between a bait system and a soil barrier for the long term is a decision on its own. The termite baiting versus chemical barrier comparison sets the two side by side.

Treatment of a house that is already built is covered by AS 3660.2, the part of the Australian termite management standard written for existing buildings. hipages also suggests checking that a provider’s treatment plan complies with AS 3660.

What does a treatment visit look like?

Every provider runs it a little differently, but expect something close to this:

1. Full inspection. The technician confirms the species and finds how far the activity reaches, checking the subfloor, roof void and garden as well as the spot you found.
2. Treatment plan. They explain the method, the product, the number of visits and the re-entry time, ideally in writing.
3. First treatment. Bait stations go in near the activity, or the workings are treated directly.
4. Follow-up checks. Baits are inspected and topped up on a schedule until the termites stop feeding.
5. Sign-off and protection. Once activity has stopped, the technician reports what was done and recommends ongoing protection.

What does termite treatment cost?

The hipages 2026 cost guide puts a full termite baiting system at $2,500 to $3,500 per home as a national average. It also lists an annual maintenance fee on top for ongoing bait monitoring, so ask each provider how often they will check the stations and what each visit costs. The band is a national figure from a published guide, not a Byron Bay quote. If you want a second view on the price you have been given, ask for a termite treatment quote with the first quote’s scope attached.

What will a careful technician ask about, check and refuse to do?

A careful technician will:

• inspect the whole house before pricing, not only the spot you found
• tell you the full product name and give you the safety data sheet on request, which the EPA says a pest controller must provide
• confirm the product is registered with the APVMA, which you can check on the APVMA chemical registration search
• explain how long people and pets need to stay out of treated areas and when it is safe to go back in
• leave a written record of what was treated, where and with what, plus the follow-up plan

They will not promise a colony is gone after one visit. Baiting in particular works over time, and the stations are checked until the termites stop feeding.

What happens after the termites are gone?

Damaged timber stays damaged. Replacing a soft bearer, a door jamb or a section of floor is carpentry or building work, not pest control, and the technician may recommend you get a builder to assess it. Once the colony is dealt with, the technician will talk to you about protection: a bait system kept in service, a chemical barrier, or both. After that, the yearly inspection becomes the habit that catches the next problem early.

Is there a local reason to act quickly?

In Mullumbimby and other low-lying parts of the Brunswick Valley, flooding leaves houses damp for a long time. The NSW SES Byron flood information gives a 2022 Brunswick River height of 4.97 m at Mullumbimby, a flood that put much of the town under water. hipages notes that termites love damp areas, so a house that took water and then shows mud leads in the subfloor should be looked at promptly. The Mullumbimby area page has more about that town.

Next step: describe the termites you found

Send a termite treatment enquiry with photos of the mud tubes or damage, the room and wall where you found them, and whether any bait stations or a barrier are already in place. Say whether the house is owner-occupied, rented or used as a holiday let, because that affects who needs to approve the work and when the house can be emptied for treatment.

Send a job enquiry