Last week we had our yearly termite inspection on our house and property. When we had the house lifted and restumped, and the new slab poured, we had an anti-termite application installed called “Kordon”.

Kordon is a “chemical barrier sandwiched between a moisture membrane that is typically installed under concrete slabs and can replace the moisture membrane”. The company that did the Kordon termite barrier was Amalgamated Pest Control, as part of there “Termaforce” termite solution.

The Kordon termite application includes a 10-year warranty against termites, if we get it inspected by an authorised termite inspector every year for those 10-years. The inspection costs about $200 a year, so about $2000 for the life of the warranty.

Because termites are such a huge problem in Townsville and Tropical Australia the warranty is pretty important to our piece of mind. We have had the termite inspection for the last two years since we had the Kordon installed around the stumps and the slab when they were built.

It is reported that “there are an estimated 130,000 termite attacks in Australia per annum with a repair bill of $910 million and costing an average of $7,000 each to rectify” (source)., With an average of $7000 per repair, the $2000 over 10-years seems quite reasonable.

I reckon that despite the prevalence of termites in Townsville and North Queensland I would probably not get annual termite inspections if we did not want to maintain the warranty. If you know what to look for and keep an eye on your property you should be able to avoid termites, or at least detect them early on.

So what do you reckon? Should an professional termite inspection be a part of your yearly maintenance plan for your house? Or do you think you can keep an eye on things yourself be avoid termites devouring your home …