Where the damp usually comes from, why a closed subfloor is worse than an open one, and the drainage faults that keep soil wet against a footing.
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What makes a house attractive to termites
Termites need moisture and concealment. Most houses hand them both without anyone noticing.
Conducive conditions are the part you can actually change
Inspection reports use the phrase conducive conditions for the things about a property that make termite attack more likely. Unlike almost everything else in this subject, this list is the homeowner's to fix, and fixing it is the cheapest thing you will ever do about termites.
Moisture is first, always. A leaking tap, a discharging hot water relief line, a downpipe emptying against a footing, an air conditioner condensate drain, a poorly drained garden. Each keeps a patch of soil permanently damp against the building, and damp soil next to timber is the ideal approach. If a leak is what is keeping that soil wet, that is plumbing and it is a different trade; our sibling site Plumbing Explained covers what is behind a persistent damp patch.
Poor subfloor ventilation does the same thing on a larger scale. A closed-in or blocked subfloor stays humid, keeps the bearers and joists damp, and gives termites a concealed, humid space to work in unobserved.
Bridging is the one that undoes an otherwise good house. Garden beds and mulch built up above the slab edge, a paved path poured over the perimeter, foam cladding taken down past the barrier, a deck built hard against the wall. All of them cover the strip that was supposed to stay visible, and give concealed entry past whatever barrier is there.
Food left lying around finishes the list: stumps left in the ground, timber offcuts stored under the house, firewood stacked against a wall, old form-work never removed. And timber retaining walls in contact with soil. None of these cause termites. They make an established colony far more likely to find you.
Risk factors guides
Why colonies nest inside living trees and old stumps, what that means for the building nearby, and why breaking a nest open makes it worse.
The four things a colony is looking for, which of them you can take away, and the popular explanations that turn out not to matter much.
The routes from soil into a building, sorted by what you can remove, what you can only keep visible, and what stays open for good.
Termites in beds, logs and mulch: where they turn up and when they matter to the house.
Where to stack firewood, what to do if you find termites in a log, and why you never spray the pile.
Do any plants repel termites? Why a planting scheme is no barrier, and what to keep clear of the walls.
Sources
What this page explains is based on these official sources. If you check one and it does not match what you read here, send it to us and the article gets corrected.
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission. Protect against termites — termite management systems and inspections
- Department of Health, Victoria. Pest control — termites