Home › Damage › Repairing termite damage: the right order

Repairing termite damage: the order the work has to happen in

By · Updated

The most expensive mistake in this subject is replacing the timber first. It is also the most natural one, because the damaged timber is the part you can see.

The order, and why it is not negotiable

  1. Deal with the colony. Until termite activity has been managed, new timber put into the same place is simply fresh food delivered to the same address.
  2. Establish the extent. This usually means opening up areas the visual inspection could not reach, and it is where the real scope appears.
  3. Fix what let them in. The moisture, the bridging, the timber in ground contact: otherwise you will do this again.
  4. Repair. Last, once the first three are settled.

People invert this under pressure, particularly when a sale, a tenant or a visible hole is involved. It is understandable and it is expensive.

Cosmetic versus structural

This distinction governs both urgency and cost, and it is worth being precise about.

Non-structural: skirting boards, architraves, door jambs, cabinetry, wall linings, decorative mouldings. Unpleasant, sometimes extensive, but not carrying load. Replacement is ordinary carpentry.

Structural: bearers, joists, stumps, studs, top and bottom plates, lintels, rafters, trusses, and any member holding something up. Here the question is not how it looks but how much sound section is left and whether it still carries its design load. That is not a judgement to make by eye or by tapping, and on a significantly damaged member it is an engineer's assessment. Worth having in writing, both for the repair design and for any later dispute.

Why the extent is always bigger than it looked

Because of how termites eat. They hollow timber from the inside and leave the surface, so a stud can look sound, sound hollow when tapped, and be a shell. Until linings come off, every estimate is inference from the outside.

The practical consequence: treat any scope agreed before opening up as provisional, and expect it to grow. A builder who tells you that up front is being honest, not evasive.

How structural repairs are actually done

Not always by replacement. Depending on the member and how much of it is left, the options include sistering (fixing a new member alongside the damaged one to take the load), splicing in a new section, replacing the member entirely, or introducing new support. Which is appropriate is the engineer's call. It usually turns on access as much as on the damage. Replacing a bottom plate in a load-bearing wall is a different job to replacing a subfloor bearer.

The thing to check while the wall is open

Everything that made that spot attractive. Open linings are the one chance you will get to see whether there is a leak behind the shower, whether the subfloor is ventilating, whether the framing is wet. Termites and fungal decay favour the same conditions and are regularly found in the same wall. So if the timber is damp, find out why before it is closed up again.

The paperwork

Keep it. The inspection report, the treatment records, the engineer's assessment, the repair invoices and any warranty on the treatment. It matters when the house is sold, it matters if there is a dispute with a builder. And it matters for the next inspection: a technician who can see what was treated and where is working with far better information.

What it will generally not do is produce an insurance claim: most home policies exclude termite damage, and that is standard rather than a loophole.

Frequently asked questions

Can I repair the damage myself?

Non-structural timber like skirting and architrave is ordinary carpentry. Anything carrying load is not, and should not be touched until an engineer has assessed what section is left.

Do I have to treat before repairing?

Yes. Replacing timber while a colony is still active puts new food in the same location, and it destroys the evidence a technician needs to work out where the activity is coming from.

How do I know if a member is structural?

If it is holding something up (floor, wall, roof) it is structural. Bearers, joists, studs, plates, lintels, rafters and trusses all are. Skirting, architrave and lining are not.

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.

Keep reading