Home › Signs

Signs of termites in a house

Termites are found by evidence, not by sight. You will almost never see the insect. You will see what it left behind.

Four evidence cards. Mud tubes are the covered road termites build over brick, concrete or steel; damp and pliable means active, dry and crumbling means old, and neither should ever be broken open. Hollow timber with an intact paint film means the inside has been eaten while the surface was left whole. Blistered or rippled paint is that surface film finally giving way. And frass, actual droppings, rules out the subterranean termites that matter most in Australian houses, since they build with their own droppings and leave none behind: a pile of pellets points to a borer instead. A note underneath explains that live evidence, such as damp mud or workers present, and old evidence, such as dry crumbling tubes, are genuinely hard to tell apart without a professional, and that everything found should be left undisturbed. — Live evidence or old evidence is genuinely hard to tell apart from the outside. Leave everything exactly as it is until someone qualified has seen it.

You are reading traces, not catching an animal

Subterranean termites, the ones that matter in Australian houses, spend their whole lives inside timber or inside mud. They avoid open air because it dries them out. That single fact explains nearly every sign on this page: the mud tubes up a pier or a wall are a covered road, the hollow sound in a skirting board is timber eaten from the inside with the paint film left intact. And the blistered or rippled paint is that film finally giving way.

Evidence comes in two grades. Live evidence means they are there now: damp mud, workers moving when a tube is broken open, timber that is soft and wet inside. Old evidence means something was there once: dry, crumbling tubes and dry damage. Telling those apart is a large part of what a professional inspection is for, and it is genuinely hard from the outside.

The one thing that matters more than any sign on this page: do not disturb them. Not with a screwdriver, not with a can of surface spray, not by pulling the tubes off the wall. A disturbed colony abandons that area and re-enters the building somewhere you are not looking, and the damage carries on out of sight. Everything you find should be left exactly as it is until someone qualified has seen it. Treatments explains why this matters so much.

If you are not sure whether what you are looking at is a termite or an ant (a very common and completely reasonable confusion, since the whole country calls them white ants) go to telling termites from ants first.

Signs guides

Evidence Mud tubes: what they are and why you must not break them

The covered highways termites build over brick, concrete and steel. Where they appear, how to tell an active tube from an abandoned one, and why pulling one off makes things worse.

Evidence What termite damage actually looks like

Hollow-sounding skirting, rippled paint, sagging floors, a door frame that gives under a thumb — and the layer of intact surface that hides all of it.

Evidence Termite droppings: what frass is, and what finding it rules out

The termites that damage most Australian houses leave no droppings at all — they build with them. So a pile of pellets is pointing somewhere else, and clearing it away destroys the sample.

Evidence Checking for termites yourself: a fifteen-minute walk, touching nothing

Perimeter, subfloor, skirtings and roof void — what an owner can genuinely find with a torch, and the four things you must never do while looking.

Evidence Termites in a door frame: why the jamb shows it first

A sticking door, a hollow architrave, a jamb that gives under a thumb — and the table that separates termite damage from ordinary timber movement.

Evidence How termites get into a house: the routes they actually use

Slab joints, pipe penetrations, weep holes, piers and bridged barriers. Every route is concealed by design, which is why the inspection zones have to stay visible.

Evidence Termite sounds: what you can hear and what it means

You can sometimes hear termites. But a noise in the wall is a reason to book an inspection, never a way to confirm or rule anything out.

Evidence Early warning signs of termites

Discarded wings, mud tubes, hollow timber and stuck doors: the small early signs, and why you look but never touch.

Evidence Signs of termites in the ceiling

Sagging plasterboard, bubbling paint and hollow cornices: the early ceiling clues, and what else looks the same.

Evidence Signs of termites in the yard

Mud on posts, hollow stumps and tubes on the slab edge: what to look for outside, and why you leave it alone.

Evidence How to tell if termites are active

Fresh mud, frass and tapping hint at activity, but only an inspector can confirm it. What to notice and what to leave alone.

Evidence Termites in carpet

Termites or wings on carpet point to a problem below the floor. What it suggests, and why you leave it alone.

Evidence Termite evidence: what counts as proof

Mud tubes, frass, wings and hollow timber: which clues count as real evidence, how strong each one is, and why you photograph it and leave it.

Evidence Signs of termites in the floor

Springy boards, hollow notes, buckled flooring and mud at the edges: the signs of termites in a floor, and what else looks the same.

Evidence Signs of termites in furniture

Hollow-sounding panels, fine pellets and mud on the back: the signs of termites in furniture, and what else looks the same.

Evidence Termites in a window sill

Soft timber, discarded wings and mud at the frame: what termites in a window sill mean, and why you leave it alone.

Evidence Dead termites in the house

Dead termites or loose wings indoors usually point to a swarm and a colony nearby. What each find suggests, and why you leave it alone.

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.

Department of Health, Victoria. Pest control — termites
Queensland Building and Construction Commission. Protect against termites — termite management systems and inspections