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hey guys (girls????)
after 6 months of anguish we finally discovered where the termites were hiding! some very satisfying blows with a hammer... led to scraping them all into a 20 litre plastic box and feeding the whole lot to the chooks... (very yummy apparently)
anyway upshot is I have a ~ 1000 x 700mm hole plus a bit of other damage in the plaster above the front door... ok so yes they were under our noses the whole time
It wouldn't be a big job for somebody who knows how... any takers?
But Erich, you realise they are only eating your house where you found them, not living there! You need leave them undisturbed to allow a pest exterminator to poison them and their nest, or find where they are getting in and block that entry point if you live up off the ground.
Cheers
Michael
oh noooooo..... this was the nest!!! little swine!
haven't seen a termite now for 12 months... before then they were literally bursting out of the walls... it was like a horror movie!! :o
the professionals had been in about 4 times when I finally noticed a new crack in the plaster and found the nest... the house is mainly brick and hard-wood but they had been eating up the trim but I hate to think what structural issues will be revealed over the years
anyway job at the moment is to patch up the plaster... any takers?
Yikes - Horsehair or coconut precast slab plaster!!
Thats a specialist job!
Its called fibrous plaster here in SA and as Doogie says its a job for someone that specialises in it.
As a side issue, recently here on TV there was show where fibrous plaster ceilings on old homes were falling down. They were fixed in place with a few nails and some of that fibrous material mixed with wet plaster (at the time) and draped over the ceiling joists as a 'saddle'. Apparently the fibrous material gave way! They never said why?
geez.... you guys are all harbingers of doom!
I dont need the repair work done in coco-nut!!! are you saying modern plaster won't stick to the top???
Lol eric !:U The old slab plaster is thicker than modern Gyprock sheeting and would need lots of surfacing to bring it up to the level of the old stuff. Another complication is that the original plaster around it may have been sealed with a caesin (animal) based glue which could cuase problems with modern toppings adhering.
I have done patching on that old plaster before and it looks ok for a while - but then cracks started appearing etc etc.
I'll have a look at it next time I'm in bris if you'd like...... great house!
Doog
hey champ just looked at your little white ant hole and its not a problem to fix ,done plenty in my time im trained in both old & new styles of plastering and if done right never a problem .