Guide · signs

Things a Brisbane owner can look for. Not a diagnosis.

Western Brisbane houses are not the subject of a published infestation rate on this site. The lists below are what Queensland regulators tell people to notice, then hand to a licensed inspector.

QBCC’s sign list

A QBCC news article reviewed on 10 March 2024 lists signs of potential infestation: mud shelter tubes beside architraves or skirting, in undercrofts, on brick foundations and on external walls at ground level; sagging floors, doors or ceilings; damaged skirtings, jambs or architraves; cracked or blistered paint or plaster; power failures; discarded wings near windows, in spider webs or light fittings; timber that sounds hollow when tapped; and dry sand-like pellets, including cone-shaped or circular piles on the wood.

The same article’s weather comments are about north Queensland rain, flooding and humidity. Do not read them as a Brisbane climate study or as a claim that a wet summer in Chelmer or The Gap produced a measured jump in termite jobs. What does travel is the practical advice: after water has reached floors, check whether the management system was compromised, clear pooling water, fix leaks, and keep wood off the ground and away from the house. Renovations that add paths, garden beds, patios, pergolas or turf can hide entry. QBCC says the next step, if you suspect activity or a damaged system, is an inspection by someone with a QBCC termite management contractor licence.

What the advisory note adds about how they travel

QBCC’s April 2024 advisory note says attacks usually start from a nest in the ground, that termites build mud galleries to cross open gaps, and that they can use wall cavities, slab cracks and service penetrations. It recommends at least 75 mm from the bottom of a weep hole to garden, concrete or paving, and a 25 mm gap for a freestanding structure. Those are maintenance points, not proof that a bridged garden bed already contains termites.

A public-housing page, and a 2013 fact sheet

The Queensland Government’s termite page for public housing tenants repeats hollow-sounding timber, blistered paint, bulging linings, and mud tunnels on walls, paths and stumps. It tells tenants not to disturb nests or tunnels and to call a Housing Service Centre. That last instruction is for public housing. A private owner in Kenmore or Jindalee is not that audience. The “don’t disturb” point matches the older DAFF fact sheet, which says premature repair can make termites withdraw and make treatment harder. DAFF also says slab-on-ground houses can hide entry longer than suspended floors, that bathrooms and leaks are likely places to look, and that a papery sound, mud plastering, and bulging paint are indicators. It recommends a competent inspection and about 400 mm of subfloor clearance. The sheet is dated 2013. It is not a 2026 Brisbane survey.

If you see one of these signs, the quote you want first is an inspection, not a barrier and not a baiting package. The closed form’s “suspected” option is for that, and it still does not send anything while collection is off.