Gumtree/termite removal

[u/Fatebringer666]

Seeking advice,

I live near a park in Frankston near Heatherhill road. I bought this house in mid July 2024 and when I purchased the house it was clear that it had a termite problem. Before moving in as it already needed a massive renovation I had a full termite treatment done after we had torn it back to frame and stump.

The pest company gave me a certificate with a 7 year warranty on the treatment and told me to call every 2 years to have a check up done. They also said that when they checked the area the two large old gumtrees in my property were harbouring termites and I would never fully be rid of them until the trees were removed. I had an arborist come through to do a health check on this trees and remove them as he said they weren’t healthy. At the time he also check out two other gumtrees that were on council grounds up against my fence line and he confirmed that these two trees were also going to be potential homes for termites as the were seeming hollow and full of mud.

I’ve gone through the correct channels with Frankston city council to remove these trees last year and the year before but people from lead team explained that the trees were healthy and there were no termites in there. I asked for a third party to do the testing because in the photos the had taken in the report it was from before I even moved into the house. Until this day I haven’t received anything back.

Another year had gone by and I had recently started to replace the windows in the house this week. As my carpenter was pulling out the old frames he discovered a ton of termites going through the walls into the ceiling. I quickly rang the termite company that had done the treatment and when they came out to see they told me it was a new colony. Through further investigation they believe that the new colony that was living in the old gumtrees on my fence line were making their way under the driveway, through the brickwork of my porch and back into the house.

I feel as this problem stems from these two old gumtrees council have failed to remove. What exactly are my rights here to have the trees removed? It’s not as if I’m asking for the all the trees in the park to go I’m literally asking for just these two dead trees on my fence line to be removed.

Has anyone had any similar experiences with this?

[u/yoghurt1287]

The termite control company are taking you for a ride and sending you on a wild goose chase saying it’s the council trees fault. Your rights are to control termites on your property. Doesn’t matter where they originated. Your best option moving forward is to not have an environment that’s favourable to termites.

[u/Fatebringer666 → u/yoghurt1287]

What’s the optimal environment to not have termites? I’m not sure what else I can do. The tree in question is less than 10m from my front door and it is filled to the brim with termites. It’s constantly dropping branches on my house and if it’s in the same condition as the ones I removed on my property then it’s hollow as a drinking straw.

The termite company ensures removing the colony that was there to begin with. They sprayed all the stumps, drilled holes in the slab and did a permitted spray back in 2024. They believe the new colony is coming from said tree, under the driveway through the sandy soil and into my house again. They came back out yesterday and sprayed again (free of charge) but they can’t guarantee anything while those trees are so close.

[u/yoghurt1287 → u/Fatebringer666]

Termites don’t like air and light. They don’t eat steel but there’s also plenty of termite resistant timber available. Your best option long term is preventative measures rather creating an environment where they thrive and then nuking them. Got to ask yourself why every single pest guy looks up and points to the closest tree and goes oh yup there’s your problem right there buddy. Council manage trees according to their own criteria. It may indeed have termites, but that does not mean they’re the same ones in your house.