Building and Pest Inspections – Physical Termite Barriers
A common problem detected during many Pre-Purchase Building and Pest Inspections is referred to as “Bridging” of termite barriers.
The term barrier is a little misleading because the purpose of a physical termite barrier such as an “ant cap”, metal termite barrier, or exposed slab edge is to make termites visible to an inspection process rather than to prevent termites entering a dwelling. Bridging refers to the covering up of the inspection zone created by the barrier providing a bridge for termites to enter undetected.
In this photograph, the wall is placed over the edge of the slab without the installation of a physical barrier. This can allow termites to come up beside the house slab edge and enter the wall frame behind the cladding without being visible to any inspection. If a physical termite barrier was installed the termites would be forced to go around the edge of the barrier and become visible.
If you have this conditions conducive type of defect in your report please follow the recommendations. If these conditions conducive defects are ignored they greatly increase the risk of termite problems occurring in the future. If the cost of retrofitting a physical termite barrier is too high the risk can be mitigated by installing a chemical barrier to the area.
