While not as visible nor dramatic and headline-grabbing as other dangers to your home, termites are the number one risk to homes in Australia. Termites do not discriminate; they cause extensive damage to homes and buildings of all shapes and sizes across Australia.
According to the Victorian Building Authority[1], termites cause more damage to Australian houses than fire, flood and storms combined. And yet termite damage isn’t typically covered under home insurance policies.
Termites are the silent enemy to the security and integrity of your new home, and all buildings on mainland Australia are to varying degrees exposed to termite damage. There are no species of termites in Tasmania.
It is estimated that some 20 per cent, or one in five, houses across mainland Australia will suffer from termite damage throughout their life. While termite damage can be non-structural, for those homeowners who suffer structural damage to their home from termites the rectification costs will be high.
Termite activity can be difficult to detect because termites will typically target concealed areas of your house. Weak timber that breaks easily to reveal thin layers, changes in corner fascia under gutters, and mud-like tubes near external footings/brickwork and service pipes are all evidence that your home could have termite damage.
The best way to help ensure that your house is safeguarded against termite damage is to choose your building materials wisely and to ensure that any cellulose material, especially timber, is kept away from soil. This prevent access to concealed areas and encourages termites to build mud tubes, which are easy to identify through routine inspections of the external surfaces of your house.
Termite resistant building materials such as steel are designed to protect the critical concealed structural components of your home, while providing a smaller target for potential termite activity.
There are many ways to reduce the risk of termite damage to your home, but the most effective is to consider your termite management strategy early in the design phase of your new home. Termite management must part of the discussion when considering what building materials you use.
One of the best ways to ensure that all critical structural elements of your home are termite proof is through the use of steel framing. Even just a steel floor frame (with steel posts) under a timber framed home provides a significant barrier, while importantly also making termite inspection much easier. Despite this if termites do get into your home, they may only cause damage to more easily replaceable building components as opposed to the entire floor structure, which would significantly reduce the cost of repair.
The Spantec Boxspan Floor System, made from galvanised stainless steel, can be used as a complete sub floor or deck frame and is the perfect solution for safeguarding your home against termites. Termites will not eat this frame, and when used in conjunction with our steel wall and roof framing components, other, more expensive and intrusive forms of termite prevention won’t be necessary.
Coupled with our versatile Ezipier adjustable steel pier components (heads, bases and accessories), which feature a built-in termite inspection point, the Spantec Boxspan Floor System offers comprehensive termite protection for your new home. And with our Ezibrace Sub-floor Bracing system, our steel Boxspan Floor System is a breeze to install compared to traditional timber floor or deck systems.
We can design and engineer your floor frame or deck frame, including footings and bracing, for your project in house.Contact us today for a quote.
Stuart and Meredith, owner builders, chose the Spantec Boxspan Floor System and Ezibrace Sub-floor Bracing system for the sub-floor and deck for their new homestead in a remote part of Victoria’s High Country.
They would primarily do the work themselves, with a little help from family, friends and a tradie, while living in a tent on site, and then in a room in their shed once it was erected. And with no power supply or hardware store nearby and snow on the ground throughout winter, this was no easy build for the pair.
However, by choosing Spantec for their floor system, the job was made easier, explains Meredith.
“Without a doubt I can say the easiest part of the build was putting the Spantec sub-floor together,” Meredith says. “The house without the veranda was 22m x 8m and when completed the sub-floor was perfectly level and perfectly square. This is the dream of any builder and we were the envy of many.”
Stuart adds that the Spantec Boxspan Floor System was a godsend for termite protection for the couple’s new home.
“The steel sub-floor offers significant protection from termite damage and was another major reason for choosing it,” he explains. “From sales to design to delivery we could not have been happier with the Spantec team and the dedication to their customers.”
Spantec can design and engineer your floor frame, footings and bracing for your project in house. Contact us today for a quote.
Ben, an owner builder in NSW, sought a termite-proof solution for a large new 8.4m x 4.1m deck he was building. The deck would have a low profile, with just 350mm from ground level to the top of the Pacific Jarrah hard wood finish. He needed a unique solution that wasn’t easy to find, particularly given the need for protection against termites.
“It was hard to find the material to build a low frame profile for ground clearance, be structurally sound and provide good future protection from termites and not retain moisture,” he explains.
“Using the Boxspan steel frame ticked every box. The team at Spantec provided all the required plans, steel sections pre-cut and drilled; which was a massive time saver when it can to build time. They also provided all the required hard wood to assemble it.”
As well as the Boxspan steel frame system, Spantec also provided Ben with all the required hard wood to assemble his new deck. Ben noted that with the ease of installation and the termite protection afforded by the galvanised stainless steel of the Spantec Boxspan Floor System, there would be no reason to use timber flooring systems again.
“The pre-cut and pre-drilled steel frame and plans made the build very simple and a lot quicker than any I have built in the past,” he says. “I won’t be going back to wooden frames anytime soon.
“The Spantec team were fantastic and very easy to deal with, provided exactly what I wanted and when I wanted it at a competitive price. I would use them again and have already recommend them to others.”
-or- Get a quote
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
Boxspan®, Colorbeam®, Ezipier™ and Ezibrace™ are trademarks of Spantec Systems.
© 2019 Spantec Systems Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
