May 2006 / Vol.4 / Issue 5

Hello and Welcome to the May Greenpest News. Each month we aim to provide you with some useful information, keeping it short, sweet and pertinent.

Contents

1. Pest Talk
2. Termites & Drought
3. Customer Question of the Month.
4. Reward Options - revisited.
5. Monthly Special

Pest Talk

Selling your home?

If you are selling your home or plan to one day, then you are going to have to face a pre-purchase report from interested buyers. This is when you will appreciate the enormous value of having a fully serviced Green Termite Bait System in place.

Why? Simply because many homes fail their pre-purchase termite report because they do not have an up to date termite management system in place. This often results in a lost sale or a sharp reduction (usually about $10,000) in the offer made on the home.

The Green Termite Bait System not only adds value to your home, but it can also be a major sales feature. Imagine the sales card in the window of the real estate agent or their advertisement for your home in the newspaper:

Just Move In And Relax

$650,000

Any home with a fully maintained termite management system is going to have an edge over similar homes without one. Think about it. Which would you sooner buy?

If you have elected to pay for 2 or 3 years in advance and you decide to sell your home after 18 months then you have two great options:

Do not underestimate the powerful influence that 'the fear of buying a home with termites or high termite risk' can make to the sale of your home. All too often termite activity in or around the home is the determining factor as to whether or not a house is sold. Real estate agents are all too aware of the many lost sales caused by the fear of termites.

If you have a Green Termite Bait System in place, make sure you have your agent list and promote it as feature of your home. You'll be glad you did.

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Familiarity breeds contempt.

Unfortunately many DIY clients let their Green Termite Bait System go to waste by not keeping it fully serviced. They have lost sight of their initial reasons ‘why' they installed it in the first place. We have written about this before but we want to reiterate… termites depend on your apathy!

It breaks our hearts when we call out to service a DIY customer only to see that they have 10 strikes on their baits, but because the baits haven't been checked for a few months only one or two of the baits remain serviceable. Not only is it a lost opportunity to destroy the termite nest early, but one never really knows (without conducting a full termite inspection) if the termites have also moved on into the property. This could have been so easily avoided if only the baits were checked every month without fail.

So to beat the drum one more time… It only takes 10 minutes to go around and check all your baits, so if you are a DIY customer reading this and you haven't checked in the past 4 weeks… Just do it!

Plainly, one of the better perks of being a full service customer (though less appreciated) is that you never have to remember to check your baits because our service team is there for you every month without fail.

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Termites & Drought

It would appear that the drought makes termites more active. It's in the news. It's got people scared. So... is it true?

Well, it is definitely the general consensus of the pest control industry across the country that termites are more active than ever before, even though it seems to fly in the face of logic. One might theorise that since termites are highly dependent upon moisture for survival, they would restrict their activity and stay close to their nest during a dry spell, but on the contrary; the evidence indicates that termites are more active because they are increasingly desperate to find a continuous source of moisture.

What this means to you is that you should ensure that you have no steady moisture sources around your home. Be vigilant! Fix dripping taps. Ensure that the hot water heater overflow valve is connected to a drain or a bucket (that gets emptied before it overflows). The same goes for air-conditioning units.

Make sure that all pot plants near the walls of your home are resting in saucers that are not cracked or broken. They MUST have a saucer. Do not over water them.

Cracked and broken plumbing/drainage pipes MUST be repaired. If you have a permanent or semi-permanent damp area around your home and it is near a laundry, kitchen or shower area where the plumbing exits the home, then get a plumber to check it out. Otherwise, it will attract enterprising termites that will then capitalise on this moisture source. This in turn will greatly increase the chances of them discovering your home.

Tip: The installation manual provided with our DIY kits specifically states that you should concentrate termite baits around areas where the plumbing exits your home.

Those of you on acreage with sullage tanks that pump out the shower water onto your lawn and gardens should ensure that the water runoff is kept well clear of the house.

Finally, make sure that all the storm water drains from your gutters are free and clear and that they run off freely. Clogged and cracked drains are worse than no drain at all because they concentrate the run-off in one place and create slow seepage. If you have an expensive drainage problem, maybe you should consider a rainwater tank! Better to collect it than let it seep into the ground.

Tip: Want to know how much moisture is in your ground? A simple way to tell is to look at the window in your Green Termite Bait. If it has condensation then it means the bait is damp. This is most common after heavy rain as the bait is like a sponge and soaks up the water in the soil. Fortunately a damp bait is a perfect lure for termite scouts and an ideal way to trap them. Once they are established in the bait, their nest can be simply destroyed with the application of some fresh termiticide to the bait.

Drought or not, termites are always a threat, so in conclusion we will finish with our regular admonition, a pearl of wisdom we are all familiar with, and that is...

Prevention is better than cure.

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Customer Question of the Month.

Question:

Hi Jerry,

I'm planning to install a rainwater tank and I need to pull up a few of the Green Termite Bait Stations around the side of my home so we can pour the slab for the tank. Shall I do it, or will I get you to come and remove the baits?

Phillip T. Burleigh Waters QLD.

Answer:

Hi Phillip,

Thank you for your enquiry. I would like to use your letter in this month's newsletter, hence the longish reply.

The drought and government incentives have led many of us around the country to install a rainwater tank. Most of these tanks are going onto a concrete slab that abuts the house. If your home is under warranty for termites and you add a rainwater tank without first consulting the pest control company that warrants your home against termites... then you might be in for a rude shock, simply because your new slab is breaching the chemical treated zone and consequently this may void your warranty.

Now before you panic, it is worth pointing out that many new homes don't have a valid warranty anyway because there is nearly ALWAYS something in the fine print of the (new home) warranty that you have failed to do anyway; and your warranty is more often than not, already voided. Don't you love fine print? NOT!

Sadly new homes are still no safer today from termites than they were 10 years ago. Most of them are still built to a price rather than to a quality standard. This comment is purely based on our own observations based on the numerous new homes under 10 years old that we inspect for termite damage every week. When we check with them about their new home warranty the unfortunate owner tells us that the builder, the pest control company and the BSA all deny liability pointing to the termite warranty's fine print as their 'get out of jail free card'.

If you have a new home, have you read the fine print? Maybe you should... hint, hint.

Back to rainwater tanks. You should ensure that if it sits on a slab, that the slab is correctly pre-treated for termites and meets with all council approvals. There are a dozen ways to accomplish this, so find a pest control company that does pre-construction work and have them pre-treat the slab. The same advice also goes for adding any slab (eg for a garden shed) or pathways to the side wall of your home.

If you have a Green Termite Bait System in place, there is some likelihood that you will need to relocate one or two baits to allow for the placement of the tank slab. It is best if you contact the company that installed your baits and have them remove and re-install your baits. If you can't wait for the next service call then you might have to pay a call out fee.

Some people have pulled out the baits themselves only to discover that the baits were just starting to be nibbled by termites. This is a wasted opportunity to kill the termite nest. In a few cases the concreters have tossed away the baits without so much as a ‘by your leave', or even worse, poured the slab on top of the baits! Duh.

Once the baits have been properly removed, they should then be correctly replaced after the tank installation is completed. Depending on the size of the tank slab, an extra couple of baits may also be required.

Finally, it is vital to ensure that the tank has its overflow pipe correctly plumbed into a WORKING drainage pipe. If the tank overflows after a storm onto the ground around it, the last place where the moisture in the soil will evaporate from is under the tank slab.

We don't want to be prophets of doom and gloom, but there is no doubt that many people (who don't read this article and take precautionary action) will rue the day they added a rainwater tank without due care and consideration to how this increases potential termite access to the home.

It really isn't hard to minimise the risk, so here are some simple action steps to take if you already have a tank or are thinking about installing one:

At your service,

Jerry

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Reward Options - revisited.

Reward Options... A bonus not to be missed.

Our reward options feature was introduced in late 2005 for our full service customers in SE QLD. The feature was an additional free bonus that we introduced so that we could offer some extra incentives to our full service customers who either pay by the month or renew from year to year.

The reward option is not a contract. It's a bonus. It's our way of saying thank you to those customers who stay with their designated full service plan for the agreed 2 or 3 year period that they nominated. It is not available to our customers who choose to pay for 2 or 3 years up front. Instead, these customers receive an immediate reward by way of a substantial discount of 15% - 30%. Not only that, but they are not subject to any price changes during the term of the contract.

Our pay by the month Plan 2 is subject to price changes as they occur. If you would like to avoid price rises then it's wise to select a Plan 1 for 1, 2 or 3 years. In these plans you have the guaranteed benefit of of our service for 1 to 3 years at a fixed price - no more to pay. With the Plan 2 option we have no such guarantee since you may elect to cease payments at anytime. You have flexibility instead, and for many, this is more important than a fixed price. If you are planning on selling your home in next few months then Plan 2 is ideal.

If you are on Plan 1 for 1yr or Plan 2 and you elect to switch to a Plan 1 for 3yrs or Plan 1 for 2yrs then your current reward option is negated since it is only applicable to customers remaining on Plan 1 for 1yr or Plan 2.

Whilst your service remains uninterrupted you will receive your 9 months reward at the end of three years or 3 months reward at the end of 2 years – regardless of the current monthly service price. Should you drop off and rejoin at a later date then the reward option is restarted from the date of recommencement. This is because the rewards are for loyalty and continuous service. Reward options are also voided when customer's account payments are defaulted.

Once a reward option is selected it can not be changed to the other reward option. Reward options cannot be transferred from property to property or from one owner to another.

Note: Reward Options are not offered by our independent distributors unless they choose to do so.

If you haven't already chosen a reward option or are unsure of what your reward option is, please call our office and we will be only too happy to assist you.

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Monthly Special Promotion - For Newsletter Subscribers Only.

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The Greenpest News is Published by J & A Furnell Nominees P/L; Shop 23a Franklin Square, 60 Railway Street, Mudgeeraba, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of Jerry Furnell. The reader is encouraged to seek further information from appropriate government and statutory departments before taking any action based on this material alone.

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See you again next month.

Always... At your service,

Jerry Furnell
Green Pest Control & Green Termite Bait Systems.
Phone 1800 6 12345.

Copyright 2007 Green Termite Bait Systems & Green Pest Control. All rights reserved.

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