It would have been a few days before Christmas my neighbour rang with his bad news.
Earlier he had told me how his mother, from whom he was estranged, had passed away and left him some money. So he was telling me about the new car he'd bought and how he had ordered a new kitchen & some other things. But his next call was less in a mood of good cheer, much less. When the kitchen people came to pull out his old kitchen they found termites in the wall going at it like a football crowd when they heard news that the pies were running out. So, work suspended, he called in Dr Doom the Exterminator (not his real name of course). They were in all kinds of places including the roof, where some trusses had to be replaced. Wall frames had to be repaired in places and skirting boards. He's currently without a kitchen and surviving on microwave meals & so on, with his fridge in another room and no running kitchen water of course. Repair work is on hold till the termite man gives the ok.
So, what does a bloke do when he is told something like this? Thinks of himself of course and remembers back to when he last had a termite inspection. Turns out that was probably 15 years ago. Shock Horror. Because he knows himself that they are in trees and stumps and termite mounds all over the place. Well, Dr Doom came a few days ago and started with a walk round the whole acreage, with me following him with interest. He knew his stuff this bloke, that became clear within a few minutes. He found stumps and trees that needed treating or baiting all over the place of course and marked their position on his phone. Eventually he came to the house and did all the usual stuff. When he got in the roof, he found he couldn't get close enough to one corner and said we'd need another manhole for inspection. Luckily we have a friend who was able to come and do that the next day.
So the good doctor was back today, drilling trees and digging holes and putting umpteen baiting stations everywhere. He saved the roof inspection for last and when he came down he said "ok I'm able to say now there's no sign of termites past or present in the house".
Don't do as I did and forget to get a regular termite inspection, other wise you might end up with my neighbour's problems.
