Why South East Queensland is a hard place for timber
This region carries among the heaviest termite pressure in Australia. Warm, humid, plenty of rainfall, and a lot of housing stock built with timber in ground contact. A hardwood stump sitting in damp soil is close to an ideal entry point, because it gives termites a protected path from the ground into the building without ever having to cross open air.
That is not a reflection on how a house was built. It is the environment. What it means practically is that any older Gold Coast home on timber stumps should be treated as a candidate for termite activity until an inspection says otherwise, rather than the other way round.
What termite damage looks like
The characteristic thing about termite damage is that it happens from the inside. Termites eat the softer material within the timber and leave a thin outer shell, so a stump can look completely normal and be structurally worthless.
- Mud tracks. Thin tunnels of packed soil running up the outside of a stump, over an ant cap, or across a pier. These are shelter tubes and they are the clearest visible sign.
- A hollow sound. Tapping a damaged stump gives a papery, hollow note rather than a solid one.
- Blistering or rippling. On dressed timber, a surface that looks slightly bubbled or wavy.
- Honeycomb galleries. Where the surface is broken open, layered chambers packed with grey brown mud.
- Damage well beyond the stumps. Bearers, joists, wall frames and skirting. The stumps are the entry point, not usually the destination.
The right order of operations
Getting this sequence wrong costs money and sometimes costs you the chance to deal with the colony properly.
- Licensed pest inspection first. An inspector establishes whether the activity is live, how far it extends, and where the colony is likely working from. Disturbing workings before this can scatter activity and make the inspection less informative.
- Treatment or management. Carried out on the inspector's recommendation. What is appropriate depends on the situation and it is their call, not a restumper's.
- Establish the structural extent. Only once the pest side is under control does it make sense to work out how much timber has to be replaced. This frequently reaches well beyond the stumps into bearers and joists, and sometimes into wall framing.
- Structural repair. Replacement of stumps with concrete or galvanised steel, and replacement or sistering of damaged bearers and joists.
- Ongoing management. Treating once does not make a property permanently immune. Whatever management regime the inspector recommends needs to continue.
Two different licensed disciplines are involved here. Pest management is licensed separately from building work in Queensland. A restumping contractor is not a pest inspector and should not be asked to make a call on live activity.
Why replacing the stumps is not the whole answer
People sometimes assume that swapping timber stumps for concrete solves a termite problem. It removes one entry route, which is genuinely worth doing, but it does not deal with the colony and it does not repair what has already been damaged elsewhere.
Termites that were using the stumps as a path are still in the ground. If there is another route in, a bridged ant cap, timber in contact with soil somewhere else, a garden bed built up against the wall, they will use it. And any damage already done to bearers, joists or framing is still there whether or not the stumps get replaced.
So the structural work and the pest work are complements, not substitutes.
Reducing the pressure
None of these are a substitute for professional management, but they all reduce the conditions termites prefer.
- Keep soil, mulch and paving well below the ant caps so nothing bridges them
- Keep subfloor vents clear and unobstructed so the space dries out
- Fix leaking taps, pipes and downpipes discharging next to the house
- Do not store timber, firewood or cardboard under or against the house
- Keep the subfloor clear of offcuts left behind by previous work
- Have the property inspected on the schedule your inspector recommends rather than when something looks wrong
If you are buying or selling
Termite damage to structural elements is one of the more common findings that derails a contract. If a building and pest report has flagged it, what you generally need quickly is a licensed pest inspector's assessment of live activity and a builder's scope and written quote for the structural repairs, because that is what turns an inspector's comment into a number that can actually be negotiated.
Who pays, and whether the work happens before or after settlement, is a matter for you and your solicitor. It is not something a contractor can advise on.
Check the current rules before you rely on this
This page is general information about termite damage and the sequence of dealing with it, current as at August 2026.
Termite inspection and management is a separately licensed activity. In Queensland, pest management licensing is administered by Queensland Health. Building work licensing and home warranty cover sit with the Queensland Building and Construction Commission at qbcc.qld.gov.au.
We are not pest inspectors, entomologists or lawyers. Where activity is suspected, engage a licensed pest inspector before any structural work begins, and before disturbing any workings.