Ara Damansara

I met up with Mr. Ng, the Managing Director of Bumipest over a cup of coffee at Kapitan a couple of weeks ago.  Mr. Ng himself stays in Ara Damansara and he told me that Ara Damansara is a termite prone neighbourhood.  Immediately, I’ve ask if he can send some people to check out my friend’s house as she just newly bought a house at Mutiara phase.

Last Sunday morning, Mr Mubeen and Mr Azmi from Bumipest came to my friend’s house to do some checking. Both of them dressed up professionally and brought along their equipments. Two equipments that they use are the Thermal Imaging Camera (TIC) and Therma Track. Both equipments cost more than RM 70,000. Apart from having fancy gadgets, one needs to be certified and have adequate skill to perform a good inspection.

Azmi went around the house with some manual inspection (only with a screw driver) to look for suspicious spots, he then uses the TIC and Therma Track to perform further checking. TIC is like an infrared camera that can scan heat on the wall, cupboard or any surface. It’s the first time I get to hands on such equipment that I only saw them in movies. Through TIC, they can identify if there is any traces of termites passes through the surface before.  They can identify if these traces are left by termites or other insects. Termites can travel underground and inside the gaps of walls, that is where Therma Track comes in handy, a microwave technology to identify movements behind the surface. You wouldn’t want the pest control guy start drilling and damaging your walls and floors right?

Talk about drilling, the conventional way to fight pest is to drill holes around your house and pour in chemicals underground that can be toxic for your soil. Mubeen told me that most of their customers now switched to use Xterm , a much environmental friendly (Class 4 pesticide) and “hack-free” baiting system.  As soon as they identify the termite problem, they will then leave the bait at a strategic location where termites pass by. The termites (workers) bring the poison food back to the nest for the queen and soldiers. Such method is easier and more effective way to kill termites. During this treatment period, they will come to inspect and monitor the progress every 4-6 weeks.

I took the opportunity to ask a few more questions before they leave:

Q: There is a myth that once your neighbour done a termite treatment, there is a higher chance that the termite will migrate to your home.
A: Not really, there are many other factors for the termites to choose their target.

Q: Any technique for us to do a quick check if our house is under attack by termites?
A: You can do a simple check through visuals, rotten wood or a change of colour in your paints.

Q: How frequent should I do inspection?
A: Inspection should be done once every 6 months. Our customers normally get 3 year warranty once they signed up a termite treatment package with us.

After inspection, they told us that the house is safe from termite. However, he recommended us to do some prevention measures, just in case (as the house has a lot of wooden furniture).  If you are interested to enquire more about their services, visit their website.