Help! The house we are renting has white ants in it! I dont know what top do...

[AliBaby]

I dont know what to do.........

I am so upset and have been crying for the last hour. We just discovered a wall (behind a pinboard that we had up is infested with termites!!! It is like they have eaten through the wall over night!!!!

DP is a work and doesnt want me to ring the landlord, but he wants me to clear the area, DD is crying, i am worried we arent going to have a place to live, there are hardly any rentals around and for the price we are looking at and how am i supposed to move and pack with a newborn by myself?

DP said he is pretty sure that once there are termites in a place (its an internal wall) that basically they wont let us live here.

They are literally coming out of the wall and have rotted the whole section behind the pinboard.....

I cant stop crying. i dont know what to do!! (more tears)

[Indadhanu]

I think hun that as a matter of safety you really need to ring the agent/landlord and get it checked out. Moving doesn't sound fun, especially with a newborn, but if someone checks it a deems it unsafe would you really want to live there with your new bub?

[alioops]

The longer they are left the more damage they will do though. If they do need you to move out they will pay expenses for breaking the lease. You do need to tell the landlord so that it can be fixed, otherwise you risk the house falling down around you.

[Jas]

Hi Ali,

Don't worry it will all be fine! The last rental we were in had termited when we moved in...the stations were already in there so it just meant every 6weeks approx we would have someone come out to feed the stations and my mums house they have very recently discovered termites and have had someone out to organise geting it treated.

I would definitley get onto the landlord/real estate to let them know....before it gets worse and so they can get it treated

[AliBaby]

Hi Ali,

Don't worry it will all be fine! The last rental we were in had termited when we moved in...the stations were already in there so it just meant every 6weeks approx we would have someone come out to feed the stations and my mums house they have very recently discovered termites and have had someone out to organise geting it treated.

I would definitley get onto the landlord/real estate to let them know....before it gets worse and so they can get it treated

Thanks Jas...
The prob is DP is adament I dont call the landlord (we rent directly through them) and basically told me he wants the termites to do damage so that they sell the place to us so we can knock down and rebuild!!!!! I dont feel right about that and it is also worrying me.

Why me!!

[alioops]

Once termites have been on a block they tend to stay in the area. If your DP is right about them selling to you then you would need to have a steel framed house which is way more expensive, and while that happens you would still be out of a home. From the sounds of it the termites have already done a lot of damage and the house would be unsafe as it is. If DP really wants the block then chances are it would happen sooner rather than later because that house really does sound dangerous. You could hire an exterminator to asses it without telling the landlord, and if they say that you shouldnt be living in the house then DP would want to tell the landlord to keep his family safe.

I am a bit concerned that DP is more worried about getting the block than the safety of the family.

[AliBaby]

Ali- he is such an idiot at times. Dont think he is thinking about things properly. grrrr!

Thanks for that info. I will tell him that. I might take a photo of the damage and put it up.

Thanks so much for your advice

[Just Me]

Ali

What an awful thing to have to deal with especially while you have a newborn.

I think it would be best to encourage DP to talk to the landlord about it - mainly because if you leave it too much longer and don't contact them, it may become evident that you knew there were white ants and failed to inform them leaving you liable for part of the damage. I don't want to put more pressure on you because you sound like you are having a horrible day and it is very stressful.

Maybe you could talk to your DP about some of your concerns. I don't think you should go behind his back, but I think you don't sound entirely happy about his plan either. I think you need to be happy with whatever you decide to do as well.

Do you have a friend or family member you can call to come over and help you clear the area or just keep you company for a while? Sometimes being with other people helps to put a bad situation into a better light or at least can take your mind off it for a while.

I really hope things work out for you and that your day get better.

Take a few deep breaths, have a drink of water and know that things will work out in the end. You may have some challenges in the next couple of weeks looking for a new house, but things will work out and they will be ok.

Thinking of you atm.

[tk1999]

Sometimes we have to go against our DP/DHs... We had a leaking shower (its a townhouse and the shower was leaking into the cupboard below) and DP said not to worry it would all be ok... I didn't like the look of the water damage in the cupboard so I went against DP and made contact... and a BIG relief that I did as when it was assessed the guy said that the leak had been there for years and the wood etc in the cupboard was only now showing damage because it was too far gone.

I had all sorts of horrid thoughts of having been standing in the shower when it all went kaputz.

I think you need to ring the landlord - for the safety of everyone I really think it needs to be done.

[LimeSlice]

Tell your hubby you are making the decision, as he isnt there, and you need to do the safest thing for the family.
The damage is severe and you actually have responsibility to tell the landlord of any major damages to the house. This is one of them! lol

I know you dont need the stress, but it will be a lot more stressful if you put your foot through the floor boards iykwim.

Call hubby, tell him enough is enough, call the landlord and let him know what is going on.

Good luck!

[Footsteps]

i agree with everyone babe...men dont think things through at all.
youl be ok.
love rach xxx

[AliBaby]

Feeling much better now. Spoke to DP and he is going to have a look at it again when he gets home tonight and said we will give the landlords a call on the weekend and see what they want to do.

Hoping it isnt to bad or that it can be fixed like Jas said as I jsut cant even contemplate moving right now but I guess we jsut have to do what we have to do!

Thanks for all your advice

[C~Q]

Hi, we had termites all through our rental, almost every internal wall had their little dust pile thingys sticking out. It cost the real estate a pretty penny but like Jas said all they did was come out and put the stations in and re-bait them every 6 weeks, we didn't have to do anything or go anywhere

[HotI]

I think it would be best to encourage DP to talk to the landlord about it - mainly because if you leave it too much longer and don't contact them, it may become evident that you knew there were white ants and failed to inform them leaving you liable for part of the damage. I don't want to put more pressure on you because you sound like you are having a horrible day and it is very stressful.

If it is obvious that you know the damage is there and don't act, allowing the damage to continue then you could be held responsible for the damage that occurs from when you did know.

[smiles4u]

Like Limeslice mentions ... you are actually responsible as a tenant to tell your landlord of something that is damaging to his/her property

(I second Kate07 comment there too)

Oh, i so feel for you ... fingers crossed & i'm thinking of you !!

Keep US all updated !!! xox

[Phteven]

Part of the rental contract is that you have to report all damage.
FWIW if I had a tenant who didn't report termite damage until the house was only good for demolition it would be a cold day in hell before I sold them the land.

[Riss10]

You really need to report this to your landlord - asap! As someone mentioned, it would be in your contract to report any damage as soon as you noticed. Also, I think your husbands thinking is disgusting - these people have probably worked really hard to purchase this rental property and he thinks that by causing further damage to the house he will be able to purchase it off them cheaply. I'm glad you are not my tenants!

[Jas]

Ali,

I hope that u can get this sorted out quickly and that the damage isn't so bad that the house is unsafe! Hopefully it will be as easy as getting some stations in and you guys won't have to move at all! But if you do then I guess it is lucky u noticed the damage before it got to dangerous and an accident happened.

We lived in a house that had an absolute nut of an owner who tried to illegally kick us out through the tenancy court thing and it went through and we had to go and get it sorted out and they cancelled the order...the owner and real estate had both lied A LOT to have it happen and luckily we had prrof of that! that was when Noah was a couple of weeks old so to cut a long story short I understand the stress involved!!! Try to keep as relaxed as possible, its important for you and your new family and breastfeeding etc, and know that whatever happens it will be fine!!

If they do have to break the lease there are requirements that they will have to fulfill which I'm sure will include paying for accomodation if ittakes u a while to find something. I would say though given u have only just found damage that it will be safe to stay there!! Goodluck