8 Signs Your Home Has Termites

1. Hollow or papery-sounding timber

If skirting boards, floors, architraves, or door frames sound hollow or thin when tapped, it’s a strong sign termites have been at work. They often eat timber from the inside out, leaving only a fragile outer shell behind.

2. Tight-fitting doors and hard-to-open windows

Moisture from termite activity can make wood swell. This can cause doors to stick and windows to jam, leading homeowners to mistakenly blame humidity or house settling.

3. Faint clicking or rustling noises in walls

Termites aren’t completely silent. Soldier termites will tap their heads as a warning signal, while workers chew continuously. In a quiet room, especially at night, you may hear faint rustling or clicking coming from within your walls.

4. Discoloured, blistered, or bubbling paint

Paint that looks like it’s water-damaged, blistered, bubbling, or patchy in colour, could be hiding termites. As they tunnel through timber and plasterboard, they disrupt the paint surface from underneath.

5. Mud tubes and mud spots in unusual places

The classic giveaway is mud tubes on exterior foundations, but termites also build smaller tunnels in less obvious areas: roof voids, behind skirting boards, inside cupboards, or even in mortar lines. Tiny mud “patches” may also appear over small cracks and entry points.

6. Loose tiles or sagging flooring

The extra moisture termites introduce can weaken subfloor timber or loosen tile adhesives. This may cause tiles to lift, or create soft spots and sagging areas in flooring.

7. Discarded termite wings

Reproductive termites, known as alates, swarm to start new colonies and shed their wings afterward. If you find small piles of identical wings near doors, windows, or caught in cobwebs, it’s a clear sign termites are nearby.

8. Frass (termite droppings) or fine wood dust

Drywood termites push out tiny pellets, called frass, from their tunnels. This often looks like sand or fine sawdust near window sills or skirting boards. Many people mistake it for ordinary dirt, but it’s a sign of active infestation.