I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing, as its about time employee's had the power over employers. If you dont pay a good wage and more importantly provide good conditions then people should be free to walk into a new position.
If everyone pays top dollar, a basic hair cut will end up costing $200. The price of living needs to go down, not in the other direction. People are blindsided that higher wagers means better life, it's only when you get paid above the average wage. Everything goes up with the medium wage and ends up like a pyramid scheme. I've seen all of this unfold in mining towns and even with insurances. If the labour to repair a building goes up, so does your insurance premiums, businesses that pay higher insurances just pass it onto the end product or service, so the consumer pays for it all in the end.
We've got a 60 year old plus brick home on clay, we got one corner underpinned years ago then the other side of the house went. A gap of about 15mm opened up in the brick in the last dry season we had, later on with all the last lot of flood rain it closed up again. When we get large dry spells, I usually give it a good hosing to keep the moisture in the clay, and you can watch the crack get smaller after a few days. That's why you used to see garden beds around homes, but the bad side is that moisture attracts termites.
A big upside of Tassie, there are no termites in Tasmania. That's why the place is full of old wooden houses.
Garden beds around homes is generally consdddered a no no these days because we know better. The goal these days is to keep moisture away from footings and ensure that there is consistancy around the envelope. Usually via paving/concrete. Hard wit stumps obviously, but slabs, you wouldnt plant anythingaround teh house. Thats asking for trouble.
When was that a thing?
still doing DV at yours?
Just me believeing main stream media, silly me.
You'll have to bring some with you next time
. We have them everywhere here, I even had them in treated fence palings.
Even the trend of watering lawns is dying off due to the cost and limited amount of water, people laying that shredded bark around homes is the worst.
not sure were talking about the same issue?
Brick and (probably crap) footings.
Up in the lower Flinders where my shack is, you leave a piece of wood on the ground and they are in it within a couple of days.You'll have to bring some with you next time
They can still get in through the tiny cracks in the slabs, the little buggers, and they can travel underground for Kms. We have double brick and they started to eat out the architraves. They go from house to house, people find them, then try to eradicate them, and they generally move on to the next house in the area. They also breed to a certain population and then branch off and start a new colony.Up in the lower Flinders where my shack is, you leave a piece of wood on the ground and they are in it within a couple of days.
I had them in a house before, was a mega shock to an Irish bloke... never heard of these lil chunts, f%#kin termites what ? Eating my house
My main house now is double brick inside and out, second floor is a poured slab supported by 450mm I-beams. Taking no chances second time around. PITA to get electrics anywhere.
I'm really careful now, the only wood in my house is the roof trusses and I am up there doing the inspection about once a year.
The decent termites guys have the infrared meter these days and a moisture detector, they can see in behind gyprock walls and tell if there's a minor water leak somewhere. The decent ones know where to look, I've had guys spend close to an hour looking in a 400m square home.I'm really careful now, the only wood in my house is the roof trusses and I am up there doing the inspection about once a year.
Had a bit of experience with it after have 3 different blokes go around my house and not find live damage I knew was there. I've pulled roof sheets off and inspected live termites in my roof, then successfully got rid of them. (termidore drilled every 150mm around the slab and soaked the wet areas)
I had an inspection done 6 months before sale, all clear. The vendors inspector gave it the all clear and I moved out... spotted mud drops in the bathroom a month later when the house sale had just went through, I had suspected there was activity there, this was on the cooling off period. I called the real estate agent and told him that we had a problem, he said clean it up and paint it
I was like, you got to be fucking joking me, the people who had bought it were 22-24yrs old, 100% mortgage and she was pregnant. It was a speccy house with sparkling pool so they were blinded by their first home. I told him I had a termite crew coming down and he must tell them or I was contacting the conveyancer.
The new vendors were happy with my find, were happy that I paid $2k to sort the problem and I would pay for inspection for the next 12months... not for damage or further treatments.
The are an absolute chunt but any proactive owners can find them easier than a $250 visit from a pest inspector.