Termite-free housing

Deep Juneja

Termites continue to be the biggest problem in housing sector. More than 15 per cent of the cost of house is consumed in wood work. Modular kitchen, wardrobes, furniture, doors & windows are all made of wood. Though steel can be used to replace many of these items but owing to the elegance of wood, people aren’t ready to use steel. Steel has replaced wood in railings and may soon also replace frames of doors & windows.

Termites generally grow and multiply in dark and damp places. Further they love to attack non-moving parts. They attack soft wood like board and wood which are light in weight and less resistant to penetration of nail. Generally, black colour woods are more resistant to penetration of nail and obviously less prone to termite attacks.

During my research different woods were buried four feet under the earth for six months. After six months it was found that teak wood is least prone to termite attacks.

Mirandi, kail wood and other woods which are light in weight were completely damaged. Hence it is not advised to use these to make doors and windows.Teak was found to have little effect due to termites.

It is advised to use teak for making doors and windows. It is a good option to use teak for frames of doors and windows, though it is a very costly option. Steel can be used to make frames of door and windows. Further these frames can be covered by wooden mouldings.They are then given a wooden finish with the help of paints.

During the construction of wardrobes and kitchens it is advised to make slabs and non-moving parts of concrete or marble. Sunlight should have access to all the places in the house. There should not be any damp and dark places in the house. Plastic sheet are not advisable in the place of paints. Different types of insects make house behind the plastic sheet.

Boards should also be avoided to make doors of wardrobes and other moving parts of modular kitchen.Nineteen mm ply covered with sunmica can be used in the place of boards. Doors are attacked by termites if they are not used for a long time. They should also be given termites treatment once in a year or as the need maybe.

— The writer is Assistant Professor at JMIETI