Tuesday 17 January 2012

Termites the original mud builders!!


Termites are amazing little creatures, when I first moved to Zimbabwe I was amazed to see these mounds that appeared all over the horizon, sculptural and intricate in their own right, these are the original mud builders!! In areas where no clay is found people building mud huts in zimbabwe will use the termite mounds by grinding it up and adding water, then making bricks from this, the result is very strong. I chose not to use this method as I would prefer not to destroy termites homes, after all of that hard work! Unfortunately when building your own home termites can become a huge problem, eating through structural wood. I really don't want to use any harmful chemicals for treating the wood, here the only options are pressure treated poles with Cresote or CCA. I would like to treat wood myself with something less harmful such as borax.


I have had some good suggestions, help and advice from joining a permaculture forum http://www.permies.com , which includes a natural building forum, there are lots of interesting ideas and topics raised. I posted a link to my blog to see if anyone could help and a discussion on termites and wood borers has started up, please have a look if you are interested or have any ideas http://www.permies.com/t/11974/green-building/cob-blog-please-have-look

5 comments:

  1. Perhaps there is karma at work when people destroy termite's homes to build their homes and they in-term lose their homes to termites.....
    good for you!

    Viva the Permaculture way!!

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  2. The presence of winged bugs and mud canals within your premises indicates that there is already a termite infestation.I always hate termites.

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  3. Do you have any information on non-toxic ways of preventing termites from entering a home?

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  4. Indeed. They are the total starters!

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  5. As destructive as they are, termites are also talented carpenters and builders in their own right. Isn’t it ironic that the greatest builders in the world are also the greatest at dismantling the foundation of our homes?

    Lucile Lynch

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