Adelaide pest inspection checklist (homeowner walk-through)

What this checklist is for

This is the working checklist an Adelaide pest inspector runs through on site, distilled into a format you can use as a homeowner. It will not replace a licensed AS 4349.3 inspection (most insurance, warranty, and pre-purchase contexts require that), but it does cover the same areas the professional walks through, and it lets you do a useful self-assessment between annual inspections.

A typical Adelaide pest inspection takes 60-90 minutes on a residential property and produces a 12-30 page report. The structure below mirrors what the inspector does on site, in order.

Print this section as a checklist

Use this as a structured walk-around for your own property. Tick each item as you check it. Any items you cannot reach, see, or assess safely become the priority list for the professional inspection.

Area 1: External perimeter walk-around

The inspector starts at one corner of the property and walks the full perimeter twice: once for general defects and conducive conditions, once specifically for termite shelter tubes and entry points.

• Walk the full perimeter at slab level. Look for shelter tubes (pencil-thick mud trails) running from soil up onto the structure.
• Check that the slab edge has at least 75 mm of exposed concrete visible between finished ground level and the bottom of the cladding (the AS 3660 inspection zone).
• Check garden beds against the house. Is mulch or soil banked above the slab edge? Is there bridging over the weep holes?
• Check weep holes (the small gaps in the bottom course of brickwork). Are they clear, or blocked by render, paint, or garden beds?
• Look for timber-to-soil contact: fence palings, posts, retaining wall sleepers, deck bearers, stair stringers.
• Identify trees within 5 metres of the structure. Note species, size, and any visible stump or dead wood.
• Look for visible cracks in slab edges, render, or external brickwork wider than 1 mm.
• Check downpipes and surface drainage. Is water draining away from the structure, or pooling against foundations?
• Check external taps and air-conditioning condensate lines for slow leaks staining the surrounding soil or wall.
• Look for woodpiles, storage of untreated timber, or dead vegetation against external walls.
• Check fence lines, especially where fences meet the house structure.

Area 2: External cladding and roof exterior

• Check external cladding for damage: cracked render, broken weatherboards, damaged fibro, missing mortar.
• Look for blistered or rippled paint, especially on lower-level skirtings and external timber.
• Inspect eaves and soffit linings. Look for water staining, sagging, or visible holes.
• Check that roof tiles or sheets are intact, with no obvious slipping, breaking, or missing pieces.
• Look at the roof valleys, ridge cappings, and flashings around chimneys, vents, and skylights.
• Check gutters: blocked, sagging, rusted, leaking at the wall.
• Look for vegetation growing on or near the roof. Overhanging tree branches touching the roof are a major bridging point for ants and possums.

Area 3: Roof void

The inspector accesses the roof void via the manhole. If you can do this safely yourself, do so during daylight when ventilation is good. Many inspections find issues here that are not visible from below.

• Look at the framing timbers: bottom chords of trusses, rafters, hanging beams. Any obvious tunnelling, frass, or shelter tubes?
• Check the sarking and insulation. Water staining on insulation or wet sarking indicates roof leaks.
• Look at the underside of the roof above wet areas (bathroom, laundry, kitchen). Are there any water staining marks?
• Check plumbing penetrations: vent pipes, flue penetrations, exhaust ducts. Are they sealed?
• Look for rodent droppings, possum scats, or wasp nests.
• Tap-test any timber that looks discoloured, soft, or moisture-damaged.
• Check the manhole frame and trim. Is the trim timber sound?

If you cannot access the roof void safely (no ladder, restricted manhole, no fall protection), skip this section and flag it for the professional inspection.

Area 4: Subfloor (if accessible)

The subfloor is the area below a suspended floor. Many Adelaide properties (especially heritage stock) have crawl-space subfloors; newer slab-on-ground properties do not.

• Look at the ventilation openings (sub-floor vents). Are they clear? Are there enough to provide cross-flow?
• Check ground moisture. Damp or wet subfloor soil is a major termite risk factor.
• Inspect bearers and joists. Look for shelter tubes, tunnelling, fungal decay, water staining.
• Check timber stumps. Are they sound, or showing decay at the soil interface?
• Look for plumbing leaks: stains under bath traps, kitchen sink, laundry trough.
• Check stored items. Stored timber, paper, or cardboard is a termite attractant.
• Look at the underside of wet areas (under the bathroom, kitchen, laundry). Stains or moisture here are red flags.

Safety note: only enter a subfloor if it is dry, clear of obvious hazards (snakes, rats, wasp nests), and you can move comfortably. Never enter a flooded or actively damp subfloor.

Area 5: Internal walk-through, room by room

The inspector walks each room methodically. You can do the same.

Living areas, bedrooms, hallway

• Tap-test the skirting boards. Any hollow sounds?
• Check architraves around external doors and windows. Look for blistering paint, soft timber, or visible damage.
• Open and close every door. Do any stick? Stick locations can indicate frame movement or moisture damage.
• Open and close every window. Do any stick or jam? Note any frame distortion.
• Look at ceiling cornices, especially in corners. Any sagging or cracks?
• Check the floor underfoot. Soft spots, sponginess, or visible sagging?
• Look at light switches and power points. Any signs of moisture damage, scorch marks, or loose fittings?

Bathroom, ensuite, laundry

• Inspect grout in shower walls and floors. Cracked or missing grout admits water to surrounding timber framing.
• Check shower screens and silicone seals. Old, cracked, or missing silicone is the most common source of bathroom water damage.
• Look at the floor at the threshold of the shower. Soft floor here means water has been escaping for a while.
• Check under bath traps, basin traps, and toilet bases for water stains or pooling.
• Inspect ceiling above the shower. Brown stains indicate water from above (often the bathroom of the storey above, in two-storey homes).
• Check the laundry trough and washing machine taps. Look for slow drip stains on the surrounding wall.
• Run the exhaust fan. Does it actually move air? Damp bathrooms with non-functional fans are major moisture risks.

Kitchen

• Open the cupboard under the kitchen sink. Look at the pipe joints, the back of the cupboard, and the floor of the cupboard. Any water staining or mould?
• Check the dishwasher water inlet and outlet for slow drips.
• Look at the kickboard at the base of the cabinets. Soft, swollen, or stained kickboards indicate floor moisture.
• Inspect the splashback joints, especially behind the sink and at the cooktop. Cracked silicone here lets water into the wall framing.

Wet areas generally

• Move stored items in the cupboard floors and look at the rear wall and skirting behind. This is a high-frequency termite finding location.
• If you can access wall cavities (e.g. behind a removable kickboard), inspect briefly with a torch.

Area 6: Outbuildings, decks, pergolas

• Walk the perimeter of each outbuilding (shed, garage, granny flat). Apply the same shelter-tube and conducive-conditions checks as for the house.
• Tap-test any visible timber framing in the outbuilding.
• Inspect deck timber. Look at the underside (where accessible), the bearers, and the joist hangers. Soft, blistered, or cupping timber is suspect.
• Check pergola posts at their base. Posts set in concrete are usually fine; posts in direct soil contact are high-risk.
• Look at any timber retaining walls. Sleepers in soil contact will eventually decay; check for soft, crumbling, or termite-affected sleepers.

Area 7: Trees, stumps, and grounds

• Identify every tree within 5 metres of the structure. Note species: eucalypts and gums are termite-attracting. Pines and other exotics are lower-risk.
• Check every visible tree stump on the property. Stumps are common nest sites. Old stumps within 50 m of the house are particularly risky.
• Look at compost piles, woodpiles, and stored landscape timbers. Move them away from external walls and onto raised platforms or storage racks.
• Check garden bed depths against the house wall. Reduce mulch depth to 50 mm or less and pull it back 100-150 mm from the wall.

Conducive conditions: the things that increase termite pressure

A pest inspector spends meaningful on-site time identifying conducive conditions, not just looking for active activity. The reasoning: an active infestation is the visible problem; conducive conditions are the underlying cause that will recreate the problem if not addressed.

A high-risk Adelaide property typically has three or more of these:

• Mulch or soil bedding higher than the slab edge or weep holes
• Standing or persistent moisture in or around the subfloor
• Timber-to-soil contact (stumps, posts, sleepers, fence palings)
• Trees and large stumps within 5 m of the structure
• Wood storage or untreated landscape timber against the house
• Leaking external taps, downpipes, or condensate lines
• Inadequate subfloor cross-flow ventilation
• Cracks in slab edges, render, or brickwork wider than 1 mm

The remediation is mostly cheap: pull back garden bed mulch, raise woodpiles onto storage racks, repair the dripping outdoor tap, prune the eucalypt that is touching the eaves. Routine maintenance defeats most of the conducive conditions list.

Adelaide suburb-specific considerations

The right risk profile for your inspection varies by suburb. A few rough patterns by area:

• Adelaide Hills and foothills (Stirling, Aldgate, Crafers, Burnside, Beaumont, Magill, Athelstone): high native bushland adjacency, large eucalypts, clay soils with moisture retention. Termite pressure highest in the metro. 6-monthly inspection appropriate for higher-risk properties.
• Inner-suburban character belt (North Adelaide, Walkerville, Norwood, Hyde Park, Unley, Mile End): heritage stone and double-brick construction, original timber subfloors, ageing service connections. Annual inspection appropriate; high-quality reports more important than frequency.
• Coastal metro (Glenelg, Brighton, Henley Beach, Semaphore, Grange): sandy soils less termite-favourable, salt-air corrosion of metal fittings a higher feature. Lower termite pressure, but inspection is still annual minimum.
• Outer south and far north (Reynella, Morphett Vale, Aldinga, Elizabeth, Munno Para, Smithfield): mixed soils, slab-on-ground stock, mature gardens. Standard annual cadence.
• New estate slabs (Mount Barker estates, Seaford Heights, Two Wells, Munno Para West): post-2000 with AS 3660.1 barriers. Annual inspection critical to maintain warranty validity.

See our termite inspection frequency guide for the Adelaide pressure-zone breakdown in more detail.

What this checklist cannot do

A homeowner self-assessment is a useful complement to a professional inspection. It is not a replacement. The professional inspection covers:

• Areas you cannot safely access (roof void with limited fall protection, subfloors that need crawling)
• Moisture meter readings on suspect timber (you cannot eyeball moisture content)
• Tap-test interpretation across hundreds of properties (an inspector's ear is calibrated)
• AS 4349.3 documentation and AS 3660 reference
• Insurance, warranty, and pre-purchase contract reliance

See our what a pest inspection cannot check guide for the limits of even the professional version. There are real limitations to any visual non-invasive inspection.

When to escalate from self-check to professional inspection

Escalate immediately if any of these apply:

• You found a shelter tube (pencil-thick mud trail on the foundation, wall, or fence)
• You tap-tested hollow timber that is structural (skirting, architrave, frame, joist)
• You saw a pile of identical transparent wings on a window sill (alate wings from a swarm)
• You hear clicking or rustling inside a wall at night
• Doors or windows have started sticking in the last 6 months without obvious cause
• You found piles of frass or six-sided pellet droppings near timber
• You saw active termites in any location

Even without these, the standard cadence remains:

• Annual professional inspection for properties at moderate risk
• 6-monthly inspection for high-risk properties (Hills, foothills, near reserves, history of activity)
• Pre-purchase inspection before settling on any property
• Vendor inspection 4-6 weeks before listing if selling

Common questions

Can I do my own pest inspection?

You can do a useful self-assessment using a checklist like the one above. You cannot produce a report that meets AS 4349.3 standards (that requires a licensed inspector with appropriate equipment and documentation). Use the self-assessment to inform whether you escalate to a professional inspection earlier than the annual cycle, not as a replacement.

How often should I run through this checklist?

Quarterly is a reasonable rhythm. Annually is the minimum if you also have a professional inspection on the annual cycle. Properties with conducive conditions or previous activity benefit from more frequent checks.

What if my home is on stumps and I cannot access the subfloor safely?

Note it as inaccessible and flag for the professional inspection. The inspector has the equipment, training, and confidence to assess subfloors safely. Do not enter a subfloor you are not confident is safe.

Does this checklist apply to commercial properties?

The general principles do, but commercial properties (retail, office, warehouse) have additional considerations: tenancy arrangements, hospitality-specific risks (food residues attracting cockroaches and rats), structural complexity in larger buildings. For commercial premises, see our commercial pest inspection guide.

How does this relate to a pre-purchase inspection?

A self-assessment can usefully complement a pre-purchase inspection, but it cannot replace it. Buyers in cooling-off should always commission an independent AS 4349.3 inspection from a licensed inspector. The cost of that inspection ($200-$350 standalone, $400-$700 combined with building) is small compared with the cost of a missed defect.

Bottom line

This checklist is a homeowner self-assessment tool that mirrors the structure of a professional Adelaide pest inspection. Use it quarterly to identify issues early, manage conducive conditions, and decide when to escalate to a professional inspection.

It is not a substitute for the annual professional inspection that AS 3660.2 recommends, nor for the pre-purchase inspection that should accompany any property purchase. Both have a role in protecting your property from termite damage and broader timber pest risk.

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