Pest control terms, translated
Every trade has its own words, and a pest quote can read like a foreign language: harbourage, conducive conditions, non-repellent, mud lead, alate. None of it is there to baffle you. Each word names a real thing a technician saw or chose to do. Here they all are, in plain Novocastrian English, so a quote reads like sense before you sign it.
A quote, translated
Two things a real Hunter quote might say. Every underlined word is defined below, so you can read the whole thing and know exactly what you would be paying for. None of it is filler.
Following inspection we recommend a non-repellent termiticide applied as a soil barrier to AS 3660, with baiting and monitoring stations to the rear boundary. We noted conducive conditions at the subfloor; address these before treatment. Ongoing cover is by annual timber pest inspection to AS 4349.3.
A perimeter treatment to external walls and entry points, gel bait to the kitchen and bathroom harbourage, and dusting to the roof void. Where rodents share the roof, we finish with proofing of the weep holes so it stays fixed.
Twenty-three words, four groups
Grouped the way a technician thinks: what the pest is doing, how a treatment works, the termite words, and what keeps it fixed. Tap any word to jump to it.
The behaviour words
These describe what a pest is up to inside your house, which is what a good technician treats. The animal you saw is a symptom; the word for where it lives is the target.
Harbourage
Where it livesThe sheltered place a pest actually lives and breeds, out of sight: the gap behind a kickboard, a wall cavity, mulch banked against a slab, a cluttered subfloor. Good treatment goes after the harbourage, not the one insect you happened to see cross the floor.
On a quote Treat harbourage means we put the product where they nest, not where you spotted one.
Conducive conditions
The invitationAnything about a building or garden that makes it easy for a pest, especially termites, to move in: moisture, timber touching soil, poor subfloor ventilation, mulch or firewood stacked against a wall. An inspection lists them because fixing them is half the job. Some are a weekend's work; some need us.
On a quote A list of conducive conditions is the report telling you what invited the problem, not padding.
Alate
The swarmerA winged adult ant or termite, the swarmer that leaves the nest on a warm, humid evening to start a new colony. Termite alates near the house are the sign people most often mistake for harmless flying ants. Wings shed on a windowsill are worth keeping to show the technician.
On a quote Alate activity noted means winged termites or ants were seen, and it decides which one you are dealing with.
Frass
The droppingsThe droppings a wood-boring pest leaves behind. Frass from drywood termites looks like fine gritty pellets; borer frass is a flour-fine dust under the timber. A small pile that keeps coming back after you sweep it is a sign, not a mess.
On a quote Frass present tells the inspector something is eating timber above, and roughly what.
Mud lead
Also: mud tubeThe pencil-width tunnel of soil and saliva that subterranean termites build to cross open ground or brick and keep their damp, dark travelling conditions. A mud lead running up a pier or foundation is one of the clearest signs of active termites.
On a quote Live mud leads means the inspector found termites still using them. Do not break one open; it tells us exactly where they are.
Workings
The evidenceThe trade word for the physical evidence a pest leaves in a structure: termite mud, galleries eaten along the grain, rub marks, nests. Live workings means the pest is still there; old workings means past activity worth confirming rather than ignoring.
On a quote Old workings, no live activity is not the same as all clear; it means something was here once.
The method words
Why one job uses gel and another uses dust is not random. These are the choices a technician makes to match the pest and the building, and they separate a lasting fix from a spray that scatters.
Gel bait
Cockroaches, antsA small dab of edible gel placed into cracks and harbourage, mostly for cockroaches and some ants. The insect eats it, carries it back, and it moves through the population, so it clears a nest a surface spray only scatters. It works quietly over days rather than on contact.
On a quote Gel bait to harbourage means targeted dabs where they hide, not a wet spray over your benches.
Non-repellent termiticide
The good signA soil treatment termites cannot detect, so they forage straight through it, pick it up and pass it around the colony before it acts. The opposite of an old repellent barrier they simply sense and tunnel around. On a termite quote it is a sign the method is modern, not upsell.
On a quote Non-repellent is a method choice, not a price tier. It is chosen because termites cannot avoid it.
Repellent
The older kindThe older barrier chemistry that termites can sense and steer around. It can still block a treated zone, but any gap becomes a doorway. Named here mostly so you can tell it apart from non-repellent when you compare two quotes.
Growth regulator
Also: IGRAn insect growth regulator: a product that stops an insect completing its life cycle rather than killing it outright. Eggs do not hatch, larvae do not mature. Used in some baits and flea treatments where breaking the breeding cycle matters more than a fast knockdown.
On a quote A growth regulator is why a flea job keeps working for weeks after the visit, not just on the day.
Perimeter treatment
Also: barrier sprayA treated band around the outside of the building, at the base of walls and entry points, that intercepts crawling insects before they get in. It is the outdoor half of a general treatment; gel baits and dusting do the indoor work.
On a quote Perimeter to external walls and entries is the outside band; expect it paired with indoor work, not on its own.
Flushing agent
The smoke-outA fast-acting product that drives insects out of harbourage so they contact the treatment, and so the technician can see where they were hiding. It flushes them into the open. It is not the treatment itself, and on its own it just moves the problem.
Dusting
Roof voids, cavitiesA fine insecticidal dust puffed into a roof void, wall cavity or subfloor where a spray cannot reach and will not last. It settles on the surfaces a pest travels, so it keeps working long after application. Common for spiders and some ants up in the roof.
On a quote Dusting to the roof void is how the spaces nobody crawls through still get covered.
Knockdown
The fast killThe fast, visible kill of insects on contact. Useful for a wasp nest at the point of treatment, but knockdown alone rarely fixes an infestation, which is why a lasting job pairs it with baiting or proofing. Quick death and a solved problem are not the same thing.
The words that matter most
Termite quotes carry the most jargon and the highest stakes, so these are worth reading closely. A quote you understand is one you can trust.
White ant
Really: termiteThe common name most of the Hunter searches for. Termites are not ants at all, but white ant is what people call them, so we use it too rather than correct you. Either way the answer is the same when you find them: leave them undisturbed and book a licensed inspection.
Soil barrier
Also: chemical barrierA continuous treated zone of soil around and under a building that termites must pass through to reach it, installed to the Australian Standard AS 3660. One of the two honest ways to manage termites; the inspection decides whether it suits your house or the property next door's.
On a quote Soil barrier to AS 3660 names the standard the work is done to, which is a claim you can hold us to.
Baiting and monitoring
The other approachIn-ground stations set around the property that termites find and feed on, carrying a slow-acting bait back to wipe out the colony. It works with the termites' own behaviour and is monitored over time rather than installed once. Which approach suits a house is what the inspection settles.
On a quote Baiting and monitoring means recurring checks are part of the plan, not a one-off install.
Active vs inactive
Read this one twiceActive means live termites were found at the time of inspection. Inactive means evidence of past activity with none seen on the day. Inactive is not all clear: it means something was here, the timber may already be damaged, and why they left matters.
On a quote Inactive workings still warrants a plan; the invitation that let them in is usually still open.
Timber pest inspection
To AS 4349.3A methodical inspection of a property for termites, borers and timber-decay fungi, reported to the Australian Standard AS 4349.3. It is the pre-purchase and annual check: it names what is there and the conducive conditions, but it is an inspection, not a treatment.
On a quote An inspection to AS 4349.3 is the report; the treatment, if any is needed, is quoted from what it finds.
Reticulation system
The top-up pipesPiping run through the soil around a slab so termiticide can be topped up over the years without digging the barrier up again. It appears on some termite quotes and sounds more mysterious than it is: it is plumbing for the chemical, so future top-ups do not mean future trenches.
Found mud leads, hollow-sounding timber, or live workings? Do not disturb them, and do not spray them yourself; both scatter a colony and hide the trail. The next step is a licensed inspection that reads the whole house.
The words for a job that lasts
Treatment removes what is there now. These are the words for the part that stops it coming back, and the part of a quote a bargain job usually leaves out.
Proofing
Also: exclusionThe physical work that keeps a pest from coming back: stainless mesh in weep holes and vents, sealed cable and pipe penetrations, brush strips under doors, a branch cut back off the roof. It is the step cheap jobs skip, and the reason a proofed job stays fixed instead of repeating every season.
On a quote Proofing of entry points is not an add-on; it is what turns a treatment into a lasting result.
Integrated pest management
Also: IPMThe approach behind all of the above: identify the pest, understand what is letting it thrive, treat with the least product that does the job, then proof and monitor. Less spray, more thinking. It is the reason a proper inspection comes before a quote, rather than a can of something on arrival.
Licence endorsement
The ticketPest work is a licensed trade: the technician holds a licence to apply pesticides, and termite and fumigation work carry a specific extra endorsement on top of it. General pest work and termite work are not the same ticket, which is worth knowing when you compare who is quoting.
Words you will not see on our quotes
A glossary is only useful if it is honest about what is missing. There is vocabulary the trade leans on that we keep off our quotes on purpose, because it promises more than anyone can honestly deliver.
Product and brand names. We describe the method, a non-repellent termiticide, a growth-regulator bait, not a trade name, because the method is what matters and the brand is what gets sold.
Guaranteed pest-free. No honest quote promises a house will never see another insect. What a plan can promise is a method, a standard, and a follow-up. Anyone offering permanent silence is selling the word, not the work.
Blanket eco-safe or pet-safe. Safety comes down to which product goes where, and in what form, so we talk it through per job, around your pets and kids, rather than stamping a claim across everything.
A firm price before we have looked. A general treatment is quoted per visit or as an annual plan, a termite inspection has one known fee, and termite management gets its quote after the inspection tells us what the house needs. A number before the look is a guess dressed as a quote.
Asked about quotes
Why is my quote full of jargon?
Because precise words describe precise methods. Non-repellent, gel bait and proofing each mean a particular thing a technician chose for a reason. This page translates them, and you can always ask us to explain any line before you commit. A good outfit is happy to.
Is a mud lead the same as a mud tube?
Yes, two names for the same thing: the pencil-width soil tunnel subterranean termites build across open surfaces. If you find one, leave it undisturbed and book a licensed inspection; breaking it open just sends them somewhere you cannot see.
My quote says non-repellent. Is that the cheap option?
No, it is a method, not a price tier. A non-repellent termiticide is one termites cannot detect, so they carry it back to the colony instead of tunnelling around it. Seeing it on a quote is a good sign about how the job will be done.
Does proofing really cost extra, or is it padding?
It is real work with a real result: mesh, seals and door strips that shut the door the pests came in by. We quote it openly rather than hiding it, because skipping it is the main reason a cheap treatment comes back every season. What is included is spelled out before you commit.
What is the difference between an inspection and a treatment?
An inspection names the problem and its causes, reported to a standard like AS 4349.3. A treatment fixes it. You often need the first to price the second honestly, which is why we do not quote termite management sight unseen.
- NSW EPA, Pesticide licences. Pest management around a home is licensed pesticide use in NSW, and termite and fumigation work carry a specific endorsement; this is the scheme behind the licence and endorsement terms above.
- Standards Australia, standards.org.au. AS 3660 (termite management) and AS 4349.3 (timber pest inspection) are the Australian Standards this page refers to by name; the documents themselves are published and sold by Standards Australia.
Tell us what you have seen
A description and a suburb is enough. A licensed technician reads every enquiry, works out what the job needs, and comes back with a straight answer and a free quote. No obligation, no pressure.