Keeping termites in the garden largely means leaving them alone.  Keeping those termites out of you house can be harder.  For the subterranean pest forms, particularly some species of Coptotermes and Reticulitermes, it is probably better not to take the risk.  To be sure, you need to know what species you have and how much of a risk they are in your area. 

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Here's some pointers to get you started.

You can do things that reduce the amount of water getting in to the soil near your perimeter walls:

1. Make sure that rainwater on the roof does not drain into the soil.
2. Grade the soil around the house so that water drains away, not towards the walls
3. Don't have gardens, ponds, sprinklers, ferneries or pools near walls.
4. Make sure that overflow drains from hot water services and air conditioners don't soak into the soil near the wall.

You can do things to help the water get away: 

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Very few termites are likely to be interested in eating the straw bales themselves.  Lots of subterranean termites will happily travel through the bales to reach unprotected framing timbers (such as door frames and window lintels). 

You won't sit the bales right on the soil anyway (moisture hazard) so all it takes is some attention to design to put a termite barrier in the foundation, just as you would with any other block house design.

If you've already built without barriers, find a well-skilled termite manager to inspect and advise.

This will depend on the size and complexity of the structure, the location and the type of inspection required.  Say you are getting a typical house checked out before you buy it.  I would normally expect that to take around two to three hours for the pre-purchase inspection.  Obviously, an old or heavily renovated house will take more effort than a brand new one.  If you have a contracted service or have a barrier system installed (subterreanean termites), then the regular inspection can be a lot faster, maybe even 45 minutes to one hour.  If you have reported an i

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Termites will put a lot of effort into breaking through something that stands between them and food or water, just so long as the prize justifies the effort required.  Plaster (drywall etc.) is no barrier.  Mortars slow them down, but lime mortars are readily penetrable while mortars with a high cement content may not be excavated.  Good quality concrete cannot be excavated BUT cracks in poor concrete may be opened with ease.  Autoclaved aerated concrete (those lightweight bubbly blocks) were readily penetrated in my field tests.  Concrete (cinder) blocks sometimes

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