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How Leaking Showers Attract Termites to Your Home

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Last updated: April 2026

Termites damage between 130,000 and 180,000 homes each year, impacting about one in five Australian houses. Annual repair and treatment costs total around $1.5 billion, with average per-home bills near $10,000. Over 30% of homes experience termite activity at some point, rising to 65% in high-risk areas like southeast Queensland.

In this blog, we’ll explore how leaking showers can attract termites and why addressing the issue is essential to protect your home.

Understanding Termite Behavior and Attraction

What Are Termites?

Termites are tiny, wood-eating insects that can cause significant damage to your home. They feed on cellulose found in wood, paper, and other materials, making your timber framing, flooring, and furniture prime targets. Termites work silently, often going unnoticed for long periods, until the damage becomes apparent in the form of sagging floors, hollow wood, or even structural collapse.

Close-up of termites crawling on damp timber, showing how moisture from leaking areas attracts termite activity

How Do Termites Find Moisture?

Termites are particularly drawn to moisture, as it’s essential for their survival. While they don’t drink water, they rely on moist environments to thrive. This is why areas with water damage, such as leaking showers, can attract termites. The moisture from the leak soaks into surrounding timber and other materials, providing termites with the nourishment and conditions they need to survive. As a result, your shower may become a gateway for termites to enter your home, leading to significant and costly damage.

To spot a hidden shower leak before it’s too late, you may read here.

Signs of Termite Infestation

Signs of termite damage include:

  • Hollow or brittle wood that sounds “empty” when tapped.
  • Mud tubes along walls or floors, which termites use to travel between their nests and food sources.
  • Visible damage to wood structures, such as buckling or sagging floors.

If you notice any of these signs, it’s essential to contact a pest control professional immediately. A thorough inspection will help determine the extent of the infestation and allow for targeted treatment.

If you have a leaking shower or suspect water damage, it’s a good idea to combine shower repairs with pest control services to ensure your home is thoroughly protected.

How to Prevent Termites from Infesting Your Home Due to Leaking Showers

Fix Leaks Promptly

The first and most important step in preventing termite infestations is to fix any leaks promptly. Whether the issue is cracked tiles, faulty seals, or damaged grout, addressing the leak immediately will help prevent water from seeping into the surrounding materials. It’s essential to inspect your shower regularly for signs of damage and repair any issues as soon as they arise.

Install Termite Barriers

If you’re concerned about termites, it may be worth considering installing termite barriers around your home. These barriers are designed to prevent termites from entering your property and can be particularly useful for homes that already have a history of water damage. Termite barriers can be installed around the perimeter of the house or under the foundation to provide an extra layer of protection against infestations.

Professional Shower Repairs and Waterproofing

While DIY repairs may be sufficient for small leaks, it’s often best to call in a professional for more significant issues. The Shower Repair Centre offers expert shower repairs and waterproofing services that can address leaks quickly and efficiently. By applying high-quality sealants, like SealRight™ being used in TSRC’s DiamoSmart System®, we can prevent further water damage and protect your home from termites and other pests. These advanced systems help repair leaking showers without the need to remove tiles, which can be costly and disruptive.

Conclusion

Leaking showers may seem like a minor issue, but they can lead to significant problems, including attracting dangerous termites. Moisture from a leaking shower provides the ideal environment for termites to thrive, potentially causing costly damage to your home. By fixing leaks promptly, installing termite barriers, and seeking professional repairs, you can protect your home from these destructive pests.

At The Shower Repair Centre, we specialize in fixing leaking showers and preventing further water damage. With our SealRight™ and DiamoSmart System®, we provide long-lasting solutions that keep your home safe from termites. Don’t wait for the damage to pile up. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and protect your home from termites and water damage.

About the Author: 

Mark Studdert is the founder of The Shower Repair Centre, specialising in shower leak repairs, waterproofing, leak detection, and bathroom restoration. With over three decades of experience, he pioneered and patented the DiamoSmart® technology, helping save leaking bathrooms without tile removal in 95% of cases. 

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REGROUTING SHOWERS & TILES

Australia's Most Awarded Company For Shower Regrout Repair And Tile Regrouting Services In Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Sydney, and Central Coast

Regrouting Tiles And Regrouting Showers For Over 23 Years

With over 23 years of experience and 70,000 showers repaired to date, we guarantee that every shower regrout repair we will do for our clients is nothing short of what we will do for ourselves. You can have complete confidence that we will deliver the highest level of shower and tile regrouting service that backs up your company standards.

  • Australia's Most Awarded Shower Repairer
  • Over 70,000 Showers Repaired
  • 25-Year Product Warranty
  • 24 Years In Business
  • Pioneered and Patented the DiamoSmart® System
  • Introduced and Uses SealRight SealRight™ & HydroBarrier Sealant

Australia's Most Awarded Shower Repairer

Over 70,000 Showers Repaired

25-Year Product Warranty

24 Years In Business

Pioneered and Patented the DiamoSmart® System

Introduced and Uses SealRight SealRight™ & HydroBarrier Sealant

SETTING NEW BENCHMARKS WITH OUR HIGH QUALITY REGROUTING SHOWER SERVICE

There are many ways you can renovate your bathroom but if you’re looking for a quick and budget-friendly fix, regrouting tiles is the key.

The DiamoSmart® System, copies of which are now used throughout the industry, was pioneered by our founder, Mark Studdert. Before its invention, Mark noticed that the old method of regrouting showers caused small but visible chips to the edges of tiles and diminished the lustre of the tiles’ edge. He designed a small diamond-tipped grouter that would eliminate these issues when regrouting bathroom tiles. Our team offers a Diamond Re-Grout Service where we strip off existing grout and replace it with a premium Epoxy grout, which is more resistant to stains, cracks, harsh weather conditions, chemicals, and climate changes than traditional grout. This makes it suitable for areas with high traffic and since it’s a waterproofing grout, it improves not only the bathroom’s aesthetics but also its functionality.

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FAQ’s

The purpose of the grout is to emanate an unblemished tile appearance, while bonding the wall junctions and the floor and wall junctions – preventing wall and floor separation.

Grout mixtures must be selected carefully to make sure that dirt and other outside elements like mould and mildew will not seep into the tiles to avoid discoloration and possible leaks.

There are various ways in which installation can cause cracked grout in shower:

* If mixed with too much water concentration or additives

* If too little adhesive is used in tiles installation

* Cement-based grout can only handle the pressure for so long if a tile pulls away from the wall after the adhesive dries

Fact: Grouting is the weakest link in a tile installation.

Cracked grout in shower mainly happens due to movement between two surfaces with homes inevitably moving in tiny increments because of humidity, foundation settling, and temperature.

Even old or damaged grout can make the most beautiful looking tiles ugly and not to mention, it can cause structural damage to your home. Thus, immediate regrouting shower service is needed.

Regrouting showers and tiles is a quick and budget-friendly fix if mould has already grown into some parts of your bathroom. We highly recommend using epoxy over cement-based when regrouting tiles because it’s stronger, more durable, and only requires light maintenance.

At the first sign of grout damage, you must regrout shower tiles immediately. The longer showers are left with failing grout, the higher the chance that water damage is occurring to the wall behind your tile. The area of damage does not have to incur direct water spray during baths or showers to allow water seepage. Water that sits on the surface of tiles from shower spray or heavy steam will inevitably run behind the broken areas of your grout

Before the invention of the DiamoSmart® System, the old methods of tile regrouting caused small but visible chips to the edges of tiles and diminished the lustre of the edge of the tiles. The DiamoSmart® System eliminated this issue. Our exclusive procedure for regrouting showers is listed below:

* Remove any mouldy or deteriorated sealants such as silicon

* Strip the existing grout out of the walls * Strip out any damaged grout from the floor area

* Strip out grout from around the drain

* Prepare floor and wall junctions using our DiamoSmart® system. This system uses a diamond-tipped blade for regrouting bathroom tiles, removing the sheen from the tile edge creating a small gully in wall and floor junctions.

* Inject our SealRight sealant into the gully so it bonds the wall junctions and the floor and wall junctions – preventing wall and floor separation.

* Regrout bathroom walls and floor using commercial grade mould retardant grout

* Apply silicon to the internal areas of the shower screen

* Coat the internal shower area with our hydro barrier sealant creating an invisible glove to prevent water penetration. This sealant is painted or sprayed on the wall and floor tiles, waterproofing grout surface and beneath it. This soaks in and seals anything that is porous, such as grout lines and hairline cracks.

 

When regrouting showers and tiles, the type of grout matters and you should know that Epoxy grout is the most superior of all. Here’s why.

Unlike traditional grouts, Epoxy grout is made of two-part epoxy resins which are mixed with filler powder.

What does that mean?

Its composition makes it:

* Waterproof
* Nearly 100% resistant to stains
* Highly resistant to chemicals and physical pressure
* Doesn’t need sealing
* Low maintenance

These characteristics make Epoxy grout the best for regrouting shower and bathroom tiles. Its stain, crack and chemical-resistant properties make it suitable for areas with high traffic whilst its resistance to climate changes make it ideal for locations with harsh weather conditions, excessive amounts of humidity or severe cold. What’s even more interesting is that Epoxy grout’s colour remains constant throughout. The pigment of traditional grout can diminish easily during cleaning.

Moisture and direct water contact contribute to grout deterioration over time, and eventually, the tiles will crack. This is why you should consider regrouting shower tiles every six months. This is a quick and budget-friendly fix that can restore your bathroom’s previous glow immediately.

You should know that you need to call in a professional to do the tile regrouting for you. Even if you possess excellent handyman skills, small mistakes can lead to extensive damage to your grout and tiles. The cost to regrout shower is expensive and if the grout is not installed correctly, moisture can seep into small holes, causing mould and mildew growth, and may cause you to call for a regrout service earlier than expected.

Cement-based grout is actually the weakest link in tile installation because of its many drawbacks with the major being its porous nature. Its pores allow dirt and other outside elements to find their way into the grout, causing staining and allowing mould and grime to embed themselves into the grout, which requires an urgent regrouting shower service.

The best way to prevent grout from cracking is by using Epoxy grout which is strong, durable and requires light maintenance. Whilst it costs higher than cement-based grout, it lasts much longer, negating the cost to regrout shower.