Pest Control - Can a home owner treat to prevent termites?

Author

Can a home owner treat to prevent termites?

Robert Reznikoff

2006-06-01, 4:21 pm

I know that a licensed pest control service would be recommended as the best
way to prevent termites. However, I would like to avoid the cost and take
what precautions are available to me.

I am in a new home (one year old) and the termite protection that came with
the house is running out. From what I have read, most companies sell a
continuing service that basically is treating an area if positive signs are
seen in that area. I went 23 years in my last home without ever having the
need of a pest control service. Maybe I was lucky, but I never had a
problem.

I am leaning toward a system that puts either bait or traps around the house
to detect if there is a problem. If so, I will do what is necessary at that
time. Any suggestions of what product to get that will detect the presence
of termites and be available to the end user?

The company that did the original protection only used chemicals at half the
recommended rate and I have lost faith in finding someone I can rely on.

Happybattles

2006-06-01, 8:21 pm

Well, yes and no.
Yes, theoreticly a homeowner could do things to help prevent termites,
but no, they can't do it as well as a professional.

If you just want to help prevent termites, there are precautions you
can take. These will make your house less attractive to termites. I
do not, however, recommend that you apply any chemical treatment
yourself.

Here are the steps to take:

1. Stop all water leaks. Water is a big attractant to termites and
will eventuially lead to termite infestation.

2. Keep your gutters clean and make sure your downspouts pour the water
away from your home, as far as possible... (see # 1).

3. Check around your home, and under if you have a crawl space, and
make sure that the dirt is at least 2 inches from any wood on your home
and at least 12 inches from any floor joists. If it is not, fix it or
have it fixed.

4. If your home is stucco, be sure that the bottom edge of stucco is at
least 2 inches from any soil. 4 inches is recommended.

5. Get rid of any wood next to your home including cardboard boxes,
wood for fires, fence posts, etc. Any wood within 12 inches of your
house is an attractant to termites, but no wood should touch the ground
within 10 feet (recommended).

6. Be sure, if you have a crawl space under your home, that it is
well-veltilated. It should be dry as a bone under there. If it is
not, install vent fans to help move the air and keep it dry... (see #
1).

7. If the slope of dirt around your home encourages the rain water to
flow toward your home, fix it so that it flows away.

8. If you don't have gutters, get some.

9. Create a barrier at least 12 inches around your home consisting of
concrete or gravel. This will not only reduce the number of bugs you
find inside, but will help keep the area dry and will therefore
discourage termites.

10. Cut access panels, preferrably vented ones, to gain access to your
bath traps. This is a critical area for inspections.

11. Learn what you can about termites, what damage they do, and the
evidence thereof so you can keep an eye out for them.

If you do all of these things, the chance of you getting termites is
much lower... but still possible. Many pest control companies offer
free inspections for termites. I'd have that done every 6 months if
you're really worried until they get tired of you... then call another
company until they're tired of you, then do it again and again.

If they find termites, prepare to become a little less wealthy.
There's really nothing you can do once you have termites except live
with it or take care of it.

Hope this helps.
Chris

Robert Reznikoff wrote:
> I know that a licensed pest control service would be recommended as the best
> way to prevent termites. However, I would like to avoid the cost and take
> what precautions are available to me.
>
> I am in a new home (one year old) and the termite protection that came with
> the house is running out. From what I have read, most companies sell a
> continuing service that basically is treating an area if positive signs are
> seen in that area. I went 23 years in my last home without ever having the
> need of a pest control service. Maybe I was lucky, but I never had a
> problem.
>
> I am leaning toward a system that puts either bait or traps around the house
> to detect if there is a problem. If so, I will do what is necessary at that
> time. Any suggestions of what product to get that will detect the presence
> of termites and be available to the end user?
>
> The company that did the original protection only used chemicals at half the
> recommended rate and I have lost faith in finding someone I can rely on.

bugs@bugs.com

2006-06-03, 12:21 am

Robert, Chris has given you some very good information to go by. I only want
to add to what he has told you so far. I too feel that there is nothing that
you can really do if you get termites in your home and it IS NOT because you
can't get the chemicals we use, it is simply because the equipment that we
use to prepare a home for treatment and then the equipment we use to treat a
home with can be rather expensive. This equipment IS needed to treat a house
properly to insure that the termiticide is getting in the correct places in
the proper amounts. Some people will come here thinking they can go by a
garden sprayer and use it to treat for termites and that just isn't going to
work. Ok now that I am stepping down off my soapbox I will tell you a couple
other things that I feel Chris left out. You can purchase a monitor called
First Line made by FMC (do a Google search and you will find them) for
probably less than $100.00. It will be enough to go around a house about 220
linear feet or so. Now these are just monitors and they do NOTHING to kill
termites, what you have to do is go out and check them on a regular basis,
the label recommends quarterly, once you have activity in them then as Chris
said get ready to be a little less wealthy because it will be time to
contact a PCO and have the house treated.

The other thing you said in your original post is about not trusting anyone,
well if you need a PCO come back here or go to my website and email me and I
will put you in touch with a trustworty PCO. We network together and I know
PCO's in just about every state that are very trustworthy. There are also
other guys and gals that post here on a regular basis that can help you find
someone you can trust as well. We wont leave you hanging out to dry, we will
help you all we can. It would be interesting to know who it was that you
feel you can no longer trust so I can let others know. If you don't mind
will you tell me by private email? tim@onepest.com is my email address.

Again good luck and if you have anymore questions please let us know.

--
I wish you all the best
Tim Wise

www.onepest.com
www.askourpros.com

LinkBot