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Home > Archive > Pest Control > April 2007 > terminte treatment
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terminte treatment
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| Lulu2007 2007-04-10, 1:25 pm |
| In early March, I found swarming subterranean termites inside the
garage and around furnace (coming through the garage mud tube). After
the termite inspection, we found mud tubes coming up 2 sides of wall
in the garage (w. 5 tubes). I opened the garage drywall and found
termites mostly chewed up 2 cardboards and a thin layer of the base
wood. The basement has no sign of termites and is fully furnished -
it has a bathroom with a tub on one side of wall and it is carpeted.
I live in a house less then 10 years old in Northern Virginia. I know
I want pest control company to use termidor. There seem 2 options to
treat termites. Option 1 is to do the whole basement interior+garage
and/or exterior; Option 2 is to drill inside garage and into front
door porch right next to the garage, under which I suspected termite
activity.
I am looking for suggestions from professionals and homeowners who
have had experience with termidor treatments to share with me. I
want to know whether Option 2 will work since it is "transfer effect",
whether Option 1 is overkill or the right thing to do, or if there are
other treatment suggestions. Thank you
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| Lulu2007 wrote:
> In early March, I found swarming subterranean termites inside the
> garage and around furnace (coming through the garage mud tube). After
> the termite inspection, we found mud tubes coming up 2 sides of wall
> in the garage (w. 5 tubes). I opened the garage drywall and found
> termites mostly chewed up 2 cardboards and a thin layer of the base
> wood. The basement has no sign of termites and is fully furnished -
> it has a bathroom with a tub on one side of wall and it is carpeted.
>
> I live in a house less then 10 years old in Northern Virginia. I know
> I want pest control company to use termidor. There seem 2 options to
> treat termites. Option 1 is to do the whole basement interior+garage
> and/or exterior; Option 2 is to drill inside garage and into front
> door porch right next to the garage, under which I suspected termite
> activity.
>
> I am looking for suggestions from professionals and homeowners who
> have had experience with termidor treatments to share with me. I
> want to know whether Option 2 will work since it is "transfer effect",
> whether Option 1 is overkill or the right thing to do, or if there are
> other treatment suggestions. Thank you
>
As far as what option you try the cost may be a consideration. If they
are only doing a third the work of the other quote will the price be a
third of what the other was priced. If the "full" treatment is $1500 and
they are charging $500 for the spot treatment you can go in knowing
chances are if termites show up elsewhere in the next few years another
treatment may be necessary. If the charge for the spot treatment is half
or more of the full treatment it may not be worth the chance. Your
option 2 should stop the activity and any new activity that gets into
the treated area, but there will be plenty of untreated areas for new
colonies to show up and never contact the treated areas, though with the
nature of the termite they could eventually forage into the treated
zones and be killed off. Of course the more areas treated the more
protection is provided and I wouldn't think of option one as over kill.
with your follow up post, did you have baits installed this March or
years past and termites had returned? I am guessing they sprayed the
cy-kick in the exposed areas where the termites were seen and not the
ground. The cy-kick may not necessarily move them to hidden area but
maybe an inch or two from where ever it was used.
Lar
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| Lulu2007 2007-04-11, 1:25 pm |
| Lar,
Thanks for sharing the thoughts. I think I better go with Option 1
for peace of mind. What do you think of doing spot + exterior
combination treatment (so I don't have to drill the basement)?
Thanks
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| Lulu2007 wrote:
> Lar,
>
> Thanks for sharing the thoughts. I think I better go with Option 1
> for peace of mind. What do you think of doing spot + exterior
> combination treatment (so I don't have to drill the basement)?
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
Basements will create entry points well below the normal treatment zones
around the exterior. If we had basements here I would insist those areas
need to be treated even on the perimeter plus type treatments. If you
are talking to a company that is wanting to do it that way are they
still warranting the entire home and if so do you feel comfortable that
if termites do show up in the basement later the company will be around
to address the problem.
Lar
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| Jeff with ValuePest.com of Wichita 2007-04-11, 1:25 pm |
| > Basements will create entry points well below the normal treatment zones
> around the exterior. If we had basements here I would insist those areas
> need to be treated even on the perimeter plus type treatments.
We have about 60% of the homes here locally that have basements. Very,
very few of them ever get activity from the bottom up, and if the
basement is unfinished, you will be able to see tubes long before they
reach the structure.
Additionally, published research in our trade journals indicates that
around 90% of termite infestations come from the outside foundation,
not the inside. There is little need to treat inside unfinished
basements. Finished rooms can be treated for protection.
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| PCOpug 2007-04-12, 5:25 pm |
| Sentricon for structures , if in grassed , woody areas , ie: wood shake ,
wood deck on ground , stumps for seats .
Chemical spot treatment , soil injection for structures involving concrete .
Usually costs of extermination termite control involve lineal footage of
"footprint' type graph. Finished living areas below ground or over water are
special cosiderations . Costs vary by area located .
I have seen failure with Termidor .
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| Lulu2007 2007-04-13, 1:25 pm |
| On Apr 12, 6:05 pm, "PCOpug" <ggri...@verizon.net> wrote:
> Sentricon for structures , if in grassed , woody areas , ie: wood shake ,
> wood deck on ground , stumps for seats .
>
> Chemical spot treatment , soil injection for structures involving concrete .
>
> Usually costs of extermination termite control involve lineal footage of
> "footprint' type graph. Finished living areas below ground or over water are
> special cosiderations . Costs vary by area located .
>
> I have seen failure with Termidor .
Could you elaborate on "failure with Termidor"? Thanks
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| PCOpug 2007-04-13, 1:25 pm |
| Usually costs of extermination termite control involve lineal footage of
"footprint' type graph. Finished living areas below ground or over water are
special cosiderations . Costs vary by area located .
I have seen failure with Termidor
Meaning , over a three year period , original job standard chemical
treatment . Home unoccupied , basement type dwelling . Tunnels .
Swarmers two years later . Spot retreat .
Above ground stations also used .
No swarmers so far .
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| PCOpug wrote:
> Usually costs of extermination termite control involve lineal footage of
> "footprint' type graph. Finished living areas below ground or over water are
> special cosiderations . Costs vary by area located .
>
>
> I have seen failure with Termidor
>
> Meaning , over a three year period , original job standard chemical
> treatment . Home unoccupied , basement type dwelling . Tunnels .
> Swarmers two years later . Spot retreat .
> Above ground stations also used .
> No swarmers so far .
>
I still like the numbers I see and hear of with the Termidor. An easy
way to get some stats would be to email a generic question to a number
of Pest Control companies out there on what sort of call back numbers
they get with what ever products. Or how many homes they have found
termites while doing a WDI/WDO report that was treated with Termidor,
these would be homes the company should have no "termidor affiliation"
with since their competition would of been the ones doing the treatment.
On most PCO forums at some point a question on how many call back with
Termidor are out there and with adding your story it probably is still
under a dozen stories in the 6 1/2 years it's been out that I have heard
of. I would guess 3000 homes treated by the exterminators answering the
question would be a very low number of the actual number of homes
treated which would make the call back rate in 6 1/2 years less than 1/2
percent. As far as Sentricon being a better alternative, I yet to see a
baited home go over 5 years without termites being found on the
structure again...I'm sure there are plenty of them out there, I just
haven't seen it. So call back rate of 1/2 percent in almost 7 years with
Termidor or 100% call back within 5 years with baits...hmmm. I'd have
faith the newer Advance baits will be better off, but since Terminix has
switched to then I'm sure it will be just some time before the same
results will start to be seen.
The problem with spot treating then apply the baits is the termites can
just move over a bit and continue on never hitting the baits.
Lar
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| PCOpug 2007-04-13, 8:25 pm |
| Yes , percentage rates are way down from the days of Dursban TC . My " quick
view " shows below one-half percent .
Way back when I completed many a job "down to footer " C-100 , Demon ,
Dursban , Pryfon , Dragnet , Tribute , and now Termidor (four foot max).
Our family firm , and me included , are completely entrenched in the
Sentricon system for subterranean termites . Now , the success rate is one
hundred percent success . The most unbelievable situations . The bait men ,
however , are extremely dedicated . Checking stations once a week , inside
or out , is not out of the norm . I believe termite baiting failure is
attributed to salesmen , technician , and PCO firm failure , for others . My
only complaint is that the data collected over a decade or more gave us no
graphic representation of termite activity geographically. It seems like the
tracking software - hardware (resold twice already) is only a means of
verifying charges $$ for the chemical company .
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| Lulu2007 2007-04-24, 3:25 am |
| I now have a combination option recommended by the pest control
company, which will spot treat with Termidor inside and around porch
and garage where we suspected termites infestion, and install baiting
around the entire house for 2-yr monitoring.
This is probably the most costly but avoids drilling the furnished
basement. I haven't seen any sign of basement activity yet-keeping my
figers crossed.
What do you think the effectiveness of this combination treatment,
other than cost...
Thanks
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| Lulu2007 wrote:
> I now have a combination option recommended by the pest control
> company, which will spot treat with Termidor inside and around porch
> and garage where we suspected termites infestion, and install baiting
> around the entire house for 2-yr monitoring.
>
> This is probably the most costly but avoids drilling the furnished
> basement. I haven't seen any sign of basement activity yet-keeping my
> figers crossed.
>
> What do you think the effectiveness of this combination treatment,
> other than cost...
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
>
here is a pic of a spot treat of the activity then placing baits around
the house. http://arrow-pestcontrol.com/sen2.JPG The chemical used was
apparently a pyrethroid (repellent) and the termites just moved over and
continued attacking the same area. I would guess that large tube is
4-6 years old so all the while the customer was paying for bait
monitoring while nothing was going to the stations, but the termites
were still very much attacking the home. If Termidor would of been used
the activity would of been stopped at the area of spot treatment, but a
new termite colony still has 95% of the untreated home to attack with no
assurance of hitting the stations. My personal opinion for the best
protection would be treating the perimeter of the structure and as many
key areas as possible underneath and any areas of activity.
What happens after two years. Service stops? or is there another
costly fee?
Lar
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| Lulu2007 2007-04-24, 9:25 am |
| here is a pic of a spot treat of the activity then placing baits
around
> the house. http://arrow-pestcontrol.com/sen2.JPG The chemical used was
> apparently a pyrethroid (repellent) and the termites just moved over and
> continued attacking the same area. I would guess that large tube is
> 4-6 years old so all the while the customer was paying for bait
> monitoring while nothing was going to the stations, but the termites
> were still very much attacking the home. If Termidor would of been used
> the activity would of been stopped at the area of spot treatment, but a
> new termite colony still has 95% of the untreated home to attack with no
> assurance of hitting the stations. My personal opinion for the best
> protection would be treating the perimeter of the structure and as many
> key areas as possible underneath and any areas of activity.
>
> What happens after two years. Service stops? or is there another
> costly fee?
>
> Lar- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
The company said they don't do perimeter treatment - EITHER full house
drilling OR baiting incl.spot treated w. Termidor. Since I signed the
contract w. the company already, I am kind of stuck.....In my view,
what I wanted most is perimeter treatment with drilling in garage,
porch and the basement area right behind garage. Any suggestion how
to solve this dilemma?
They agree if they determine no activity after 2 years, they can do
perimeter treatment so annual fee would be based on Termidor price,
not bating price.
| |
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| Lulu2007 wrote:
> here is a pic of a spot treat of the activity then placing baits
> around
>
>
>
> The company said they don't do perimeter treatment - EITHER full house
> drilling OR baiting incl.spot treated w. Termidor. Since I signed the
> contract w. the company already, I am kind of stuck.....In my view,
> what I wanted most is perimeter treatment with drilling in garage,
> porch and the basement area right behind garage. Any suggestion how
> to solve this dilemma?
>
> They agree if they determine no activity after 2 years, they can do
> perimeter treatment so annual fee would be based on Termidor price,
> not bating price.
>
>
>
>
Signed contract or not most states have a "cooling" period...3 days in
Texas...can't recall if all states have the same, where customer can
change their mind. Termites aren't going to eat the house down over
night, take your time on finding someone you feel comfortable with. Not
sure why they will be willing to do a perimeter treatment after the two
years and not on the initial. Assuming when they do a "full house"
drilling they are using Termidor and not a third option. Every company
will have different thoughts on what there service should be.
Lar
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