June 7, 2004
to kill termites
So we had found some termite damage a few weeks ago while pulling down the plaster downstairs, right? Today our friendly Orkin man Kim came out today and told us about termites and how to make them go away.
As it turns out, the little buggers are no longer active in that part of the house, but are still around somewhere. We found live termites in wood under the porch, and it is likely that they are eating some other part of our house right now.
We have Subterranean Termites, which live underground (duh!), but then build mud-tubes up into wood to eat the cellulose. They need a certain amount of moisture to survive and thrived in this house before the roof leaks were fixed. The only good thing is that they’re not Drywood Termites (like they have in New Orleans).
We’ve decided to get the treatment. It’s another not so small, not so large expense, but there doesn’t seem to be any way around it… The main approach to deterrent will be to dig a trench around the house and fill it with some post-DDT termite-killing chemical, which will over the next 90 days exterminate the termite nest(s) in the area. We’re lucky in that we have most of the studs exposed downstairs — Orkin will also be able to spray directly on the wood, for a more immediate protection. They’ve promised that this won’t kill the cats…
I read in an article in an old Fine Home Building magazine, that if you use a layer of gravel around your house, then sand, that the termites can’t build their tubes cause the sand won’t hold up as a good tunnel.
There is a good article in the Feb/March 2004 issue of Design Build called Getting Proactive Against Termites. We too have the little buggers and are in the process of elimination then repair. I’ve learned more than I ever wanted to know about termites.
Is that the Design/Build at [ http://www.designbuildmag.com ]?
I found some termites outside my house living in a log that was used as a border for a plant bed. I removed it and carefully cleared away anything that was touching our foundations, but as we haven’t completed all our demolition, I’m still worried we might find some damage. We also live near shallow aquifers, and a river that is a protected salmon run. So I’m rather worried about useing Termidor, or any other chemical insecticide that is very poisonous to aquatic wild-life. I’ve looked into useing Borate as a perimeter, but that’s like salting the land so nothing will grow. Also I’ve considered diatomacous earth, and then spraying lots of Benneficial Nematodes, which are actually supposed to hunt down and kill termites. Anybody had any measure of success with these less toxic measures? I hate to go through all the trouble and then just resort to good ol’ poisoning.
I found some in some trees that I moved from another house how do I kill them someone PLEASE email me and let me know Thanks Mona
i have these little termites. and my home inside is all log , how do i get rid of these, i dont have a crawl space under my house, and i have seen these termites coming from the logs this year. pleaseeeeeeeeee help
We called Orkin and they did the killin’ We then worked to aleviate the conditions that had let the termites thrive.
Does anyone have any idea how to fix termite damage in 100 year old floors - floors will be tough to match - as is the usual case and of course means all the mess. Damage is usually in middle of floor. Paid one company, they didn’t do the job right, now after another $3,000 with the bayer product and them injecting it all over the house. It may work. Please help!!