What to do about termites??
Hudson Valley Carpenter
| Posted in General Discussion on
Looks like termites have found their way into the house. What the best method for getting rid of them? Any particular company to call in Southern California? Range of prices to expect?
1200 sqft home with crawl space, plus a two car detached gagarge, unfinished.
Replies
I had a termite treatment at a cost of $700 here in kansas
It was an 1100 sq ft home with a basement
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"My wife ran away with my best friend and I miss him"
Thanks for that information. What did they tell you about the infestation? What did the treatment consist of?
I should know this stuff but I don'tWe have a lot of termites around here.Lots of exterminator companies and several different ways of doing the treatments.I don't know the chemicals they used but they are chemicals that only licensed exterminators can work with.About a month ago I talked to an exterminator and watched him and his assistant do a treatment on a house.They drill holes in the concrete floor of a garage and the concrete floor in the basement and then they squirt in the liguid chemicals.The holes are about 2 ft apart.Then they treat the outside perimter of the home.He had an applicator attached to a hose going to the truck.The applicator had a 4-5 ft metal tube and he walked around the outside of the house and he would push the tube into the ground around the foundation and squirt in the chemicals.I asked how long the chemical and treatment would last and he said "five years"."My wife ran away with my best friend and I miss him"
usually treatments consists of pouring the chemical in shallow trenches at the perimeter of the house. Anything still in the house has to return to the soil for water and other stuff and will be killed by the chemical left in the soil.
"Anything still in the house has to return to the soil for water and other stuff and will be killed by the chemical left in the soil."Only subterranean termites need to get to the soil. More common in So Cal are drywood termites that actually nest in the wood. They swarm several times a year, so the day they remove the fumigation tent swarmers can start a new infestation. Only Soaking the wood with borates can prevent re-infestations in the attic and crawl spaces where most drywood infestations start.BruceT
Edited 11/22/2008 11:16 pm by brucet9
I walked into true value hardware store a couple of weeks ago and they are selling DIY termite treatment for $79I don't know anything else about it and haven't talked to anyone who's tried it.Around here if you sell your house you are asked about termites on a form with call the "Sellers Property Condition Report"You are asked if your home has ever had termites and if you had a treatment and if the home is still under warranty.It used to be a stigma to say that a house has had termites.They are so common, it's NOT a stigma against your property."My wife ran away with my best friend and I miss him"
there are restrictions on treatments if you have well water
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"My wife ran away with my best friend and I miss him"
Thanks for such a thorough explanation. It's all helpful.
Pesticide treatments are regulated by the individual states. What one can get in St. Louis, one cannot get in California.
But for you over in the shakey side, expect the big tent over your house for 3 days. And then, depending on the type of beastie, injections along the foundation or sprays in the attic.
Sometimes it involves reconstruction if'n you wanna hide it from future buyers or the damage has compromised structual integrity.
Make those 3 days pleasural. Stay at one of the fancy beechfront 5 star hotels and pizz away a bunch of money. That'll cost about what they're doing to your house while you're gone.
We stayed at the St. Regis in Dana Point during ours.
This was in July and the weirdest thing was happening. We got an oceanfront on the dark side of the resort. Watching the surf gently crash from the balcony, we could see what appeared to be tiny lightening bolts causing this glowing in the foam of the surf.
Another person whom was there and claimed to be an ocean scientist of sorts, said it was due to a certain type of algea. Someone else said he saw it before while on his sailboat coming back from Hawaii.
During the day. one could see a bloom of some form of seaweed out in the middle of the lagoon.
The most fascinating thing...
The big tent, huh? I sure hope not. How much did that cost and when was it done? I need a figure for my budget.
Lightning in the surf, huh? And everyone saw it. Knowing the SoCal beach scene, that means that the waves were gnarly and the herb was fine. ;-)
Price? This was 6 years ago.
You're about to discover how much inflation there has been since then. My deal was a bit shy of $3K. But I had drywood bugs.
I'd shop this well if I was you. I recall some surprising developments during my experince. My regular bug service (Western Exterminators - they came by once a month to keep away undesirables) subcontracted the tenting out to another firm.
It also requires you to pack up any food and either move it out or put in their special bags.
Thanks for the info Pete. I certainly intend to shop the job around and to ask long term residents for their advice on local termite services as well.
Anything that can't be seen, before or after the job, gets my best Sherlock Holmes work, prior to signing a contract.
Move to Minnesota. Termits will move away! Or tear down the wooden structure and build with ICF's <grin>
Edited 11/22/2008 10:13 am ET by frenchy
Here where I'm at you must have a termite inspection when you sell your home.
The title company will not close the deal unless there is a termite report on file.
The termite inspection is req'd by lenders.
BUT if you pay cash then you do not need to have the inspection.
I've told the following story before but I'll tell it again.
Hope I'm telling it the same as before.
I've wondered what they're looking for when they inspect a home with finished basement or a house on a slab with no crawl space.
In other words all the walls and ceilings are finished.
It's a lot different from inspecting in a crawl space or an unfinished basement.
Anyway, several years ago I helped a woman buy a condo with finished basement.
I unlocked the door and let the exterminator in to do his inspection and then I went and sat down in my car and listened to the radio.
The exterminator came out later and said "I found termite evidence"
I said "really I didn't see anything"
He said "come with me"
I walked to the basement and there on the textured ceiling was 2-3 dark specs.
The specs were small and looked like specs of dirt or specs of pepper as in salt and pepper.
He said "those are termite droppings"
I said okay, I learned something new.
The treatment was done a week or so later and it only cost $300.
There was no garage and the condo was small.
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"My wife ran away with my best friend and I miss him"
The termite inspection prior to selling is a must here to.
termador is the best chemical as it is tracked back to the nest unknowingly by the termites
Thanks for that clue.
I will second the recommendation by EdwardH1 regarding Termadore for termites. Because the termites track it back to the nest before they die, it wipes out the nest. In fact, it also works on the ants in the area as well. The government testing has yet to find the time limit on the effectiveness of the treatment. I treated my house in Tucson, a hot bed of termites, in 2002 and just passed the termite inspection for selling my house in November without ANY sign of termite activity inside or out.
The funny thing now is that, at least in Tucson, the Bug companies will not apply Termador. It is my belief that is because they lose the opportunities to sell retreatment plans and termite insurance policies that only pay to repair what becomes damaged by the termites. I would rather never see a termite on my property.
I've never seen serious termite damage without water intrusion. (I'm not saying it couldn't happen) I'd triple check that first.
k
I've never seen serious termite damage without water intrusion.
I've seen it plenty. While carpenter ants need wet wood, termites only need the ground water. See my work at TedsCarpentry.comBuy Cheap Tools! BuildersTools.net
And the drywood type - I had the little bastidges hollow out the sash of a painted casement window. They found a small area where the weatherstripping had shrunk back and away they went.
However, I was told by a termite guy that "drywood termmys will eat a pound of wood a year. The subterranean ones will do a pound in a day."
Out there in S. Cal, tents are considered part of routine home maintenance.
yeah, again, I'm not saying it couldn't happen.
just that whenever I see the hexagonal poops my first reaction isn't- "bring in the chemicals" it's "huh. why this corner and not that corner? why this wall and not that wall?"
and every time there's been some contributing factor- water damage, soil up to siding, etc. again, I understand it can just be random, but that hasn't been my experience.
i'm not saying you shouldn't freeze 'em or microwave 'em or gas 'em, just that to do so without looking for other factors first seems stopgap. maybe that's stating the obvious, in which case i apologize.
I do remodel/ seismic work on bay area housing stock, almost all 80-100 year old homes, many with long time owners (and therefore no sales related pest inspections) and i do a lot of my work in crawlspaces at grade level.
just my two cents. could be regional too, for all i know bay area termites lack the initiative of midwestern termites and insist on prepared food. it is easy to get spoiled out here...
k
for all i know bay area termites lack the initiative of midwestern termites and insist on prepared food. it is easy to get spoiled out here...
Picky little sh*ts, ain't they? =DSee my work at TedsCarpentry.comBuy Cheap Tools! BuildersTools.net
Please update your profile! Since many issues are dependant on the region in which you work, we look at your profile to see where you are writing from. So at the very least, tell us were you're writing from!
"Here's your problem right here ma'am- if you correct this truffle-infused organic olive oil leak, those buggers'll leave right quick..." LOL
But seriously- The first thing I do before rooting around in a crawlspace is walk the perimeter with the client, and it always shocks me what I'll see. I'll say "jeez, with that planting bed up that close to the siding you're begging for termites" and the client will say "Oh yeah, when we bought, the inspector found termites there."
And they'll have gone the whole chemical route, but not addressed the underlying issue.
This is probably way too basic for the op and the rest of the pros, (and I apologize- I'm not trying to insult your intelligence.) I guess I'm putting it out there for the HO's and newbies.
k
k
I refer Steve Smout of Britannia Termite Solutions to my clients in the Orange County, Long Beach Lakewood area. He's an honest bloke and knows his stuff. 714-362-4424
They do local treatment, tenting and BoraCare, as well as ground treatment for subterraneans.
Thanks for the referral but I'm in Duh Valley.
"Thanks for the referral but I'm in Duh Valley."According to your name and profile, that would be the Hudson Valley, quite a ways from here.
BruceT
In this life, the body can't always be where the heart is. This termite question is about getting me out of SoCal and back home...soon.
Thanks for all the helpful answers. I'm going to call Steve for a referral up this way.
Peter
Edited 11/23/2008 3:16 am by Hudson Valley Carpenter
If you want to save loads of cash, you can do everything the termite company does (except tenting) at a fraction of the cost.
1. Determine what type of termites you have. Collect the droppings and use a magnifying glass to see the shape. Look online. Various websites show how to identify. Read everything you can find on the subject.
2. If you have subterranean termites, buy some Termador and a 5 gallon bucket of dry Boracare or Timbor online. Just google up termitacide. Apply the Termador first. Follow the instructions and use all safety gear. Give the stuff 3 weeks to do it's work.
In the mean time replace damaged structural members. It's ok to cut out just the bad areas with a sawsall but sister a new member the entire length of the joist or stud. If you have to remove a band joist or plate use metal straps to tie everything back together. I've seen too many poor repairs that cause problems a few years later.
3. Then mix up the borate. Follow directions. I add a little dish soap to break surface tension. Use a garden sprayer to saturate wood in affected areas and treat all accessible wood if desired. Borates also help prevent mold, fungus, etc. Think of them as a "greener" copper green. It's pretty much non-toxic to humans unless you eat it.
If you have dampwood termites, fix the moisture problem, then treat with borates.
For drywood termites get the house tented and treat with borates where accessible.
Most termite companies around here hire hacks that are willing to crawl through spider and rat infested basements to apply treatments and do repairs. They get the job done, but have no special knowledge that can't be learned in a few hours. Yes, state law prevents me from doing termite repairs or inspections but on my own house, I do what I want.
Thanks for your info.People sell their home, have it inspected, they find termites, so they have it treated, and the next person moves in.People stay 5-6 years and they leave and they repeat the process and termites are kept in checkBut what about these homes that an elderly person has lived in for 40 + years?They've not had a termite inspection in many many yearsI worry about those houses."My wife ran away with my best friend and I miss him"
Termite companies are thick in CA and the phone book should have plenty of them listed.
Since virtually every real estate transaction in the state will involve a termite inspection (and probably treatment), any real estate agent can probably steer you to whatever company they use.
If you ever plan on piling dirt around the foundation, do it BEFORE you have a termite treatment.
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"My wife ran away with my best friend and I miss him"