Attic vents

[karldavidson]

Hey Group,

My neighbor has a huge stump about 10 feet tall in her yard which has been there about 10 years. Earlier this week right before sundown the stump starting swarming with 1000's of flying termites. EEK! Immediately I began searching around the house, looking for any tiny openings, trying to prevent them from getting into my house.

Right away I noticed the attic vents along the roofline are made of a honeycomb like plastic, which was just installed by a termite company two years ago. I poked a stick through one of them to see if there was maybe some screening behind them. The stick went right through. Does anyone know what I am talking about? Will the termites not crawl through the little holes?

[karldavidson]

I know it seems like a simple questions, but I find it hard to believe that a termite company (the real estate type) would install such a thing.

[Dr. Hardcrab]

Yes! Put rubber bands on your pantlegs and shirtsleeves!!!!!!!! AAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Doug Kanter]

Obviously, yes.

[barry]

They probably could, if enticed. Like, by moist wood suitable for housing and food.

Depending on where you are, and thus the species of termite that you might encounter, your roof ridge is kinda distant from the soil, where some species need to maintain "connections." Again, depending on unspecified location, things get a little hot and dry up on roof ridge, for termites.

How do you know they're termites, and not ants?

HTH, J

[karldavidson]

I first captured 3 of them that slipped under the side door in my garage. I immediately installed a new flashing on the bottom of the door, and stuck the dead bugs in a jar. I searched the net for termites and they are indeed winged subterranean termites.

It just seems to me that a termite company that makes that kind of mistake and certifying the job as complete should be liable if I get an infestation due to these vents. I do understand your point about the roofline being a far off target, but my neighbor's tree was swarming in a huge way, there were thousands of these things coming out every night 4 nights in a row. They were all over the whole neighborhood, which is also why I want to get this right before the other houses start swarming in the coming years. I just don't understand why these vents would be manufactured at all, unless they were meant for an area of the country that does not have termites.

[Ronald']

Ooops. Sorry. I'll figure out this software some day.