Termite Treatment Question

Hi, I just noticed a bunch of insect wings shedded off near 2 windowsills in the house.

This is usually a bad sign isn't it ??

Do I have a termite problem ?

I don't see any "mud tunnels" outside the foundation. The exterior of the window sill is brick (veneer), and the foundation is of the poured concrete variety (no blocks).

If I have a termite problem - how would they treat it ? Since no way am I going to have them drill into my brick veneer !

There are "weep holes", but punching a larger hole into there and into the insulation/wall I would think is a very bad idea.

Absent any drilling into the exterior, is digging a trench around the perimeter of the foundation and pouring in the right amount of, say Termidor - an effective treatment method ?

Reply to
Hannibal
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When I first realized I had termites, I found the dead ones inside, in front of my sliding glass door. They had come in through a crack in the concrete floor (got stirred up when we put in a swimming pool and disturbed the soil around the foundation with all the digging) and were in the carpet tack strips in front of the door. Only place they were found. We had the house treated. They did drill holes in the foundation outside and inside (in front of the door) and in the garage. That was 10 yrs. ago. We had the house re-treated 5 years ago (this is FL) and they used the same holes and same treatment. This spring it was time for another treatment and they used Termidor. This time they dug a trench around the house (same company as before) but in the garage they drilled holes ... also drilled holes outside in front of the sliding glass door. They mostly used the trench method. Termidor is guaranteed for longer than whatever they used before.

Reply to
Dottie

Does brick veneer go all the way to the ground? If so, you would not have to see mud tubes - mud tubes just allow termites to get from soil to wood; with veneer or stucco that goes all the way down to soil, they simply go up the inside of it. If you have a crawl space, they can also go inside of it. If you tap around on wood around where you found wings, you may find hollow sounding spots on wood trim, trame, or baseboards. If window is wood frame, check the outside as well.

Our condo was tented twice, before we lived here, and there are old signs.....blistery or uneven surface of wallboard where they have eaten the paper coating (they don't generally eat through paint, and avoid daylight). A neighbor had really eaten up baseboards around his patio slider.

Reply to
Norminn

Yes, the brick veneer goes right to the ground.

So I think i'm screwed :(

Researching the treatment options, it looks like the DowAgro "Sentricon" bait system is the best option to completely eliminate the colony (vs. the Termidor barrier method).

Has anyone used the "Sentricon" system ?

Thanks to all that have replied so far.

Reply to
Hannibal

If you have a on grade concrete floor they probably are entering through a crack in the flor under a wall that you cant see. I vave never known a house that had a concrete floor on grade that did not have a termite problem unless it was heavly treated at time of building. A dry crawl space is your best safeguard. Termites need moisture to build their tunnels with.

Reply to
Jack

Get several estimates from exterminators. They are usually free (because they always find something that needs to be treated.

Probably you will need perimeter treatment via trench and/or injection on the outside of the foundation. You will also need drilling in the interior slab (you mentioned a crack?) and injection in areas where they are active inside the house.

Make sure you know where your pipes and conduits run under the slab. Otherwise it's like playing Russian roulette.

Reply to
Walter R.

Couldn't it just be ants?

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

My thought also. Many species of ants, especially fire ants, grow wings to swarm then shed them just like termites do. I would not automatically assume the found wings were from termites.

Red

Reply to
Red

what totally puzzles me is, the window sill where they were found, the window itself is closed very tightly - so no wind gets in.

the sorrounding window frame is painted with no cracks or crevices for them to sneak into, but yet there are a lot of wings just laying on the sill.

never saw ants in the house, so i can only presume the worst.

anyone have experience w/Dow's "Sentricon" system ?

Reply to
Hannibal

Look for tiny exit holes in sheetrock walls around the area -- certainly no larger than 1/16", probably more like 1/32". If there's a nest/infestation in a wall cavity around the window area, they can remain completely hidden until the spring swarm. Often they will then burrow through wallboard leaving inconspicuous exit holes.

I agree best to assume/act as if there may be a problem rather than hope it goes away--it won't.

I'm sure there's someone who fits the question as worded, but not I. :)

--

Reply to
dpb

One difference between the wing termites and winged ants is the termites shed their wings in a mass..ants don't.

They may of come up through a slab penetration further inside the home then were attracted to light of that window.

Depends on the type of foundation the home is built on...in Texas most slabs are monolithic slabs. Just treat the exterior and drill through the slabs around all the penetrations (not really needed if using Termidor). Open the wall at bath traps and treat around the tub drain. Other parts of the country have different type of slabs where more drilling may be an option.

It would be a 1/2 inch hole and would be treating downward towards the slab.

Termidor has changed the way that termite work can be done. Most homes now i only treat the exterior, the bath traps and areas of activity and still warrant the whole house even where treatment has not been done. I have yet to have a home that I have treated with Termidor since it came to the market be in need of a retreat. It's the only product out there I have seen that with.

Lar

Reply to
Lar

In our industry Sentricon is often referred to as Simple-Con. Even Terminix has dumped them and gone to other treatment options...many of their customers are getting letters stating they can have a Termidor perimeter treatment for around $500 additional to the amount of cash they already have thrown away with them. I get these type of jobs every year..

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in the pic where the flashlight is shining is the original mud tube. I bid on this job in

2000 but they chose to go with a large company and the salesman sold them on baiting. The picture I took in '05 shows the company apparently just treated where the termites were and then baited..all the termites did was just move over a foot or so and continue on... a tube that size is definitely 4-5 years old.
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is on the opposite side of the tube. The main downfall of baiting is that you now have to rely on the tech to actually do his job rather than get lazy about it and just collect the check. Comparing Sentricon to the termidor, with S you have to wait for at least 40 termites to show up in the station before you stock it with bait and they may find the station in a week? a month? ever?, with T the foraging termite just wanders into the treated zone and it will die within 3 days but it will contaminate all that it comes in contact with so they now will die so termites never get an established track to the home. S asks for 18-24 months for colony elimination, T does it within 3 months. Every part of the country has different pricing, the house with the pics paid $3000 for the bait system along $435 a year for monitoring (that apparently wasn't being done).. my cost using Termidor in '05 was $1450 with $135 a year renewal.

Lar

Reply to
Lar

They get their moisture from the water table..the mud tubes hold 100% humidity for them to carry on above ground..there are termites even in the dessert. There are two types of house...homes that have had termites and homes that will get termites, the type of foundation has nothing to do with it.

Lar

Reply to
Lar

Lar, thank you for replying.

Dumb question, but what is the purpose of drilling into the slab ?

To me, when you drill a hole, it's to get something into something (ie. hole for a screw, hole for a wire thru a wall, etc). I don't see the reason behind drilling holes in a slab.

(now, I presume "slab" means concrete foundation walls ?) ..... what i have is a poured concrete foundation wall, with a poured concrete crawlspace (no dirt), and a poured concrete full basement in another part of the house. drill a hole in the wall, and you're in the crawlspace or basement.

there is a brick veneer on the outside wall where the window sill i saw the wings were at. it wasn't a huge pile of wings, just enough to set off my alarm bells that something is going on i need to address.

i'm not comfortable with anyone drilling holes into the brick veneer or poured concrete walls.

now, just digging a trench and laying down a Termidor moat of sorts around the castle - that i can live with.

would that be an effective treatment ?

Reply to
Hannibal

clipped

Sentricon is, if I recall correctly, for subteranean termites only. It was the result of research by U of Florida, and last I checked they didn't have any long-term stats on effectiveness. It's been 4-5 years since I did any looking for controls for termies. Your best bet is to check with your county or state extension service for info on the dominant strains in your area and the recommended controls. Any homeowner can, probably, do as well or better at inspecting for termite signs as a pest control person. Ther termite inspection done when I sold my house was a joke....

When I was researching termite control, the consistent story was that subterranean and other types needed very different treatment. Tenting was standard for other than subterranean, and still see it all the time in my neighborhood in Florida. Formosan, which were devastating to New Orleans, have been found in Florida as well.

Our condo has been tented twice, about 40 y/o. Condos on either side, no more than 10 years old, have both been tented within past 2 years or so. Expect termites in Fl....it isn't "if", it is "when" :o)

If you locate any, take them to your extension service for ID. They may also be able to tell, within range, by the wings that you found.

Reply to
Norminn

Inspect inside any plumbing access panels you have - around plumbing or plumbing/electrical entries is a common point of entry.

Reply to
Norminn

To inject nastiness into the soil.

Reply to
HeyBub

Subterranean termites live in the soil coming up to get to the house. In slab situations it can be an opening no wider than a pencil mark, many times where the plumbing penetrates the slab, so we drill near these areas to inject the termiticide in the soil under the slab. The old termiticides were basically a chemical shield, so area where you did not treat had the possibility of having the termites pushed to these area. Termidor works different, the termites do not detect it so if you are not able or don't treat every area you still will get results due to the nature of the termite foraging all around a home.

There are pictures here that may help you see how termites gain access...

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Well, depends on the termite pressure...if the termites happen to start on the perimeter of the home while foraging, yes.... if they happen to just pop up from under the house they have a chance to get established since they are not contacting treated soil, now over time they will forage further away from the first trails and will probably get into the treated zone, probably killing them out before you have a chance to know they were ever there but no way to guarantee that will happen.

Lar

Reply to
Lar

[snip]

Just wings doesn't necessarily mean a termite problem. They may just be flying ants. We had an infestation of ants that got into our attic, and the next spring we had the same indicztions you've reported. We were also able to catch a few of the insects and confirmed they were ants. In our caes, the fliers had found a way to get down from the attic, into the wall, and found a path that brought them into the interior through a hole in a window side-track.

Once we learned all of this we were able to eliminate the colony by using insecticide bombs in the attic.

I'd suggest you watch the window area carefully, at dusk and before dawn, and see if you can catch some of the insects to make a positive ID, before you spend hundreds or thousands on a termite treatment you may not need. You may also want to have a professional inspector look through your entire house, especially once you've got samples of what's bugging you -- Regards --

Reply to
JimR

Actually a pile shed of wings is an indication of termite. Ants lose their wings after they have mated, but they tear them out themselves so seeing even two wings close together is rare.... termites on the other hand can mass in numbers and the losing wings are just part of the "gathering"

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I'd keep an eye out to make sure you don't have two different issues going on, after all termite damaged wood is ready made condos for many ant species.

Lar

Reply to
Lar

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