Termites

[Ray K]

According to one exterminator, I have subterranean termites swarming mainly along the base of what's now an inside wall, entering the room at the top of the door casing (where the top and side casing join at a

45-degree angle). When the house was built, this was an exterior wall. At some point, an addition was built. The exterminator says that the termites are getting their water from soil at the gap along the expansion joint; thus there are no visible tunnels along the outside foundation perimeter from the soil upwards, even near the junction of the addition. The original house and the addition are on concrete slabs. The soil is on the clay side.

He proposes to treat the whole 220'perimeter by creating a 3x3" trench and applying Termidor 80 WG Finished Spray Solution. Along the 15' interior problem wall, he proposes drilling a hole every one foot, about four inches in from the wall-floor junction (so he doesn't drill through the tack strip holding the carpet in place), and applying the same solution.

At the double-car garage, he proposes trenching along the outside and also drilling every foot along the inside wall, even though the garage is rather distant from the problem area. I don't understand the need for the inside drilling, when the outside trench is only about 6 inches away from where the inside holes would be drilled.

Finally, he proposes installing, every 8-10' along the perimeter, a termite bait system. Every three months, for two years they return, examine if the bait has been eaten, and if so, treat that area for free.

Does all this sound reasonable?

The cost for this is $2000 (central New Jersey). I'm getting another estimate tomorrow.

Thanks for your comments.

Ray

[Pete C.]

Neither the proposed work, nor the price seem unreasonable. If you have a problem in one area it makes sense to treat all areas properly while they are there since termites could readily migrate to a different area at any time.

Back in 2004 I had termites active at my shop. It was treated then with Termidor, about 104' of perimeter with 32' of that being drilled in a carport slab. I did a remodel of the shop last year which included tearing out the walls to insulate them and I found no live termites anywhere, but plenty of evidence from their previous activity.

I recall the shop treatment being around $500, adjusted for a few years of inflation, higher labor costs in NJ vs. TX, your larger perimeter and the bait system / monitoring I'd say you're right in line.

Pete C.

[Lar]

The only thing I would question is placing the baits around the home. The termidor will protect the house with the treatment he is doing...the baits only generate extra income for the exterminator. How much is your yearly renewal with the baits? Without them it probably would be $100-$150 a year.

Lar

[The Reverend Natural Light]

The price seems on par with what you're getting, but the bait stations are worthless. I'd decline that and get the price reduced to cover just the chemical barrier.

I have termites eating whole bushes around my house and stupid little green pods every few feet that do nothing. I'm embarrassed to say how much I've paid Terminix for these things and they won't even service them anymore (not like they ever showed up anyways).

If you DO buy the bait system, get in writing how often they'll check the stations and get in writing that you'll be refunded your money when they refuse to check them as often as the salesman told you. Which they will.

-rev

[Robert]

Normally you need a license to get the stuff but I bought some Termidor on ebay. It's not cheap. I think I paid about $90 for a quart. I then bought a foaming set up from ePestSupply.com to foam the walls with the Termidor. Foaming means that you add a neutral soap to the Termidor and mix it to the consistancy of shaving cream. The foaming apperatus is just a garden sprayer with the pickup tube extending into the tank about 1/2 way instead of to the bottom. You then drill 1/4" holes in the wall between the studs about every foot vertically. That is where you put the foam. All you need with Termidor is for the termites to injest some of it and bring it back to the collony. I not only killed my termites but also got my neighbors as well by just foaming about a 12' length of one wall. I also bought the bait stations from ePestSupply as well and put them in my crawl space and the perimeter of the house. I did get termites to attack one bait station last year and used some of the poison that came with the bait stations. Since I still have about 90% of my Termidor left, I think I would have been better off soaking some popsickle sticks in it and using that inside my bait station. If I have any problems this season, I'll try my popsickle stick idea. Everything that I am describing is a lot easier than waxing a car. My total bill including the Termidor was about $700 and I bought twice as many bait stations as they suggested.

[Ray K]

Thank you for the intriguing ideas. When you say to drill 1/4" holes between studs every foot vertically, it sounds like you are trying to fill the complete cavity between adjacent studs from floor to ceiling with foam by drilling about six holes for an 8' ceiling. How can you do this in an outside insulated wall?

In my case, the problem wall doesn't appear to be insulated, so I don't have to contend with that.

[Ray K]

The treatment includes a 1-year renewable warranty, renewal at $150/year. Without the bait traps, the cost would be $1,785. Normally the traps would be $300, plus $75 to install, with free quarterly monitoring and treatment if needed, for two years. The package deal is $2000.

[Ray K]

A wonderful idea. I wonder if any salesman would ever sign such an refund agreement. Of course, his mere refusal would be a good indication that the company is suspect.

Ray

[Ray K]

Thanks, Pete. Of course I want as low a price as possible, but my main concern is the soundness of the approach: 1) treating the whole perimeter and 2)treating both sides of the long garage wall(the inside via holes in the concrete floor and the outside by trenching).

Ray

[Lar]

Heh...my company's name is similar to a national sized company that uses baits and I get this type of email all the time from their customers who happen across my web site confusing the two....

"I cannot tell whether anyone is coming out to check my Sentricon system. I don?t see any evidence that anyone is coming by at all. Please let me know."

Lar

[Robert]

I did do an insulated outside wall. Some of the insulation gets treated with the foam. The foam is supposed to touch the studs and the inside of the drywall because termites like drywall maybe more than wood. What you said above is true. You are trying to fill as much of the void as possible. You know when the void is full when foam comes out of the hole above the one you are filling. You start at the bottom hole. The foam then dries and then everything is coated with the Termidor. The termites then continue to eat the coated studs and drywall. They don't eat as fast as the exterminators or cartoons lead you to believe. I would say that within a month is adequate time to act. I do think you need the special soap because it is neutral to the termites. You don't want to repell them because they will just move to another area. They are happy now eating where they are at so just introduce poison. I did an ebay search and saw there is lots of Termidor for sale. A 20 ounce bottle will produce enough foam to do your entire neighborhood. If you buy the foaming apperatus from ePestSupply.com, don't buy extra soap like I did. What they supply is more than adequate. - Robert

[Bud]

[Brian O]

I'm in the DFW area and I just got a quote for very similar work for about $900 per year, including 4 inspections/treatments per year and a guarantee of the work. B

[Lar]

Must be for a bait job for sure. Cost per year without the bait would probably be less than $125 a year after the $900 initial treatment. If a liquid treatment is performed what is the purpose for the baiting? Does the company have no faith in their liquid treatment application or they have no faith in the baiting so they do a thorough liquid treatment and still have no activity along with the high renewal rates that baits bring in.

Lar

[Just Joshin]

Maybe the bait stations is to monitor, and guarentee the application?

tom @

[Lar]

What happens after two years... make sure all warranty is not lost unless you keep up with the station monitoring...it also might jump up in price considerably. What termite bait system is being used?...make sure they are not going to home depot and just buying Terminate stations. Depending on the writing of the contract some companies get away with just placing wood stakes around the home and using them as monitors around the house. As mentioned earlier, if Termidor is being used and applied properly there would be no reason for baits because the way Termidor works it would be killing any termites that would be infesting the stations before they were at a number inside where the company would need to add the bait matrix anyways.

Lar

[Charles Pisano]

I used to be a sales rep for Terminix. Robert is right on. You can save alot of money doing it yourself and treating them more 'locally'. As he said , all you need is for the drones to bring the posion back to the queen.

The price (adjusted for time) is right on. But I WILL say part of our training said if you see alot of nice cars and evidence of money, jack that sucker up. THAT is the main reason I no longer do that sort of work.

Pest control is a VERY profitable business. With the cost of libility insurance the way it's been going, it's not as profitable as it was when I was in it.

They now have termite sniffing dogs in FL. I used to tell customers I can smell termites. I really thought I could. I'd go into a home and wouldn't quit looking if I had a sense of them being there.

Alot of the stuff they used back then is now banned. So check out whatever you end up going with. Research it. Then weigh what you find against the upside. It's not worth it if you get rid of all the people along with the termites. Charles

[Lar]

Heh..this guy wishes Terminix would of at least done that....

and on the other side of the foundation.. The tube in the light was the original tube from 4 or 5 years prior to this pic (forget now if baits were installed '99 or 2000). The termites moved over a foot and continued on. I would guess from the size of the active tube to the right it would be 4-6 years old. He paid over $2500 for the bait installation and $325 a year for the renewals. Too much money to use them for a monitor especially when there is no assurance they will ever go into the bait stations to begin with. But he did have a guarantee on paper...

Lar