Termite question: How long until my house turns into dust?

This posting is from 2016

Saturday before last: I was causing trouble in my yard and noticed that in the hedges along my back fence there were a bunch of rotting stumps stuck in the ground. I proceeded to rip them out only to find they were filled with termites and carpenter ants. Those went to the curbside to be picked up on Monday. Saturday night I noticed a couple carpenter ants along the rear wall of my house. On Sunday I went to the hardware store to by some termite spray which I sprayed on all the stump remains in my yard (root systems). I also sprayed it only the side of my house and I also applied some powder on the back of my house. All was fine and well until yesterday when I found a winged termite ON MY ******** REFRIGERATOR (which is in the kitchen along the rear wall closest to where those stumps were). Part of the issue is the sliding glass doors are broken and there is a little gap along the side that lets in bugs. We were cooking in the kitchen and you can see all the bugs on the windows/sliding doors that were attracted to the light, including a few other winged termites. So I think this guy slipped in through that gap and wasn't just munching on my house but I'm still paranoid. Do I call pest control or is this something I can handle? It's a concrete block house.

In reply to Enyar:

Yes. Call pest control.

Yes the swarmers are out now. Call an exterminator to at least get an inspection. Should be free

My office at work has been plagued by termites. They been trying to treat them since we moved in there 3 years ago.

My personal office is on west facing wall. On the outside of said wall, is mulch that comes 4' up the building.

Needless to say, around 2pm in the afternoon when the it starts warming up, it begins raining termites on my head.

berkeley that. I work remotely till the swarming is over.

They popped up in my laundry room this year. In the center of the house. On a concrete slab. There's a long back story, but the short answer is that Terminix wants $150/ month for the rest of my life for Sentricon bait, and Allgood pest control will put down the same bait and throw in quarterly pest control sprayings for $300 up front and $55/ month.

I freaking hate termites.

Great. Time to start asking friends for recommendations!

In reply to ultraclyde:

You can get the bait & stations online, but that E36 M3 isn't cheap. Having moved to MS recently, a termite contract is a necessity - even though our house is cement block on slab construction. I pretty much believe that Terminex does nothing - there was supposedly a "barrier" sprayed around the house years ago that lasts an indefinite period of time, and they only respray if there are signs of active termites. However, the contract includes a guarantee that they'll pay to have any damage fixed. I certainly hope to never need it, as I expect it to be about as useless as most used-car warranties. Ours is only $230/annually though, so I'm ok with the price to keep our insurer at bay.

I did have a termite problem at my first house, and called some local independent guy to come spray for them. I'm pretty sure all he did is spray the foundation with the same stuff you can buy at any home-improvement store... So I guess my recommendation would be to research as much as you can about termites, and particularly how to deal with them in your region, then DIY it.

I use a local pest control company. They will be waaay cheaper than a national brand. We have had really good service from them. It was something like $750 to start and $125 per year. We have had issues several years in a row.

Call an exterminator.

We bought the house in 2000. Just before purchase it had termites in a window seat in the spare room. Damage was repaired and a local company was brought on board for control because GA also requires a termite bond to sell. They used the liquid treatment around the house. Five years later swarmers erupted from the floor of my laundry room. I called the company, they came in and found that they had come up beside a water pipe through the slab. They drilled a hole in the slab and pumped a bunch of chemical down. Five years after THAT the bugs showed up in my attached garage, doing some serious damage to the framing and header on one side of the garage door. I called the bug guys....only to find out they had gone out of business and i was SOL. So I sprayed a bunch of chemical myself and fixed everything.

And now, another five years later, here they are again. This time I'm going to pay someone to put down the bait type. The chemicals are expensive, but mostly you're paying for the warranty. The lesson I learned is to be very careful of cheaper companies that might not be around in 5-10-15 years.

I live in the woods. There are termites. Everywhere. The goal is to keep them out of the house. I spray twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. Farm supply companies have the "good" stuff. Unless you live in the PRC, then you're screwed and have to call someone.

BTW, I recall reading that termites produce more CO2 than all man made sources put together. DAMN, IT'S THE TERMITES CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING BY DRIVING THEIR SUV'S TO SOCCER PRACTICE!!!

Just be glad you don't have a Morgan, or the termites would eat your car!

Termites? Whooses.

My in laws have cockroaches that are silver dollar sized. As they died, I had to go out with a leaf vac- what a mess.

Ok- they had termites, too. Block house and all. Thanks to the termites, they no longer have carpet, and many of the wood furniture has been replaced. Ugh.

Good luck.

Called three companies that seemed decent (all localish).

First guy said $100 for an inspection. Then he will determine if they need to tent (which they dont do) or dig a trench around the house/treat the foundation ($4.4 a linear foot). Or you could go to his place and buy the concentrate for $90 a quart which treats 75 linear feet and DIY.

The second two companies offered a free inspection and then they will advise for a solution. One was able to come out the same time I will be home for another contractor so I'm going to try that first and then go from there. Wish me luck!

So a guy came through yesterday and did a surprisingly thorough inspection. No traces of termites found so they guy just suggested some preventative maintenance which he said may or may not do anything. Options were:

Treat the attic @50-75 cents a squarefoot. No warranty on this. The issue is if termites end up in the attic they are going to tent the house anyway. Doesn't seem very valuable because it will take a while before they cause major damage and you would have to be an idiot to let the damage happen for that long before tenting. This would be for the flying termites.

The other option would be to dig a trench around the house and treat the foundation with the liquid I mentioned above. This guy charges $6.5 a linear foot and you have to pay $160 a year to keep the warranty going.

I think I'll probably do neither. I'll keep up with my spraying and try to close any gaps/holes I can find in the house. I may also buy that liquid and do the trench treatment myself. From what the guy said its less of a trench and more of an indentation in the ground to keep it from running off when you pour it in.

Termites don't need gaps/ holes. They make their own.

Our company drilled into the basement floor around the perimeter and transformed our property into a toxic waste dump. Termites still come back.

Look for water leaks, termites thrive on that.

The attic thing sounds like a waste of money.

Termites need to return to the ground daily for nourishment. That's why they have tunnels. If they are in the attic, they are coming up and down from below.

If you spray the attic you will only kill them if you hit them directly. If you spray the perimeter, you will get them every time they return to the earth.

Dry wood termites don't need ground contact.

Wouldn't hurt to bug-bomb the house regularly. Every level. Crawl space (if present), living levels and attic at the same time. I did that regularly at my last house because SWMBO hates bugs. Later had a free termite inspection before I moved and the termite guy said the bug-bombs helped keep the termites away. Still do it once in a while at my present house even though I have a termite company come in quarterly. I live on the border of town with woods in the backyard. Now Carpenter Bees are something else. They love my back deck and can't keep them away.

zombie canoe, post deleted

A friend and former employee moved to Mississippi to write policies for termite control and remediation. He said he could work 80 hours a week and his company would be happy to pay him. Berkeley that E36 M3.

Just because this showed up, here is a Cliff Clavin moment... Even though we just had a snow storm which is really depressing, at least, I believe, North Dakota is the only state in the US that doesn't have termites. 

spitfirebill said:

Dry wood termites don't need ground contact.

That's true, but he's in FL. Almost a guarantee that they are not dry wood termites. 
 

(I know... very old zombie thread)

For you Northerners...

Im a Yankee. I used to build in the Northeast. I didn't have a sense of how much damage termites can do in the South when I started building here. 
 

This is what I didn't understand:

SV reX said:

spitfirebill said:

Dry wood termites don't need ground contact.

That's true, but he's in FL. Almost a guarantee that they are not dry wood termites. 
 

(I know... very old zombie thread)

You would be so wrong about drywood termites not being in Florida.