termites, tent or spot treat?

Cdnone1 · 10-16-2011, 06:04 PM

Anyone have any experience with getting rid of termites? I have bids from companies that recommend tenting and companies that recommend spot treating. They are both in the same price range.
Moving out for a few days is not a big deal for me so that's not really a factor.
Steve

Evans, Marv · 10-16-2011, 08:43 PM

If it were me, I think I'd go the tenting route. Unless they have some high tech way of locating every pocket of temintes, I'd be unsure about them getting them all.

mikester · 10-16-2011, 09:05 PM

I dunno man - I'm in the same area as you and even if you tent the termites will be back during the next swarm. I spot treat and have an ongoing contract with a company to check the house yearly and come and treat as needed if I find them.

If the cost is not different then I would probably tent I guess.

look 171 · 10-16-2011, 10:17 PM

Tent period. Spot treat only means they will move somewhere else. go for the gusto and not that tree hugger stuff. Kill em' all. If you like, pm me and I can get you my termite company's phone. They tent all my construction projects after its done. Stand up company out of Montrose. You can even have on going treatment contract with them.

Jeff

Jim Richards · 10-17-2011, 04:00 AM

Tent the little ba$tards.

Deschodt · 06:54 AM

Subterranean? Drywood ?

I'd do both, if i could....(tenting and wall treatment)

Tenting will kill them all, but nothing prevents them from returning the day after the tent is gone. The drywood ones are like those exterminator ads on TV, with bugs roaming the neighborhood ! Tenting is *very* annoying, too... If you have a tile roof, the exterminators can do damage walking up there unless they have a crane. Or you pay extra for one....

Dunno about you, but I don't completely "buy" the harmlessness of the poison on your kitchenware and clothes... So lots and lots of washing, rearranging, kids toys cleanup, major PITA.

I've been spot treating, given that my house is largely blocks and they attacked a specific area.... it's actually pretty easy to know where to go (droppings are visible, and the swarming in June, here). Haven't had a swarm this year so I think the spot treatment works too...

If it were a new house to me, I'd tent before moving in, no question. A house I actually live in, with kids/babies, I'd still spot treat instead - don't like the poison permeating everything.

Spot treatment is a bit of a misnomer too. They did inject stuff in in ALL the window openings, on each side, sprayed powder in the attic, etc... First year post treatment they swarmed again in a different spot (closeby), they retreated, and I haven't seem termites since...

willtel · 10-17-2011, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Subterranean? Drywood ?

I've never heard of tenting for subterranean termites. They are treated using a barrier or poison treatment in the soil along the foundation of the house.

Deschodt · 10-17-2011, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willtel

I've never heard of tenting for subterranean termites. They are treated using a barrier or poison treatment in the soil along the foundation of the house.

But once they are in your house, I think tenting kills EVERYTHING, spiders too ;-)
Yeah, subs require soil treatment. Lucky us, we got both in FL.. Not in my house though, yet !

I swear next time I'm builidng a house, all blocks and plaster, metal roof ;-)

Evans, Marv · 10-17-2011, 08:19 AM

When tenting, don't they use something that depletes the oxygen out of the interior instead of a poison? I thought I heard that from a company at one time.

Deschodt · 10-17-2011, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

When tenting, don't they use something that depletes the oxygen out of the interior instead of a poison? I thought I heard that from a company at one time.

Last time I talked to the guy giving me options, it was an odorless poison... Vikane or Vikem, something... It's supposed to be safe for humans, but I wouldn't be surprised if long term, it was proven not to be... The "spot treatment" stuff injected in your walls stays in your walls adn is not as nasty, mainly because it's not a gas... I talked to friends who tented and they both said "never again" just in terms of the hassle... Can't say either way, I went with non-tenting because we had a newborn in the house at the time....

Cdnone1 · 10-17-2011, 08:32 AM

Here is some more info
All the companies have found termites in both the outside wood (the belly band and some small trim areas) and a lot of damage in the attic.
The tent companies of course say tent, and the local treatment companies say local. What's got me is one company that does both says there is to much damage to spot treat. All of he services come with the ability to by a package where they come out once a year and check.
Moving out would not be too big of a hassle. I just want to make sure I only have to do this once every 5-10 years

Evans, Marv · 10-17-2011, 08:43 AM

I'd give it a shot then and get them to tent for now & come back for a yearly inspection & do local treatments if necessary. I think I'd also get a second & maybe third opinion on the extent of damage. I'd look for someone with expertise in that area of inspection who isn't connected with the termite extermination business.

mikester · 10-17-2011, 09:08 AM

I haven't tented our house in the 7 years we have been in it. I have had plenty of spot treatments however and plenty of inspections. Tenting will likely kill most of the bugs in the places the gas ends up going one of the problems is sometimes stuff is sealed up too tight and the gas can't get there.

As far as only doing it every 5-10 years - with spot treatments in between and vigilance I would expect not to have to do it more than every 10 years.

I'm no expert - I just know that termites are everywhere and once the gas is gone they can and will come back.

Zeke · 10-17-2011, 11:27 AM

I interviewed termite companies from every type of treatment for a client. That would be heat, freeze, local injections and tent. Even the orange guy said if you want to do it all and do it right, tent. They offer the alternatives so that they can do isolated jobs and not destroy and lot of close up landscaping, attached vines, that sort of thing.

I think Vikane is gone.

Evans, Marv · 10-17-2011, 12:01 PM

This is slightly off this topic, but I have an almost full bottle of Chlorodane+Pentechlor I've kept since the late '70s. Don't know exactly why & I haven't used it for anything, just thought it might be useful sometime. Some of you older guys know how it is. I'm thinking of taking it to the place for toxic materials to get rid of it someday. It's no longer allowed. Anyway, I looked online some time ago to get some info on it. I was horrified to learn back in the '50s when they built houses in some areas, insurance companies required contractors to saturate the soil with up to 200 gallons of the stuff. This was to deter subterranian termites from infesting the wood structure of the houses. Apparently unless this was done, the insurance companies wouldn't insure the structure.

Zeke · 10-17-2011, 12:36 PM

I have had some DDT and Chlorodane from old garages being cleaned out. You can do major damage to an anthill with an eyedropper using only a drop followed by an once of water.

sammyg2 · 10-17-2011, 02:34 PM

I heard that due to environmental laws in Kalifornia the only thing they are allowed to use is watered down perfume

If you want to control the damage, do the tent thing and then contract a spot-treatment company to keep it under control. If you just want ot follw behind the termintes and kill em after they've done the damage, spot treatment only would be fine.

Here's the problem with dry-wood (K) termites: you don't see evidence of them until they've eaten up wood.
After they've eaten on the soft wood (between grains) and they get too big fer their own shoes, they push their turds out a hole and swarm for more wood.
The turds are what you see as evidence. Either that or wood that is so eaten up there isn't much of anything left.
Either way you are accepting damage as part of the deal and try to kill em afterwards.

If you do a pre-emptive strike you can at least stop the damage, even iffn it's only for a while.

Then there's option three: let em eat to their heart's content and spend a big ole pile O'
money every 10 or 15 years to repair all the damage.

Here in kaliforney we have two kinds of houses, those with termines and those that used to have em but haven't got em back yet.

Por_sha911 · Por_sha911's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by willtel

I've never heard of tenting for subterranean termites. They are treated using a barrier or poison treatment in the soil along the foundation of the house.

Call your local college Agricultural Dept and ask. I was always told the same thing as what Willtell said. Cutting off their ability to return to the soil kills them. Maybe a different kind of termite can live without access to the ground?