Termite prevention for home (they are in firewood!)

[neverbilly]

Termites are very common around here and I find them often in dead wood or scrounged firewood that I bring home. Hmmm. I have had home damage in another home, in the wood in the floor. Yikes.

Wondering about termite prevention for this house, which is not on a slab like most are here, but on piers (a little bit off the ground).

Does anyone know if a pest control company can 'prevent' termites. What about DIY, anyone have an opinion on that?

 

[XJcacher]

Pest control companies around here will do a termite contract where they come out and inject the pesticide into the ground around your house and do a yearly inspection and reapply as needed. If they find any termite damage they have to fix it on their dime. In fact morgage companies won't finance a house around here without a termite contract.

 

[osagebow]

No worries, Queenie is back in the ground where you got it. Workers in a split can do little but freak you out. Unless you have wood is stacked in contact with the soil next to your house for a long time, it's all good.

 

[St. Coemgen]

Unless you have wood is stacked in contact with the soil next to your house for a long time, it's all good.

Excellent, excellent point.

Keep your wood in drying piles off any soil contact.

Then any termite or wood ants colonies that develop (which is then unlikely in a proper drying stack since they both hate heat) will be completely burned and eliminated in your oven next winter.

 

[KaptJaq]

Around here, Long Island, NY, they usually don't treat the soil with pesticides anymore. They put out bait traps around the structures. Once a month they inspect the traps for termites. If a trap has termites they replace the bait with slow acting poisoned bait. The workers take the poison back to the nest where it slowly kills the queen, the replacement queens, and the workers. This method keeps the poison contained and does not let it leach into the soil or ground water. The old chlordane soil treatment has been banned since about 1990 because, once in the ground, it stayed for a very long time contaminating anything that grew there and slowly leached into well water. New chemical treatments are less toxic but also less effective.

The exterminators like the trap method because they create a long term income stream with a contract to check and manage the traps.

In some states you can buy the same traps the professionals use and set them yourself. Just remember to check them monthly during termite season (spring, summer, & fall).

KaptJaq

 

[MarylandGuy]

Termites and ants hate dry wood. As others have suggested, keep the wood off the ground. Throw a few bricks on the ground and place a pallet on top. Since you get so much rain there, I would assume a top cover would be needed.

 

[heavy hammer]

As said above keep off the ground and keep dry the little guys will leave and find a new home.

 

[Oldman47]

As said above keep off the ground and keep dry the little guys will leave and find a new home.

Really? Why do I need to treat every few years to keep termites out of my dry wall studs?

 

[nrc]

Termites will eat dry wood but most termites need some consistent source of moisture to thrive. Usually they nest in the moist ground and tunnel into soft wood from there. If you're having persistent termite problems you should look for places where there is ground contact above your foundation - mulch beds or planters that go above your foundation. Termites can enter through cracks and foundation entries and will also build mud tubes to bridge gaps.

About ten years ago I noticed some termite activity at one corner of our house. We were lucky enough to catch it very early so there was no real damage. We had the Sentricon bait system installed and it eliminated termite activity within six months. At the time there was still some controversy about the effectiveness of bait systems. Studies were still in early phases and many exterminators hated it because it eliminated a big payday for the typical trenching and soil treatment work. Now it's widely accepted and exterminators are happy to take the reoccurring charge for just monitoring the stations.

The latest Sentricon systems have replaced the wood bait that they used to monitor for activity with an "always active" insecticide that can be checked less often. We've been maintaining the system since we're in a high risk location and it only costs a few hundred a year. I've considered switching to one of the over-the-counter consumer bait systems. For the cost comparison I don't think it's worthwhile since I've already paid the up-front investment in the Sentricon system.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I think spraying the perimeter of the home is a good, basic practice that everyone should do. If the critters die when they try to get in, most of your issues go away.

 

[heavy hammer]

I always thought they were attracted to moist wood. As stated above maybe spraying around the house, and checking beds around the house. I'm sure this is stuff you already do if having problems. I was just always told to rid firewood of termites and ants split dry it and keep off the ground and they will leave.

 

[AmbDrvr253]

I agree with heavy hammer/ Tho if I knew a scrounge was infested I would leave it......