Answer
Apr 13, 2013 - 10:29 AM
The pest tubes or "tubes in the wall" system was originally created by a company in Florida and then sold off to Centex which is now called "Home Team Pest Control" in the mid to late 1990's.
The entire system consists of small high pressure tubing with "laser slits" on 12" spacings that supposedly go through every lower wall in the entire home. These tubes then terminate at a "portal" on the outside of the home where the treatment is performed.
Here is how it works - a tank system containing 2 tanks - 1 with chemical and the other with compressed air (a scuba type tank) is used to apply and push the chemical through the tubes. The scuba tank pushes air at a rate of around 2000 PSI which pushes the chemical through the tubes and causes it to "spray" out of the laser slits in the tubes.
Basically, each tube is given a 15 second dose of chemical and then a 5-10 second blast with air. The chemical is usually permethrin or bifenthrin based. After treatment, the portal is closed off, and usually an outer perimeter spray or granules are then applied to keep other pests from migrating in.
Here are the problems with the "Tubes in the Wall system", and I know, because we were the first company in Texas to service this system -
1) The installations are eratic, and if there are any kinks in the tubes, or if the installers did not install it properly, such as the hose kinking in the corner of a room when it rounds the wall, that tube is useless beyond the point where it kinks. Also, staples to hold the tubing in place can be applied wrong and can crush the tube. This was a very common occurrence, and the number 1 problem that I found with installers.
2) Sometimes depending on the chemicals used, they gum up inside the tubes and render the tube useless. There is no way to replace this tube once it is gummed up or kinked.
3) If the tube is too long (over 50-60 feet), the air will not push the chemical hard enough because there is not enough pressure, and the chemical will either not make it to the end of the tube, or is basically drips out and forms a puddle. This can make a wet spot on walls, carpet, floors, etc.
4) The tubes in the walls system is only designed to keep bugs out of the walls. Treating inside the walls will do nothing for insects that do not infest walls, such as spiders, fleas, flying insects, etc. This system also does not need applications every 60-90 days, 1 time per year, or even every other year is more than sufficient.
As you can see, I am not a big fan of the Tubes in the Wall System. I would prefer to dust in the walls with a longer lasting Boric Acid based dust such as Borid, and dust through weep holes, electric switches, plumbing penetrations, etc. I think this method is much more effective and also has less troubleshooting involved.
With that said, unless you have a way of building a 2 tank system that can deliver air and push chemical, you will have to resort to old fashioned and more reliable ways of killing bugs. Or you could call Home Team Pest Control and pay them an outrageous amount of money to service your system. Most people just forget about it and resort to standard pest control techniques. It's great marketing and sounds like a good way to go, but with my experience, its overpriced and usually does not perform up to expectations.
Pestabs is a great product that will probably solve all general pest problems, and it's less than $10.00 per application. Its the same product that a lot of Pros use - Here is the link : http://www.epestsupply.com/product/PE...
Hope this helps.
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I work for the company that installed those tubes. We have special tools to pump our products into those lines and its patented. You would need a hose nozzle that is cone shaped that comes to a 1/16 hole. We pump in the product, then we follow it with compressed nitrogen. The nitrogen is used to push the product all the way through your walls. Unless you could come up with a key for the outside port entry box cover, and have something to shoot the product through the lines, I'd recommend calling Home Team Pest Defense. It's around 100 bucks every 3 months.
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The product stays totally within the walls and does not enter your interior home. It will stop any pests from entering any Room in your house. If you have children, small children or pets you will not have a problem with poison touching their bodies. It is a really a fail safe situation that is unbeatable by any other pest control company. For the price that you pay you also get outside services done whereas they spray your home 3' up your wall and 3' from a wall out into your yard. They also walk around your home with a broom on an extension handle and they knock down all of the spider webs and the dirt wasps nests and anything that is an eyesore for you. They will spray your interior if you want them to but the tubes in the wall should do the trick. They also go into your attic and basements and your garage and anywhere you think there may be a problem, on their initial visit. For the price that you pay it is totally worth it for you to pay when going to your hardware store to buy pest control that may or may not work for the pests you think may be invading your house. You can call them anytime between your 3 month visits if you have any fire ants or rats, or mice, or cockroaches, or moths, or whatever. You paid for their service and they will come out everyday of the year if they need to. I work for them, but I'm telling you this as a customer, home team is a pretty awesome company to get your services with. All joking aside. Their products are made by the Dow Corp, By professional environmental scientists. You know those other pest control companies have their products made by a soap company. I am not giving any names more company names but their products do kill a few tests but not all of them. Their products you can literally eat it in it will not hurt you. That's why their customers always quit them within the 1st 2 years. Our customers on average stick with us for 8 years. That is the length of time people buy homes and sale homes. On average you may buy a house this year and you may sell it then 8 years. That's what I mean by that period home team came up with a great idea when installing those tubes into these homes. The guy who originally thought of it was thinking about oil production. He was wondering how do the oil rigs drill and suck up the oil and get them all the way to the shore facilities without putting them in any kind of cargo ships are oil tankers. The same situation as those tubes in your wall. When oil comes up out the ground and is sent through the pipelines to the lands, they have to go through a series of compressor stations that add pressure to the flow of the oil every so many miles. In order to keep that oil pressure high and moving it has to be compressed build a pressure and sent to another compressor station miles down-the-line. So if you think about those green and blue tubes at your walls it is the same exact system think of the green lines as the oil pipelines themselves and the blue lines or the compressor stations the products are pressurized enough to go all the way through your house from the technicians wand. He pumps the products into the green lines and then he pumps compressed air into the blue lines. The blue lines intersect with the green lines every 20'. Pushing that product through the green lines. The green lines are perforated. They have holes all the way around them to disperse the product as a mist. What's the product is dispersed into your walls come it crystallizes. If you think of fog or cloud what is it? Its billions and billions of tiny tiny droplets of water just floating in the air. So our chemicals or misted into your walls. Tiny droplets of product That langurs in between your wall crevices and get into any small cracks that a pest can get into, or any small little crooks and crannies between wooden boards or braces are whatever. Once this mist finally settles down it crystallizes wherever it lands and the past will crawl through it and get it on them and that's all it takes fellas. What people don't realize is how much damage that tests give to homeowners and dollar signs. Termites especially. Termites or the most costly insect on the face of the Earth. The bad thing about them is, Wants you see them in your home, it's too late. The infant station has occurred and the queens are making babies. The colony has infested your home and the damage is already done. Insurance companies do not provide coverage for termites. You will have to pay to basically rebuild most of your house if not all of it out of pocket. Take advantage of termite protection while you still have a roof over your head. I did not know this before I went to work for this company. I've learned a lot in the last month I've been there. Termites or a hell of an insect. Most people think that if they can keep mulch away from their house or trees away from touching their house or whatever that that's good for preventing termites. That is wrong. Termites live underground, well most of them in this area. They burrow through the ground until they find the wood that they want to eat. They stay in moist areas dark moist areas while the scavengers go out to find the wood. Once they find would they report back to the nest and the whole colony takes off from their nest and invades your house. Is all under the ground. We also provide termite protection. It is called Sentricon. I know they have videos on YouTube showing you how this product works. It's pretty awesome. They bury these cages about a foot deep into the ground and there's a bait that goes on the inside of these cages. Is a synthetic wood that attracts the termites to it before it goes to your house. The termites are digging Toward your house but if you put these send tatic traps 10' away from each other all the way around the perimeter of your house you will never have termites ever. They prefer this synthetic would a 100% over any real would they can find. Again, like I said, we have real environmental scientists making this stuff that is tested over and over again and actually works. It can get wet and the more funky it gets the better the termites like it. Once they eat this they turn and head back to the colony which home they feed from their mouth because that's how they eat from mouth to mouth. The Workers feel their bellies up with this stuff and head back to the colony and pass out regurgitated plate lunches to all of the other termites. Once they eat this stuff and I jested it is in them. A termite motes every 3 weeks. Wants the termite motes, it's dead. It's pretty gruesome but that's what our scientists have developed. Our product has a chemical in it that destroys the new shell of the termite. When the termite molts, It basically turns into a jelly mess that used to be a termite. It's pretty awesome to see the after effect of the stuff. The product does not let the new shell for and in turn they basically just jail is really really weird but it's pretty cool to see. Call home TV have them install the termite protection around your house is well. I had an aunt that had termite problems and I stayed at her house one night, I got into the bathtub and the bath tub sell through the floor now this really wouldn't have been much of an issue for normal homes but her home was 7' high off the ground. My aunt would never saw the termites eating his home because he had insulation underneath his home and the insulation actually hid the termites. Once I fell through the floor they started removing all of the so lation and notice that they barely had a floor left. They have never seen 1 termite in that house only reason they loot was because I fell through the floor 7' to the ground in a bath tub full of water.
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So, I paid for an in wall pest control system that came with my house. Why can I not find a key to access it?
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