Answers
Aug 28, 2018 - 03:44 AM
Before I can give you any advice, I need to know which species of termites (sub or drywood or fomosan) where you live and possibly even an address so that I can see your house from Google maps. Termite treatments can be very difficult, especially in a situation like you are describing.
Ron
Ron
Aug 29, 2018 - 05:22 AM
Subterranean termites have to maintain contact with a central nest or colony. They are social insects and do not survive without it. This colony is usually in the ground under or around the house. Sometimes there are multiple colonies all associated with one another. The trick in controlling subterranaean termites is to control their colonies. This can be done through killing of the workers without having to directly kill the queens, kings and other forms that are within the colony itself. The colony cannot survive without food (wood pulp carried by the worker termites). So in essence if you kill the workers off completely, the rest of the colony starves and declines. This the basic method used in termite baiting systems such as Sentricon and Hex Pro and also using Fipronyl based termiticides such as Termidor.
If the original company that performed the Termidor treatment only treated the exterior perimeter and the termites are still active months later, then obviously the workers were not effected. This leads me to several thoughts - 1) The original treatment on the exterior missed their entry points (not thorough enough). 2) There are other entry points under or within the foundation of the the house that need to be treated. 3) There is a possible secondary colony contained within the subfloors/walls of the home (sometimes happens with extreme wetness) 4) You are possibly dealing with dampwood termites (much larger than your native subterranean termites).
In any of the above cases, since you have already paid a company to perform this treatment and it obviously has not worked up to this point, I would recommend to contact them and find out what course of action they want to take. They should guarantee their work and if not, then contact California DPR and file a complaint.
If this were my house, I would possibly foam all of the areas inside the subfloor joists / walls / floors etc with Termidor foam before ripping out any wood. It appears that there is further treatment needed over and beyond an exterior treatment. Foaming walls, subfloors etc, with Termidor is very common and effective.
Don't make the mistake of causing more damage than the termites. In other words, don't tear anything up unless it is structurally inadequate and needs replacing anyway.
Hope this helps.
If the original company that performed the Termidor treatment only treated the exterior perimeter and the termites are still active months later, then obviously the workers were not effected. This leads me to several thoughts - 1) The original treatment on the exterior missed their entry points (not thorough enough). 2) There are other entry points under or within the foundation of the the house that need to be treated. 3) There is a possible secondary colony contained within the subfloors/walls of the home (sometimes happens with extreme wetness) 4) You are possibly dealing with dampwood termites (much larger than your native subterranean termites).
In any of the above cases, since you have already paid a company to perform this treatment and it obviously has not worked up to this point, I would recommend to contact them and find out what course of action they want to take. They should guarantee their work and if not, then contact California DPR and file a complaint.
If this were my house, I would possibly foam all of the areas inside the subfloor joists / walls / floors etc with Termidor foam before ripping out any wood. It appears that there is further treatment needed over and beyond an exterior treatment. Foaming walls, subfloors etc, with Termidor is very common and effective.
Don't make the mistake of causing more damage than the termites. In other words, don't tear anything up unless it is structurally inadequate and needs replacing anyway.
Hope this helps.
Apr 22, 2024 - 07:17 AM
I wish I had an easy answer for you. But as long as there is a moisture problem, source of moisture or anything that could sustain the termites, treatment of any kind will probably not be successful. My best advice is to call several pest control companies and get several opinions on what to do. Trying to diagnose this without actually seeing the problem is difficult if not impossible.
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