• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Subterranean termites

C

Craig234

Lifer
Well-rated service offers a 'complete' service spraying all the ground under a house and treatment around it guaranteed for 2 years for 900 sq ft for $1375, warranty seems expensive after that at $300/year.

This a good way to go?

Probably buy the service and not the warranty at that price.
 
no.

Frankly, you could buy your own neo-nicotinoid derivative from Home Depot and completely nuke the area around and just under your foundation for about a hundred bucks. That, of course, will completely eradicate any arthropod within and around your property for several years plus. I don't recommend it, because nicotinoids are freaking nasty stuff, and in general, the majority of arthropods are very good things that you want living in your yard.

nicotinoids are very, very, very nasty stuff. But are extremely effective. as long as you deploy it under ~1ft or so of soil, near the foundation, it should be safe for humans and pets.
 
zinfamous said:
no.

Frankly, you could buy your own neo-nicotinoid derivative from Home Depot and completely nuke the area around and just under your foundation for about a hundred bucks. That, of course, will completely eradicate any arthropod within and around your property for several years plus. I don't recommend it, because nicotinoids are freaking nasty stuff, and in general, the majority of arthropods are very good things that you want living in your yard.

nicotinoids are very, very, very nasty stuff. But are extremely effective. as long as you deploy it under ~1ft or so of soil, near the foundation, it should be safe for humans and pets.
Click to expand...

So... don't do that other thing... that leaves me with the service.
 
Craig234 said:
So... don't do that other thing... that leaves me with the service.
Click to expand...

Point is--that's what they are going to do, and charge you a shit load of money to do it. First thing is, you square yourself with the idea of eradicating all life from your lawn area, leaving a barren waste land for generations to come. After you accept that decision, you decide how much you want to spend on it by either hiring a pro to do it, or do it yourself. 😀
 
zinfamous said:
Point is--that's what they are going to do, and charge you a shit load of money to do it. First thing is, you square yourself with the idea of eradicating all life from your lawn area, leaving a barren waste land for generations to come. After you accept that decision, you decide how much you want to spend on it by either hiring a pro to do it, or do it yourself. 😀
Click to expand...

Hm, googling showed there are a variety of chemicals that can be used - how do we know that's the one they'd use (I can ask)? What should I want used?

I don't generally do DIY and certainly wouldn't be doing the things they do to the tube removal in the crawlspace, so I'm guessing a service is my only option, no easy DIY good options?
 
Interesting. If it were dirt, you could consider it, but between a lot of concrete and the labor in the crawlspace, I think this is something to pay.

This company has 82 reviews on yelp and every review is 5 stars which is pretty remarkable so you have to think they're priced fairly despite $1375.
 
Yeah, if you have concrete slabs and need to drill, better let the expert do the job.

It seems most termite companies are using Termidor nowadays.
 
mxnerd said:
Yeah, if you have concrete slabs and need to drill, better let the expert do the job.

It seems most termite companies are using Termidor nowadays.
Click to expand...

Not sure why it says it's good for 10 years, but the service only warranties 2 years, says it should last 3-5, and charges $300/year for annual service after 2 years.

Who knows who is exaggerating - one or both.
 
The annual re-inspection came from the days where deterrent pesticides (aldrin, chlordane, dursban) were used and all are banned now in most places. It was a task of labor indeed. Drilling slabs along walls, around every slab penetration in the basement, wall voids, behind brick veneer, rodding soil, etc. Most wouldn't provide the guarantee if the structure had direct wood contact with ground either. Those pesticides, while effective and long lived, repelled the insects. If there was a gap somewhere in the treatment and there always was with challenging construction types, the buggers WOULD find it and make their way in and start there quest for foraging on timber fibers. This is why to have a guarantee plan there was an annual re-inspection with a fee. As long as you paid this fee and inspection, you were covered for both damage and follow up treatments.

With fipronil based termiticide, the insects don't detect its presence and it takes time to kill. Termites being social in nature will quickly spread it around and the colony will be eliminated in a few months. Incomplete/partial treatments can be effective in this manner. The residual termiticide remains active for up to ten years. You may or may not need to re-treat depending on construction and how termites found their food in the first place. Most construction work is the source - they like to bury wood scraps under dirt filled porches or in space where slabs get poured. This wood brings them within a few feet of sill plates, for example. Storing firewood on the ground next to a building is another no-no.

The warranty and re-inspection isn't really a requirement with fipronil treatments. If you see swarmers the following spring AFTER such a treatment it wasn't effective and I'd question the pest control operator's abilities at that point.
 
DP - seems this thread was moved from OT while I posted and it posted twice.
 
Last edited:
Hm. So, I contacted cancelled the first provider who was going to do an inspection before giving an estimate and they mentioned they have a three year warranty.

I asked the service scheduled for tomorrow about matching that since they offer a 2 year warranty and they not only said no, they clarified when I asked if any attic access is needed that their offer for $1375 to treat the crawlspace soil and around the foundation does not include the 'substructure framing' - that and the attic will increase the price to $1675.

So now I'm thinking of cancelling that service for now and getting the estimate from the first company. Argument against: the second company has those 82 5 star reviews. Should I just assume they're perfectly good and keep the appointment and pay the now $1675 and settle for the 2 year warranty? I asked on chemical used - #1 uses termidor, #2 is 'termidor or altriset'.
 
If you are going to do it regardless, then I would just go with the first company. Seems less hassle.

This is also relevant to my interests, so I'm glad you bumped this because I did some digging earlier, due to Ruby's post, and forgot to come back here.

re: Fipronil:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fipronil

I've been considering a treatment myself, but wanted to look into alternatives. While fipronil is not a neo-nic or derivative, so no thermonuclear war against all arthropods, it is in itself quite destructive, supposedly to perhaps the same arthropods and is indicated to concentrate in aquatic vertebrates (bad). However, I would think that as long as this stuff doesn't leech near ground water or a flowing water source, it *might* be OK. I'd never begrudge a homeowner's need to protect their property from wood-destroying bugs, but I think I will be looking for an alternative, should the need arise. In the meantime, it's just clearing out mulch and dead wood away from the foundation for me. :\

Do you have visual signs of actual termite damage or at least they are known in the area? If you have no reason to suspect active termite presence, then you could probably save a ton by buying 100 bucks or so worth of Fipronil and injecting it around your property yourself. Gaps aren't a big deal here, since it isn't a repellent, as mentioned earlier. In my mind, you pay these guys big bucks to go after specific, known trouble areas and to show your insurers that you are doing do-diligence in response to active problems.
 
Yes, I recently had some termites flying inside the home and found piles of papers with damage that appears to be where termites have been eating them, with 'dirt' that comes with the termites.

Your description of the harshness of the chemicals is worrisome, but I don't know an alternative. 'Agent Orange' seems to be a solution created for a demand but ineffective from what people say.

These two services use the chemicals I mentioned. Altiset is described as safer but less effective than Termidor.

When you say company #1, what's your thinking? That's the one that was going to provide an estimate but cancelled with and am now reconsidering getting that estimate, they have the 3 year warranty - and also good reviews but only a handful. Need to decide quickly to be fair to the second company if I'm going to cancel/delay the appointment tomorrow. Glad someone saw this after it moved to Home and Garden.
 
Craig234 said:
Yes, I recently had some termites flying inside the home and found piles of papers with damage that appears to be where termites have been eating them, with 'dirt' that comes with the termites.

Your description of the harshness of the chemicals is worrisome, but I don't know an alternative. 'Agent Orange' seems to be a solution created for a demand but ineffective from what people say.

These two services use the chemicals I mentioned. Altiset is described as safer but less effective than Termidor.

When you say company #1, what's your thinking? That's the one that was going to provide an estimate but cancelled with and am now reconsidering getting that estimate, they have the 3 year warranty - and also good reviews but only a handful. Need to decide quickly to be fair to the second company if I'm going to cancel/delay the appointment tomorrow. Glad someone saw this after it moved to Home and Garden.
Click to expand...

Well, I guess I would chat with them about attic estimates but if they already did that before, and were way cheaper (sounded like they were?), plus they have a better warranty, no?
 
The flying termites you see are swarmers. They are frequently seen in the spring after a warm up with showery weather. There will be an active colony nearby and its a sign of growth. If they are inside your home you have to treat.

Termidor is safe IF mixed and applied EXACTLY as the label instructs you to do.
There are plenty of guides online. Search for doityourselfpestcontrol, etc.
In the USA it's a federal crime to use any of these products including ones sold in stores - in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. Even PCOs make mistakes due to laziness/haste or insufficient training.
Whole home termite treatments with slab construction and basements is a very physically demanding task. It requires hours of drilling with a hammer drill. Ear and eye protection required. And if you drill through a wire or pipe the job just got a lot more expensive!

Fortunately, termites work slowly so you have time to research and plan this. It's definitely in the scope of a skilled DIY'r. I don't recommend it to those that want to do the job hastily and cut corners!
 
The first company wasn't 'way cheaper', they didn't give an estimate before inspecting but said the $1375 of the second service was probably similar.

The second guy called me for an update, so I went ahead and told him to put off the srrvice while I consider options/probably get the first company estimate.

Turns out talking to him, that the attic and substructure framing he was talking about, he views as not needed for subterranean termites, only drywood which I don't have.

So, I can probably skip that and just get the soil and perimeter treatment.
 
Rubycon said:
Termidor is safe IF mixed and applied EXACTLY as the label instructs you to do.
There are plenty of guides online. Search for doityourselfpestcontrol, etc.
In the USA it's a federal crime to use any of these products including ones sold in stores - in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. Even PCOs make mistakes due to laziness/haste or insufficient training.
Whole home termite treatments with slab construction and basements is a very physically demanding task. It requires hours of drilling with a hammer drill. Ear and eye protection required. And if you drill through a wire or pipe the job just got a lot more expensive!

Fortunately, termites work slowly so you have time to research and plan this. It's definitely in the scope of a skilled DIY'r. I don't recommend it to those that want to do the job hastily and cut corners!
Click to expand...

I consider hiring someone to change the light bulbs, and I have a new car battery sitting in the trunk for weeks while I get ready to take on changing it, so DIY is not likely.

I hate the chemical issue - for various reasons and am suspicious we understand the risks for sure - but not sure there's an alternative. No basement though, this is CA.
 
If substructure framing is damaged, it always cost extra to fix. No one is going to fix it for free.
 
Craig234 said:
I was talking about treatment of it for termites, not repairing the damage. I'll have to see what damage there is when they inspect.
Click to expand...

I would say that if you have those bastards flying around in your house, then you have them borrowing inside somewhere. You probably do need to hire a pro at that point. Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top