Termites

[ambrola]

Has anyone on here ever dealt with these house destroying bastards? Last week I noticed something in the corner of one of the walls. Just had Terminex do a inspection this morning, and sure enough their there. $2100.00 to get the house up to date, and I bought this house brand new only 9 years ago. My other house was treated in 1964, and will never have any bugs. Damn I'm tired. Money out the friggin window. Now I want to pull the sheetrock and look behind it. The little feller that did the inspection pounded on the wall and he said I caught it in time. But who knows? They are house destroyers here in the South. Do you guys have them up North?

[J-Mech]

We have them, but they usually only go to damp areas. Maybe you have a leak.

[Cub Cadet 123]

Get other estimates! I had Terminix, Orkin, and two local businesses inspect my house. Both Terminix and Orkin wanted $3000-$4500 to treat my house and the two local businesses told me that I did not need to treat since my house was already treated. The two local businesses showed me how to tell if a house has already been treated and they also told me that the stuff used was so potent that no one can use it for residential anymore. They said I was good as long as I didn't till up the soil on the perimeter of my house, too. I trust the local business guy more than the money hungry, bigger companies. It is easy to have a knee jerk reaction upon seeing that, but you may be able to get the same, if not better, job done by a local company for much less money! Kill the queen and the colony is gone, too!

Strangely enough, my house was framed from "native" oak, which was quite common in the older days so even though the damage was localized to one corner of my house from termites long before it was treated, the native oak wood, though riddled with termite paths was actually a lot stronger than the pine that houses are framed out of these days.

Cub Cadet 123

[Terry C]

Not too much around me but they still inspect for them when buying/selling homes. I know they get worse the further south you go.

[Oak]

They destroy a lot of stuff here in Georgia. I keep my contract with a local mom & pop company but they don't offer a repair bond. Just about every broken tree limb in the back yard that has been on the ground and rotting is full of them. I also have a bunch of 4x6 pressure treated fence posts that are eaten up also. I have to have a retreat about every 10 years that runs about $1200 if I keep the $150/year inspection up. Good luck Ronnie, I hope you got them early enough.

[green 4 acres]

I had them ,tried many different treatments
I put out dry dog food ,around the foundation ,that attracts the small ants and you get some small ant hills & thousands of ants driving away the termites ,or they are eaten .
Many builders would bury excess lumber under the porch causing the termite infestation

[DieselDoctor]

One benefit of living in the polar north I guess. There are some cases up here but mostly too darn cold 7 months of the year for the little bast%^ds.

[scarps68]

Had them when I transferred firewood from shed to rack next to house. Lesson learned was to empty rack at spring time. Do yourself a favor grab some of the concentrate and mix yourself. I spray every year just to keep the house and sheds protected.

http://www.bonide.com/products/home-...t-control-conc

[john hall]

Ronnie, didn't you maintain the termite contract when you bought the house? I've had a contract with the folks that treated during construction, costs me $100 a year for the last 20 years. Only once have they had to spot treat on an annual inspection. I would strongly suggest once they re-treat, you enter into a maintenance contract with them.

My employer built the machine shop in 1995. Found out about a month ago we had termites in the offices--bored right through the sheetrock. He just had the entire building retreated--they had to trench around the outside. As you would imagine, this is a metal building--except for the offices.

[Dirty Steve]

I'm up North here with Doc also. Never dealt with termites. Hope I never have too. Good luck, Ronnie.