Subterranean Termite Treatment

A subterranean termite treatment is, in theory, a simple process. The idea is to create a continuous barrier of treated soil between the termite colony in the ground, and your home. But you can see why in practice, this is sometimes quite involved. Ideally, every home would be treated before the concrete foundations and slabs are poured. This would create a continuous barrier, with minimal work. This isn’t done very often, and most subterranean termite treatments are post-construction.

In homes with subareas, cellulose debris should be removed from underneath. Removing the debris will discourage feeding, as well as make sure all of the soil gets treated. Once this is done, termite tubes can be knocked down. Treating underneath the house is next. Premise 75 is the termiticide used for the treatment. Premise has excellent soil dispersion and bonding properties. It is virtually odorless, and safe to people and pets occupying the building. Termites are highly social, and Premise disturbs many aspects of their behavior. Grooming, feeding, and colony maintenance are compromised leading to a reduction or elimination in the whole colony. As a backup, Premise in minute exposure levels will lower the colony’s defense against natural organisms – causing infection. It may take longer to work, but Premise provides more complete termite control than simple repellant termiticides. Areas around footings, piers, and plumbing receive the highest concentration of treatment. Termites are more likely to build their tubes along these areas. Then the remainder of the soil is treated to stop and prevent any freestanding termite activity. If access to your subarea is inside the house (such as in a closet), drop cloth tarps are laid out to keep your carpets and floors clean. Whenever possible we avoid bringing hoses in through the house, and find an outside means to get them underneath.

If the house is built using slab construction with termites entering from the inside, holes will have to be drilled to treat the soil. Carpets and padding are pulled back to expose the concrete, and we can cut replaceable plugs out of linoleum floors before we drill. Tile floors are fragile, but drilling through the grout joints is the safest way to approach it. There can be pipes running through floors, or even radiant heat. We use an electronic device to interrupt the drilling process if we hit metal, to greatly reduce the chance of drilling into plumbing. For homes with radiant heat, you will want to turn your heating on high in advance. This way we read the surface temperature, to help find where the pipes are. Termites usually come up through the joint between the slab and foundation, because it is the easiest way to get to the wood framing of you house. However sometimes they can come up through cracks in the slab anywhere in the floor, in which case holes will have to be drilled along the crack. When the areas that need treatment are determined, drilling will start. Holes are either ½” or 9/16″ in diameter, and usually around one foot apart. Dust from the drilling is cleaned up, and termiticide is injected into the holes. The termiticide flows into the holes, and soaks into the soil beneath. This creates a barrier under the concrete slab. Holes are then plugged, and patched with a method that will be least noticeable for the type of floor they are in.

Outside, soil next to the foundation must be treated. This can be done by digging a trench, which is filled with termiticide and then with dirt. Or a metal rod that injects liquid from the tip can be used. Sometimes a combination of the two is best. The situation will dictate which is appropriate. Plants, rocks, soil density, buried irrigation pipes, and proximity of the siding to the ground all play a factor in how the outside will be treated. If decks attached to the house don’t have enough clearance to get underneath, a deck board may have to be removed to get access to the soil. If deck boards are nailed rather than screwed down, drilling a hole through the board will usually provide access to the soil underneath with less impact than removing the board. Porches and sidewalks next to the house need to be drilled similar to slabs inside the house. Porches are many times filled with earth or rubble, and go right up to the siding of the house. This is a common place for termites to enter, and is important to treat. Sidewalks or porches with exposed aggregate rock finish can be patched with mortar and rocks to make the holes less noticeable. Our goal is to create the termite barrier as completely as possible, while minimizing the impact on your property. Termite treatments usually carry a one-year guarantee on the treated area(s), with an option to purchase an extended warranty.