ok so recently found out for sure that i have flying termites in my shop,,, walked in one day and found termite poop ,, broken wings and a few crawling on one of my work tables ,,, right on top of some doors we just made too!! pissed me the f off!! anyway so heres the questions to my gurus:
1. What are the chances that some of those critters infested those doors in one night? 2. What can i do about the infestation in the shop,,, its about 2000sq ft with super high ceilings,,, tenting is out the question! 3. I heard about stuff like termidor and boracare that some guys use on the cabinets as a 'pre treatment' for preventing infestation or killling what may already be in the wood. Any experience with this????
any input on this whatsoever would be appreciated!
From contributor Sc
What you are seeing is a swarm of termites that have left their colony to establish a new one. This neither means you actually have them nor that they will survive to reproduce, only that they are in the area and looking for a new home - yours. There are basically two types (yes there are more but the treatments are basically the same), drywoods and subterraneans. Drywoods are the ones being treated where you see tents on the house. This is because they are infested within the structure and there is generally no cost-effective way to get to them otherwise. Subs must have a treatment performed at the ground level to keep them from coming up into the structure. For the flying ones, odds are very good that you will get infested if they are drywoods and you have stacks of lumber that sit - mostly including firewood you never get to. There are many treatments available with different residual values but considering what you are doing with the wood, cabinets, furniture, etc, it is hard to say with certainty what effect these products will have when it comes time to put a finish on the treated wood - many chemicals have oils and soaps in them. I dealt with termite issues as a technician and operator of a company for many years and it would be my recommendation that you consider using a boric acid. It is cheap, and relatively safe - you could spray it directly into bore holes or coat the outside of the wood. Tim-bor is a brand name you could google if you wanted. However, if you could give your wood a shot of heat that would be optimal. We used heat guns that killed them dead as nails. The wood needs to get to an internal temperature of 120 degrees for 30 minutes and you will be bug free. That is until another swarm heads your way. For subs there is no alternative to a chemical barrier at the baseline of your structures. Hope this helps.
From contributor an
Thanks scott, very informative! Well, when it comes to my work i am a worry wart, i've had 2 kitchens in the past where about 1.5 yrs after the kitchens were in, clients were complaining about termite dirt, but thats another story. I guess my biggest concern was trying to find out if some of them may have gotten into the cabinets that were just built a week ago , after speaking to a couple exterminators today they couldnt give me a definite answer, which is reasonable i guess, no way to tell whats ''inside'' something if you cant see it right? the only evidence was about 100 broken wings all over and 1 or 2 wingless termites crawling around the wood,, only found one who was trying to squeeze his fat a** into one of the voids in the end grain of the plywood. Because of the rush being that the cabinets had to be installed tomorrow, we used a product found locally called solignum, which pretty much looks/smells like kerosine,,, i painted the cabinets with them and am hoping for the best!
From contributor co
Antonio, It's not so much a worry. As Scott said, infestation starts only when they reproduce. They are pretty harmless otherwise. If a male and a female can get together in a crevasse then they will breed. A single termite will just die off.
Most kilns will need to be over 140F for over 6 hours to kill bugs. A heat gun may work, but to think it did is just wishful thinking. If your in an area that has termites then there should be spot treating chemicals at the Ace Hardware Store or similar spot. Borate doesn't kill them, they just will not eat that area affected. The Termador is for Fromosian termite, the subterranean one. They will only be present of there is an active water source, i.e. leaky hose bib, around gutter exits, leaky sinks and toilets, I had em everywhere. They will only be around lumber piles close to the ground or walls that are ofeten wet, like a gutter with out a drop and runs down the side of the building.
The only way to treat dry wood termites to kill them effectively is to tent the structure or the material. I bring my material via trailor to be tented in the parking lot of the Co. that treats. Most places will do this. They usually do single pieces of furniture and other odds and ends for people. It costs me about $35. I recently did a treatment for PPB on the same trailor and it was about the same cost.
A cabinet shop down the street has it set up so his cabinets get tented right on his shop floor prior to install. This way you have a record of extermination for your records incase the clients complain within the first year.
It's a hard one. If it's termite season, then you could get termites today, tomorrow. etc.... If you have termites in your local, then probably every house every wood pile has a few. I always laugh when people say" my house doesn't have termites". Here we tent homes about every five years as preventative. 5 swarming seasons and I am pretty sure you will have some activity.
Dry wood termites not so much a worry, but the Fromosian are real bad. They will eat your house and quick. Major structural damages in 6 months can occur.
If you found dropping in your cabinets at the clients home then they were probably there in your shop. Most infested areas are around apertures and light sources. If your BBQing and they are swarming, you can keep them off the dinner table by setting up a light trap with a aluminum pan with water and a light fixed on it. They will fly right in to the shining water.
The older locals here will shut off all their lights when the termites are swarming. The street light will draw them off your home and wait until they are die down after an hour or two before you light up again.
From contributor an
thanks correy! well recently (about a month ago) we took on a bunch of work and imported about 2 pallets of plywood, some of the plywood has a sheet of white formica already adhered to it, so it only left one side exposed, so we got in a case of bora care and painted each side of the plywood (where we could) and the sheets with 1 side covered with plastic laminated we painted just 1 side of those, then after cutting and building the cabinets we applied the bora care to the raw plywood edges that were exposed. Will that keep the termites away from the cabinets till time to install?
From contributor co
Curious, did the boracare say it would kill currently infesting termites in the wood itself or will prevent infestation via chemical barrier?
From contributor an
their website says it can ''treat'' infested wood AND prevent infestation. Check out the 2 links below, the first link is to the cover sheet of the product and the 2nd link is to the online store that i buy it from pestmall.com ,,,please review the info and let me know what you think when u get a minute, thanks!
https://www.pestmall.com/PDF/boracare_label.pdf
https://www.pestmall
.com/bora-care-termite-control.html
From contributor Jo
It always was found that people often get confused with winged termites ants ants, which often swarm at the same time of year. However,termites can be differentiated by their straight antennae, uniform waist and wings of equal size. The swarmers usually get attracted to light and are often seen around windows and doors. Termite swarmers emerging from tree stumps, woodpiles, and other locations out in the yard are not necessarily cause for concern, and do not necessarily mean that the house is infested. So, there is nothing to worry.
From contributor an
Thanks Joe, but i have seen first hand lots of damage to wood that i had sitting in my shop for months. We have made it shop policy now that whatever wood comes in the shop gets saturated with bora care before being worked on. By the way im checking out your website advancedwindowsanddoors, shopping around for windows for my house :)
From contributor Do
Hi, you can use termite control pest as a pre-treatment or you can also contact to some good pest control services for termites. Various termite control methods are available nowadays, you can choose according to your area and need.
From contributor Ma
It is advisable to hire a professional pest control team to handle the removal of the termites since your problem seems huge with flying bugs infesting your newly constructed projects. It might be a few sessions before the whole problem finally subsides but trust me, it will be well worth your time and expenditure. This is because you have a large collection of wood inside your workspace and that is exactly what they feed on. If you delay on removal or try doing it on your own, then you might lose more of your works.
From contributor ra
Rub away any termite homes with a glass scrubber when you see them. Pour orange oil in a shower container and splash the territories of your home where you have seen the termites. Buy Termidor SC for $63.95. Make a beeline for Home Depot or Lowe's and get some termite goads.
From contributor bl
Clean the wood of soil and any surface complete, for example, varnish.
Cover your work space with paper. Blend one pound of borate additive with one gallon of water - or a variation of this proportion - in a can utilizing a paint stirrer.
We are giving bugs, cockroach and ants bother control, honey bee and wasp evacuation, winged creatures control, creepy crawly bug control.
From contributor ro
while you cannot get rid of termites completely from the surroundings, you can help prevent them from taking root in your home and control any active colonies nearby. Termite treatments may be the maximum complicated treatments of any household pest control trouble. know extra about termite treatment to our termite experts.
From contributor ho
Hello there,
Spring is prime termite season as swarmers emerge to mate and establish new colonies, which often include vulnerable residential properties. Termites can literally eat a home out from under its owners, often without them even knowing until much damage has been done. They have the ability to chew through wood, flooring and even wallpaper undetected, 24/7, and can compromise the structural stability of a home within several years depending on the species. In fact, termites cause $5 billion worth of property damage annually.
From contributor Da
The only way to treat dry wood termites to kill them effectively is to tent the structure or the material. I bring my material via trailor to be tented in the parking lot of the Co. that treats. Most places will do this. They usually do single pieces of furniture and other odds and ends for people.
