Termites in your home

Termites in your home is never a good thing.  However, sometimes a termite problem is actually worse than it first appears.  The reason is that occasionally the area that the termites are coming from may be inaccessible.  If you have termites in your home and the area where the termites are coming from is not accessible your treatment options become more difficult.  Only a professional with many years of experience can give the right advice when treating this type of issue.  The following is such a house:

The picture accompanying this post is from a home with termites in Southbury, CT.  The home is about 200 years old and the termites have built a shelter tube from the ground to about 12 ft up into the main living area of the home.  As you can see the termites are active and are likely doing damage to this home in areas we can’t visually see.  termite southbury

The problem with this particular termite issue is that the area beneath the post is covered by two feet of raised wood flooring and if that weren’t enough  the post is located in the middle of a luxurious great room.

In order to treat this home effectively with a liquid termiticide access must be made to the area beneath the raised wood floor.  Once access is made, the slab floor can be drilled with a 1/2″ drill bit and Termidor insecticide can be injected into the soil beneath.  After this process the hole will be plugged, patched and the floor can be repaired.  The remainder of the treatment will take place from the outside.  The exterior treatment is far less invasive, but important nonetheless.

Now to be fair not all companies would elect to remove the floor and treat the issue directly.  Some Ct pest control companies would have used an exterior termite baiting system. Baiting systems are much less labor intensive and have their place, but in this particular instance the homeowner was a contractor and was able to help with the removal of the floor.

In the end the termite problem was solved, the owner was happy and the floor was returned to how it looked before the termite issue appeared.

Its important to have a termite inspection at least every other year.  There are many termite professionals to provide this service.

If you live in CT and think you have termites and need an inspection, please call 1-888-879-6481.  Envirocare Pest Control can help.