Termite damage?

I pulled some drywall off recently and came across the following...which looks like termite damage?







This is the only part that I see this. The wall is the garage wall as well and it is brick with 1x2 attached to it.

Should I spray anything on it immediately?

 

Our bug guy should be along later but I've always thought it was best to be proactive and spray/treat any time I see [or think I see] evidence of insect activity.

 

What kind of spray do you use? Something from Lowes/Home Depot or Termidor (I've read about)?

 

I usually use whatever termite poison Lowes sells although have used ant spray [or whatever] if I run out .... might not be real effective but it makes me feel better

 

Oh boy, I finally got a job! Can you tell it’s been a long, slow winter here?

Subterranean termites. Did you see any workers (little white ant looking things in the mud tunnels)? May be too cold right now. Termites love to live in foam insulation; creates ideal environment and protection for them.

Never wrong to treat immediately, but if you didn’t see workers then there may be no point to it. They won’t be back until warmer weather. Let’s back up first. How long have you owned the house? Have you had spring time termite swarming (look like black flying ants, hundreds to thousands)? Has the house ever been treated for termites which could mean that this is previous damage but now old/inactive that you’ve recently exposed? ?

Is this the common wall with the house? If so, then get in the basement/crawl with a good light and long screwdriver to probe exposed wood.

Termidor, or the active ingredient Fipronil are outstanding for subterranean termites. You will be treating the soil perimeter as opposed to the wood/walls, etc. Trenching/drilling ext perimeter will be required depending on what surrounds the garage. Fipronil can be found in other termiticides besides Termidor now as it is off patent, much to Bayers consternation.

If you decide to treat yourself, I’ll talk you through it in more detail. Tell us about the type of house, immediate surrounding perimeter, water source, etc.

 

I didn't see any in the mud tunnels or surrounding areas. However I did see maybe three white ones that looked to be dying when I pulled the drywall off. That was it. I've also continuously monitored it since tearing off the drywall and haven't seen any activity. So I either scared them or they aren't there during the winter.

I've lived in the house for 20ish years. Mostly grew up in it and bought it from my parents. The house was treated maybe 15 years ago by Orkin? I can't remember exactly. There is some old damage in the area of the furnace room in the basement. Rest of the basement is finished. I have never seen spring time termites during the time I've lived here.

This damage is new since I have owned the home. Back in 2004 I did something to this wall which required me to put on new pink fiberglass insulation and drywall. I even have a photo showing this area brand new. So sometime between 2004 and now this has happened.

I had an inspection the other day from Terminix and he couldn't find anything active in the house from the parts of the house he was able to see.

This house is a 4 level split home. So this particular wall is shared with the garage. I walked around the house and didn't' see any mud tunnels on the foundation walls, so its possible they could be coming from the slab of the garage where the affected wall is. I'm not to sure what you mean by water source.

I have been told by others and yourself that Termidor is the best. I'm confident I can do a 6" trench around my home and create a barrier myself. I'd appreciate any videos you could point me to or help in that area. I'm just not to sure what I'd need to do to treat the slab or wall by the garage. What do I use to inject the treatment once the holes are drilled or do I just pour Termidor into them? Also how many holes are needed? How thick is a typical concrete slab?

Thank you!

 

Water: Do you have public water or a private well? If a well, we want to know how far from the area to be treated is it? Remember, we are treating into the soil, not the structure.

Normally we don’t drill slabs when they are interior slabs; our industry used to do a lot of that but with modern day termiticides we have gotten away from that. However the exception is when the garage and house share a common wall and that common wall shows termite evidence. This is the situation that we are faced with so I recommend drilling the garage slab where it meets the common wall.

Start drilling about 6” away from house wall. If the drill goes thru the slab with no interference from a footer or such then stay at that distance. Otherwise move away a couple inches at a time until you find the drilling easier. You’ll be able to tell. Then go along the perimeter, drilling holes spaced 12” apart roughly.

We drill about 16-18” apart but we have eqpt that will inject the termiticide under pressure. We use 5/8” diameter bits, but again we have pressure applying eqpt. I imagine that you will be pouring with a funnel so I think big holes, such as 3/4’ or 1” would be better. Harder drilling. Garage slabs are typically 4 to 6” thick unless it’s an old house built when concrete was cheaper. Could be fairly routine or could be a nightmare; won’t know until you get into it. I imagine you will be renting a drill and bits. This will be a large two handed hammer drill. Eye and ear protection. Make sure that you are aware of oil, propane, electical,water, drain lines, etc under slab if any. Sounds like you know your house well.

The termiticide label will tell you how to mix the concentrate with water but the application rate of diluted product will be 4 gal per 10 linear feet times feet of depth to footer. That is the maximum allowed and in fact, that is a lot of chemical. If you can get 4 gal per 10 linear foot by pouring it in you will be in good shape; if the soil accept more than go for it. In the soil around the exterior of the slab, just go for 4 gal/10 linear foot. Don’t treat frozen soil. Under the slab should be ok at this time. You can do ext later.

My choice would be a Fipronil based product of which Termidor is one. Taurus is another. I honestly don’t know about videos, but Termidor - America's #1 Termite Defense Product is an informative web site that pros and homeowners both use.

Keep us posted.

 

I had a second inspection today from a local pest control company. He found additional activity in my laundry room along the seal plate in the basement. Apparently they are active.

Per the bid I received before he left he said it would be $210 to drill the garage slab, and brick wall in the laundry room and treat with termidor. It's to cold to treat outside currently so that would have to be done later. However, I believe I'll do the treatment outside.

Does that sound like a good course of action from your experience?

Would treating the slab and walls with Termidor kill the hive that is active?

 

Yes it is a good course of action.

Yes treating into the brick wall will kill the workers. Treating under the slab will kill the colony and protect that part of the house. Remember, the colony lives in the soil all the time but sends workers into a stump, porch, house, etc for food (cellulose) which they bring back to the colony and then they feed the colony. It is a constant series of workers going in and going out of your house but the main colony is always in the ground, in the case of subterranean termites.

The price sounds reasonable.

Glad you found a local guy to do it. The larger companies won’t do a “partial” treatment such as this but this will work as Termidor is a non-repellent. The termites won’t even know it is there as they work and move through it.

Treating the exterior is well within your ability, especially using Termidor.

Keep us posted if anything changes or more questions.

 

Thank you so much. I'll keep you up to date.

Is this a good video showing the process of laying a barrier around a home using Termidor?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYnrcfz9E30

 

Good video. I noticed that they left a slight soil barrier against the foundation wall; we don’t do that; we scrape right up to the wall if feasible; we don’t want to damage siding and such so we allow for that. Probably not much difference either way; just the way we do it.

As far as treating the back fill soil we don’t do that as there isn’t enough of it to worry about. If you want to-fine. Won’t hurt. If you want to I would just fill the bucket again and pour over the back fill AFTER you have pushed it back onto the trench. Then any runoff will go into the trench.

Notice that when they poured into the trench that some of it ran from higher to lower parts of the trench which may leave a lesser treatment in some parts. When we see it flowing to a lower part of trench we simply push a clog of the dirt backfill with our shoe into the trench to create a dam. You’ll get the hang of it quickly.

 

I had the garage slab and laundrey room wall treated with Termidor last week. Now it's just a matter of when should I do the Termidor barrier around the home? How long do you wait for the ground to thaw completely or for the temperature to be at consistently?

 

When you can make a trench about 6-8 inches deep without hitting frozen soil I would feel safe treating. Once you start pouring/applying the termiticide you’ll get another feel for how it is going.

Now around the house where there is basement then there may be frozen soil deeper so I’d still wait. Around a slab the soil will thaw sooner and you don’t want the termiticide to go a lot deeper than the slab whereas around the basement walls you do want it to go deeper.

No need to be in a hurry. The Termidor used for the interior treatment will give results in the meantime.