Termite Treatments - I don't want to tent my house
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
Can I spot treat? The idea of tenting is a no for me. I live in CA, so it's very common here to drive down any neighborhood street at any given time and see more than one home with a circus tent wrapped around it. I'm seeing some termite activity but I want to spot treat instead. Can this be an effective treatment? I know I can call my local termite company but I know what they're going to tell me - "yes miss jones, you need to tent. that'll be $3500 please, and thank you". I'd like to avoid it if at all possible. Thanks!
|
Anonymous
| I have found that spot treatment (or drill down treatment) is not nearly as effective. It's common in California because you guys do not get hard freezes (as a rule). Just go with tenting. It's very common, and no one will think anything of it. |
Anonymous
I don't think that is what they'd say, companies offer a range of services. They may tell you, there's something for $900 but it's only guaranteed for a year. So your options are an expensive bandage replaced regularly, or full treatment. If you know there's an established colony, why aren't you interested in tenting? |
Anonymous
|
Call several pest control companies. Request a person who holds the applicator license to come to your house for the estimate.
The smaller pest control companies will send out the person who holds the license who is generally the owner. If you call a large California company they will send out an estimator who most likely will not have passed the pest control applicator licensing test. Large companies will operate under the owners license but will have unlicensed workers to apply the pesticides and unlicensed workers to do the estimates. You want someone competent to give you your options for your situation. |
Anonymous
| Ugh. I’m in CA and I also have to tent. I’m dreading it. Do you have to remove soft furnishings or wrap them in plastic? Cushions, mattresses, clothes, bedding? I don’t know if it’s crazy to do that or reasonable and highly recommended? |
Anonymous
OP here - i know you have to remove many things from your home - but not furniture. My guess is because if you had to remove furniture no one would tent. I just cannot believe that in a state such as mine where everything that has an environmental impact is so strictly regulated! Heck there are certain mattresses I can't even buy in CA, yet the powers that be are totally okay with spraying poison all throughout your home? We lived in a rental years ago that had to be tented. When we returned all of the vegetation died, including the little frogs that lived in the small pond in the back. This is from a CA exterminator website: "Remove ALL items for human consumption INCLUDING food in refrigerators and freezers PRIOR to the fumigation. (Food items in cans, glass jars and plastic bottles with the ORIGINAL FACTORY SEAL do not have to be removed. Any other food and/or medicines MUST be removed even with the factory seal intact. Do not leave food products in the structure even if you plan on disposing of the items when you return. Food cannot remain in the structure during the fumigation process. Examples: Cereals, bread, tea, sugar, noodles, spices, tobaccos and medications.) Remove ALL waterproof children’s mattresses and any waterproof mattress or pillow covers. Remove ALL living things from the structure such as pets (including fish) and plants. Warn neighbors that own cats of the fumigation plans and recommend securing their cat during the procedure. Open ALL cabinets, closets, drawers and attic hatches. Raise blinds and open drapes to allow access to the windows. Unlock ALL rooms, cabinets, safes, etc." This is why I want to spot treat 
|
Anonymous
Half of those warnings are to be certain fumigant penetrates into the places it needs to to be effective. After the tent is removed and fans are run there isn't chemical remaining on surfaces (unlike spot treatments). Of course you can't have living things in the house during, and you want zero exposure to anything consumable. |
Anonymous
| What a headache |
Anonymous
| You should probably ask this on a regional thread. Fumigation is for drywood termites, whereas the DC area gets subterranean termites, which have a totally different treatment method. |
Anonymous
+1. Note Well that in most of California, tenting is virtually the ONLY method which actually works. Spot treating always misses some, so they continue to do damage. |
Anonymous
| The good news about tenting is it lasts 5-10 years and often comes with a timeline warranty so this would be a no-brainer for me. It's so common it's not like neighbors would judge you unless they were idiots/REALLY knew nothing about termites. |
Anonymous
| We're in falls church and dealing wit termites right now. Our termite specialist informed me that tenting is not a treatment used in this region because our termites are subterranean termites and they die when exposed to air. We're doing a ton research right now and this feels very overwhelming to us. We built our house about 7 years ago and our contractor believes the termites have been working to build tunnels of that time. We didn't see sight of a termite until last year at which point we hired a pest service who came and place sentricon all throughout our property. Fortunately we continued our plan and they've come again to treat but we're concerned there is more structural damage that we're not able to see. Any advice is appreciated... |
Anonymous
We have a house in CA. You can spot treat. Unfortunately, it is not as effective as tenting and can cost just as much. We ended up biting the bullet and tenting. Good luck! |
Anonymous
|
Spot treating just is not very effective in most of California — or anywhere else without a sustained hard freeze every winter.
Bottom line is that spot treating is likely to miss some termites and damage to a wood frame house is likely over time. I understand OP’s reluctance though. |
Anonymous
|
In Virginia, at our house, we have a licensed small (one person) company inject termite poison into the ground around the entire perimeter of the house. Our house has a full unfinished concrete basement, which is unlike many California houses.
Many California houses either have a termite-friendly wood-framed crawl space underneath or a concrete slab (which will have cracks big enough for a termite to get through). So our experience might not apply to OP’s house. |