You Never Really Kill Termites

August 31, 2008 by Mark Roknich 

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Not all of them, anyway. Got termites? We did. Our neighbors did. Their neighbors did, and you probably do, too. So what is a homeowner to do about termites?

“Be a control freak,” appears to be the answer implied by most pest control company owners. And “control” is the key word, as opposed to “elimination.”

We are all familiar, as homeowners, with the process of fumigation. The termite contractor sends out a crew of guys, and they cover an house with a bunch of tarps, making a tent over the entire house. The residents take their food, their house plants, and pets, and move out of their house for a couple of days. Hey, don’t forget the kids! Nasty, bug-killing gas is introduced into the “tent”, and a couple of days later, all the termites are dead. Right?

Well, not exactly all of the termites are dead, at least not all of the time. The rest of the story is…

One termite out of one hundred will survive a fumigation, statistically, that is…fumigation is considered 99% effective by the industry, and by this research paper on termites, published by my alma mater, the University of Arizona. Your fumigation may kill every termite in your house, but then your neighbor’s fumigation might be ineffective due to too little gas, an overly cold day in Dana Point, and so on…ah, statistics are scary things.

What’s worse for a homeowner is the likelihood that a swarm of the little buggers will visit, and stay, even after you just evicted the last infestation. Here’s the nightmarish scenario: you fumigate on a nice warm Tuesday in September, and on Friday, new guests fly in from over from Apple Street, and decide to stay permanently. You’ve got termites again, and you won’t notice until the new colony begins to show evidence of its “occupation”.

So what’s a homeowner to do? Control is the key word. Some inspectors, including Gary Woolery, owner of Americana Termite, recommend annual inspections. Kill ‘em if you got ‘em, and then kill ‘em again when their cousins visit. By doing so, the catastrophic damage that can occur after years of ignoring the problem is avoided.

Contact us with any questions you may have about termites, especially if you are considering preparing your house for sale. We highly recommend Gary Woolery and Americana Termite. Here’s a screenshot from Americana’s website. Click on it for more information.

Americana Termite Website

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Filed under: Inside Real Estate

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