DRYWOOD TERMITE CONTROL

Drywood termites are very different from their cousins who live in the ground. Common in arid, dry regions, drywood termites live above ground and often times go unnoticed for many years.

Drywood termites can do a lot of damage because they eat wood. And they will most often infest outside siding like soffits, facia boards or attic spaces. These areas are often far from active people living in the home which allows the problem to develop undetected.

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE DRYWOOD TERMITES?

Don’t expect to actually see live termites. Its more likely you’ll see swarmers which are winged reproductives an active colony will release 1-2 a year.

The most common way people learn that they have drywood termites is because they start to find termite droppings.

This happens after a colony gets established on the home. At first, their droppings could very well be dropped outside the home or in a wall void out of sight.  But over time, the colony will grow and their fecal matter will increase which means the likelihood of finding some will increase.

Eventually the activity will move down to living areas where they’ll end up dumping it through a port or “hole” which leads into a living space. Through these holes the droppings will be sent and that’s when the homeowner begins to notice little piles accumulating on a countertops, alongside baseboard molding or inside a cabinet.

Drywood termite fecal pellets are small, a bit thinner than  grain of rice, and half as long. Most people mistake it to be nothing more than dirt. But if you keep finding the same “dirt” in the same place, take a close look.

DRYWOOD TERMITES CAN CAUSE DAMAGE

Like most wood eating organisms, drywood termites will cause damage as they eat their way through structural members in the home. In general, they don’t move quickly so don’t panic if you discover activity. But understand the problem needs to be treated to ensure it doesn’t linger allowing them to cause more damage.

HOW TO TREAT A HOME FOR DRYWOOD TERMITES

The most common way drywood termites have been treated in the past was by tenting the structure and fumigating. This process ensures all active insects in the home are killed. But the treatment is costly; the average home will cost $15,000+ to be fumigated. For this reason other treatments have been developed and at this time, there are a couple that work well.

HOW TO TREAT UNFINISHED WOOD FOR TERMITES

For open areas like an attic, rafters, roof decking, exterior siding and the wood found under the home in crawl spaces, BORATHOR is a good way to properly treat an active problem. Borathor is a boron based chemical which is designed to soak into wood. A thorough application can penetrate 3-4 inches and once the treatment cures (which takes 48-72 hours), insects eating the wood will die. So for open, accessible areas, Borathor is a cost effective long lasting treatment that will both control and prevent future termite activity.

To calculate how much Borathor you’ll need to apply, you’ll first want to measure the square footage of the area you intend on treating. Coverage will depend on the thickness of the wood. For example, 1″ thick siding will require 1 gallon of concentrate per 1,000-2,000 sq/ft. But if you’re treating mostly 2×4’s or 2×6’s, coverage will be less and more in the range of 500-1000 board feet.

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Borathor is odorless and can be applied with a standard PUMP SPRAYER. But you can also paint it on.

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For hard to access spaces, you can even fog it. We have several fogging machines which will mist the product out over the area needing protection thus ensuring proper coverage with little effort. The good thing about fogging is that you can get the material evenly distributed in very little time.

The most popular and powerful fogger for the job is our own BUGSPRAY FOGGER. It can pump over 20 oz per minute and spray out 25-30 feet.

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HOW TO TREAT HIDDEN WALL VOIDS AND SPACES FOR TERMITES

If you have found termites in some wall studs, floor joists, sill plate or main beams in the home, it would be wise to do some treatments where any nest might be hiding. The best way to do this is with our POWER INJECTOR.

The Power Injector is what most professionals will use to make sure they don’t miss any nest where there is evidence of termite activity. It was first created to effectively replace aerosol products to help reduce on cost and waste (of throw away cans) but its turned out to be a lot more.

So first, you get to control what you’re spraying. In other words, now you can use the best chemicals like MAXXTHOR EC in a small, hand held can. Currently there are no “ready to spray” aerosols which use this type of strong active ingredient.

Second, you get to control the power. Standard aerosols rely on low pressure, usually in the  15-20 lb psi range. But with the Power Injector, you can power it up to 90 psi. This will get you 3-5 times deeper penetration which can be all the difference when it comes to solving tough pest problems with wood destroying pests like termites.

Third, you can use BASE OIL in the Power Injector. Unlike other oil based aerosols that have odors, Base Oil is odorless. And when mixed with Maxxthor, you’ll have the strongest mixture at your fingertips to eradicate pests even if they’re deeply embedded in structural members or even hardwood floors. Base Oil enables the Maxxthor to move through wood like a hot knife through butter. This means none will be able to hide from the treatment.

The following video highlights these features in less than 1 minute:

Since the filming of the video above, we’ve added a 50″ long straw that’s now included with the Power Injector. This will help you get even deeper penetration. Again, the deeper you can inject treatments is vital if you want to eradicate your pest problem.

The Power Injector can be pumped up to inject better compared to any aerosol but where you can really benefit is by using BASE OIL with Maxxthor in the tank. Base oil migrates through wood like no other solvent and so it will carry the active ingredients (in the Maxxthor) 5-10x deeper compared to any water based mixture. For pests that like to nest in wood, this can be big help.

The following short video explains why Base Oil is so good at enhancing the Power Injectors range:

As the video above explains, Base Oil can really help get deliver your treatments where it needs to reach. So if you’ve had issues behind the walls, the Power Injector is probably going to be needed and to get full control of what it can do, use it with Base Oil.

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Base Oil comes in quarts, 1/2 gallon and 1 gallon jugs. Plan on using 16 oz per tank in the Power Injector so the 1/2 gallon will make 4 cans and the gallon jug, 8 cans. We recommend 5ml of Maxxthor per 16 oz of Base Oil; no more than 10ml. We include a 10ml eye dropper so its easy to add Maxxthor to the tank.

When filled to 60psi, the Power Injector will take around 3.5 minutes to empty. We generally recommend using it at low pressure to start, to avoid splashback, so 15-20psi is usually plenty strong. But if you’re able to inject deep running termite galleries, power it up to 40 or more. Just be sure to use eye protection when treating at all times in case of splashback.

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WHAT ABOUT HARDWOOD FLOORS OR ANY FINISHED WOOD?

To treat for any wood boring beetle, you’ll need special agents designed to penetrate wood so it can reach all feeding stages. And if the flooring is treated, this could be challenging.

But if you have consistent small gaps like the ones you can see in the picture below, then treating would be easy.

So for a limited amount of holes, say 5-10 and a small amount of flooring, say 10′ x 10′, a can of FS MP could work. First, its oil based. This means it can kill all stages of insects. And this formulation can penetrate wood a bit so it may reach populations that are in the wood right now. Second, its convenient. So for small areas, ideal. But if you have to treat the entire level of your home or want to treat under all your baseboards, consider getting the Power Injector and our Concentrate detailed below. It will produce a far superior formulation to apply AND cost a fraction of the cost making it worth using if you will need more than 2 cans of FS MP.

Most all aerosols and even liquids are water based. Water based products won’t penetrate and so it they won’t work. And if you have drywood termites, then you’ll need all the help you can get.

But if you have a large area to treat, like a whole level in the home, then you will be much better served to use our POWER INJECTOR along with our MAXXTHOR EC and BASE OIL (all seen above for ordering).

The main reason is that the Base Oil mixture will penetrate 5-10 times further compared to FS MP. This could be all the difference between killing some compared to killing all of them.

And if you have sub-flooring under the hardwood floors, you’ll need all the help Maxxthor and Base Oil will offer.

On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the “least”, FS MP will penetrate wood at about a 1-2 level. Conversely, Maxxthor and Base Oil will penetrate at a 6-8 level and if applied with the Power Injector, from an 8-10 level which is second to none.

Now if you have plenty of gaps to treat, you could use a thin pain brush and effectively “paint” the gaps with the Maxxthor/Base Oil and let it soak in. Base oil will soak in rapidly and this method would insure enough leaks down and around the flooring as well as moving through the planks.

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WHAT ABOUT LARGE SPACES LIKE IN A WALL?

For large wall voids, get our SLAB INJECTOR. It sends the spray “sideways” so you can use it to inject under cement but also in wall voids.

The following short video shows how it works:

This tool works like any standard sprayer; you simply add the chemical you want to the tank and pump it up and then spray as the video above shows.

 

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