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What to do if your home has termites...
You've just found out your home has been infested by termites, now what?
While not the end of the world, this type
of news is not very fun to hear.
The good news is, at least you have identified
your home has a problem and are now able to take action to stop the termite
damage from getting worse. Too many homes never get a professional termite inspection and homeowners
are surprised when they learn the walls in their home are completely destroyed.
There are several ways to treat termite problems.
The most common type of treatment is a chemical treatment, which is generally used for the subterranean
type termite colonies.
This chemical is usually applied to the ground
surrounding your home to help create a barrier between your home and the termite colony that resides in
the surrounding soil.
The termite treatment chemical is applied
every 14-18 inches around the foundation of your home. Technicians will also usually drill holes into
block foundations to apply the chemical treatment inside the walls.
Baiting systems are also used on occasion
(gaining in popularity) to treat termites. These baiting system work similarly to regular ant bait systems
you can get in your grocery store. The basic idea is to setup these "traps" around the outside
of your home with treated wood particles with the intention of termite soldiers to take the poisoned food
back to their colonies to eat. Over time, the colony will die off.
If you have drywood
termites in your home, a tent fumigation may be used instead. This is the most powerful type of termite
treatment, but the homeowner is required to leave the house for up to 3 days, remove any plants &
cover up food items in the home. This type of treatment will be able to eliminate virtually all termite
colonies (known and unknown) in the area. This is also the most expensive type of treatment.
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