Termites are every homeowner's worst nightmare. If the thought of your home being eaten up scares you, or if you're currently faced with an infestation, you may be wondering what precautions you can take and how to get rid of your unwanted houseguests. Fortunately, you have quite a few options when it comes to keeping your home safe.
Physical Termite Barriers
New on the pest control scene are physical barriers to keep our burrowing insects. Typically made of a highly durable stainless steel mesh, these barriers are installed around the foundation of a new home as it's being built. The mesh encapsulates the entire underground portion of the house and is anchored to the concrete slab that makes the foundation. Currently, it is not possible to install a mesh blocker on an already-built home.
One benefit of a physical barrier is that is doesn't require you to spray insecticides around your home. These poisons can kill other bugs that may be welcome in your garden, and in some cases can also make small pets sick. If you're interested in an organic lifestyle, poison-free mesh barriers are ideal. The barriers also last for the lifetime of your home, which makes them the longest-lasting form of termite protection currently available.
Chemical Termite Barriers
Protecting your home's foundation is still possible if you didn't have a mesh guard installed when your home was built. Using special equipment to tunnel under and around your home, pest control experts can surround your house with termite-killing chemicals. Typically, these chemicals form an invisible bubble that extends 4 feet away from your home on every side and 4 feet underground. As termites attempt to approach your house, digging through the poisoned dirt kills them before they can reach it.
For a skilled professional, creating a chemical barrier around your home will likely take a day or less to complete. Once the barrier is in place, you're free to stop worrying about termites for the next several years. Depending on the brand of termite treatment used and the climate in which you live, you won't need to have your house treated again for up to 15 years. However, annual termite inspections are still recommended, just in case the pests have managed to somehow find a safe path into your home.
Termite Baiting
Unlike the previous two options, termite baiting is possible for homeowners to do on their own, though many pest control agencies also offer the service. Killing termites this way simply involves locating their home colony and placing poisoned bait materials nearby, such as cardboard and untreated wood. Depending on the insecticide you use, termites who consume the bait will either be slowly killed or will carry chemicals back to the colony which kill the larvae. Without a second generation to take over eating your home, your termite infestation ends.
Though you can tackle termite baiting on your own, professional services may make the process much easier for you. Treated bait needs to be placed in several areas around the home colony, and it must be closely monitored to see if the termites are getting into it. In some cases, monitoring the bait may prove fruitless for as long as a year after it's placed, which can get frustrating if you're doing it by yourself. Pest control services can send technicians out to monitor your bait for you and advise you on the best placement to attract more termites.
If your home hasn't been inspected in the past year for termites, considering ordering an inspecting as soon as possible. You don't want to find out about an infestation too late. Fortunately, if you do have termites, now you know exactly what you can do to fight them.
Share24 November 2014
Once I paid of the mortgage on my house, I decided I wanted to buy an investment property. I had no idea that the buying process would be different, but it really was. There were so many things to consider that I hadn't thought about, and even the loan application process was different. It occurred to me that if I didn't know about it, others likely didn't either. I built this site to help others see what I went through buying my first investment home. I hope that it helps you to approach the process with more confidence and understanding.
