Bug Proofing a new construction home. (Earth: new home, buy, tile)

[tigervegas]

I'm in the process of building a new home. Insulation and sheetrock are planned to go in next week. I'd like to throw some pest repellent inside the walls before the are closed. I heard about diatomaceous earth and Boric acid. I wonder which one will have the longest effectiveness (hopefully several years). Does anyone know if I can combine the two? Should I apply it on the interior walls as well as the exterior walls? Should I do the second floor as well?

Thanks for any responses in advance.

[nsumner]

Before you do that, check with your builder and see if they install in-wall tubing also called "pest-tubing" so you can treat for any critters through access on the outside on the side of the house.

Most builders put them in as a standard. It's a great feature so you don't have to spray inside the house and expose the chemicals to the kids and pets. Since it's accessed from the outside of the home, you don't even have to be home when the pest control company comes by to do it.

Naima

[loves2read]

since your foundation has been poured and plumbing runs installed check to make sure the area around each entry point of plumbing from dirt to inside the home has been sealed with some type of covering that is not concrete---
we found out the hard way when the shower and bathtub in our old house were being taken out for remodeling that the original builders DID NOT have any type of sealer poured around that intake area--the ground under the house was open but not visible once they started to install the walls for shower/tub .... we had termites come up through there and damage the shower area and probably spread to other areas of the house...
some time later we noticed termites swarming and found damage in the living room and had whole house treated by Orkin--but frankly they did not find where the real damage was--in master bath shower ...
the guy who did our remodel filled the area around the water lines with tile setting mortar which is easier to take out if the plumbing lines need to be replaced/worked on in future...

ALSO before they wall in the electric and plumbing take photos or film ALL the junction box locations and mark them outside on the framing with some tape
it has been known to happen they after sheetrock is in some electrical outlets are covered up and can't be easily found
make sure they are in the best location--check the heights on counter tops especially and make sure they are located to do the best ease of access and if you are having tiled backsplashes that their locations won't interfere with the design used---
I know that sounds stupid and you probably have not thought that far ahead--but it is so much more difficult to change location of outlets AFTER the sheetrock is in--
THINK ABOUT FURNITURE PLACEMENT/LIVING STYLE--if you want to use wall-mounted lamps around master bed for reading so they don't clutter the bedside tables then make sure you have electric set up for that--
give yourself extra plugs around the bedside for things like charging phones, plugging in home phone, clock/I-pod speaker--or if you have more countertop space in bathroom or maybe shelf space in closet add outlet there for that purpose
add outlet in your pantry if it is large enough for rechargeable hand vac if you use one of those

check the bathrooms and make sure the plugs are arranged logically for best use of hair dryers and maybe makeup mirror or small tv you might want to wall mount--make sure there was wiring run for cable access for that as well...
IF YOU ARE HAVING A WALL MOUNTED TV==MAKE SURE THERE IS A HIGHER WALL PLUG/CABLE OUTLET FOR ITS/their LOCATIONs

make sure when they install insulation that they tape the seams on exterior sheathing and you can add the foam gaskets to the electrical outlets on interior walls--helps a lot to prevent air infiltration
it would also help if you could buy some type of soundproofing medium to add to interior walls yourself before they are filled in--builder would charge you extra but you and a buddy can do a lot on your own

[tigervegas]

Thanks for the responses. Ive seen the pest tubing. It's pretty ingenious. Unfortunately they want to charge a ton of money to have it installed and we decided against it. loves2read, I will definitely make sure that our tub is sealed well underneath. What happened to you sounds horrible. That's the type of bug proofing advice I'm looking for. Have any opinions on boric acid or diatomaceous earth?

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by tigervegas

I'm in the process of building a new home. Insulation and sheetrock are planned to go in next week. I'd like to throw some pest repellent inside the walls before the are closed. I heard about diatomaceous earth and Boric acid. I wonder which one will have the longest effectiveness (hopefully several years). Does anyone know if I can combine the two? Should I apply it on the interior walls as well as the exterior walls? Should I do the second floor as well?

Thanks for any responses in advance.

I myself would not throw anything inside of the walls. I would prefer they be as clean and natural as possible. That will leave out one more thing to be concerned about if for some reason you, or the family, starts experiencing any health problems.

As for the use of chemicals I would shy away from Boric Acid use anywhere I can. I have four legged, furry Kids and would not want them exposed in the least to it. Diatomaceous Earth is a far more natural solution to many pests and I use it where I want, without fear of harming anyone, or the Kids. I treat the exterior foundation with it regularly and have even spread it throughout the attic (during the year of the cricket invasion). If your baseboards are not sealed at the bottom you can blow it in there, etc., etc.

Here is a good site for some other natural pest control methods that actually do work Natural Insect Pest Control.

[MurphyPl1]

We have the tubing (standard with construction as Naima mentioned) but my concern was that those tiny little holes would be clogging up after a few years rendering the tubes useless. They were still relatively new when our house was built that there wasn't enough info on that.

So we just have a really wonderful pest guy we love instead. :-)