Preventive Termidor termite treatment suggestions? (new home, crawl space, contractor)

[husbus]

Anyone have a recommendation for who to hire to do a preventive Termidor termite treatment?

From what I hear it's the best treatment option, even though many companies (include Arrow, who I just met with) push the bait station programs. I'm guessing that's because they get to come "visit" frequently to check said bait stations.

Other thoughts on the subject are welcome.

[husbus]

Ok, let me completely rephrase that question, after thinking about it some more...

What is your philosophy on keeping termites out? We've owned our home for a little over a year. I saw a bunch of termite swarmers outside around the house the other day and freaked out. Nothing inside as far as I know.

I used to think that a preventive Termidor treatment was a no-brainer (had it done to the last house), but now that the wife is pregnant I started thinking about the safety aspect. Apparently a crawl space home should be treated around the permiter, both outside and and inside the foundation walls. Outside sounds fine, but 100 gallons (?) of poison in the crawl space makes me uncomfortable. Won't there be toxic fumes that leak into the home? At the old house they actually only did it outside... Is that effective?

I'd love to just with a baiting system like Sentricon, if I thought it worked, but I don't...

[jimj]

When I lived in GA a few years ago we had a termite infestation. I did a whole lot of investigation and found Termidor to be the best choice. I was in contact with a pest expert on a termite forum who answered anyones questions and I then double checked them with more research and the main items I found were:

1. Use an independant pest contractor not a national chain as the national chains have been accused repeatedly of cheating by spraying water (instead of poison) or weak chems (look up complaints on the 'net).

2. Verify that they have brought a sealed bottle of Termidor and watch them pour it in an empty tank. Termidor is more expensive than other chemicals and companies (I won't name 'em here, but there's plenty of info out there) have been known to bring out an opened bottle that's been filled with water or diluted or just plain empty.

3. The bait system is a way for a pest company to generate ongoing revenue and that's about all. It really doesn't work all that well. I could find no real proof that it does and plenty that say it doesn't.

The day we sprayed and injected the Termidor under the foundation was the last day we saw termites. I made sure they emptied the tank since I paid for all of it and watched them unseal the bottle and pour it in.

[husbus]

Thanks, jimj! So you got the ground both inside and outside of the foundation wall treated then, right?

What about the rest of you Knoxvillians, do you do preventive treatments, or do you wait until there's a problem?

[TermiteTech]

This thread seems to be kinda old, but I thought I would leave a comment. As to Termidor, it is definately one of the best treatments, IMO it is the best. What I wanted to comment was that last I heard, that Termidor is labeled to do whats called a perimeter treatment, where just the outer perimeter and piers underneath are treated. Though I would venture to say for the price of a perimeter treatment and a full treatment I would go with the full treatment. I worked 10 years as a Termite technician and when the company I worked for changed to Termidor, we noticed a significant drop in the call backs for reinfestation in subsequent years.

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by TermiteTech

This thread seems to be kinda old, but I thought I would leave a comment. As to Termidor, it is definately one of the best treatments, IMO it is the best. What I wanted to comment was that last I heard, that Termidor is labeled to do whats called a perimeter treatment, where just the outer perimeter and piers underneath are treated. Though I would venture to say for the price of a perimeter treatment and a full treatment I would go with the full treatment. I worked 10 years as a Termite technician and when the company I worked for changed to Termidor, we noticed a significant drop in the call backs for reinfestation in subsequent years.

Thanks for the input and Welcome to the forum!

[dave1961]

Is there a pretreatment that should be done when building a new home to keep termites away in the future? Said home will have a walkout basement, if that makes any difference.

[dioganes]

Great suggestions re treating home with Termidor -- but Beretta, what is IMO -- which you say is the best?

If I treat for termites, will it take care of other invasive pests -- esp. ants, spiders?

[Max4Speed]

I have terminix for both of my homes if that helps any.

[FLORIDA TO NIOTA 2010]

IMO = In my opinion