Termite Protection (house, to buy, college)

[imcurious]

Oh brother. Termites can swarm at any time. Nothing can stop that. Just because you had a treatment yesterday does not mean there won't be a swarm tomorrow.

You can cut your risk by clearing brush and rotten wood, etc., but in the end, it's all about the swarm.

[keninaz]

They drill the holes to get into the earth where they lived and kill the nest.
I don't know what's hard to understand about that.
And they patch the holes they drill.
The bottom line is that these critters live down under the foundation and if they are there they will find a path through your foundation.
I guess I have been lucky over the years, owned 5 homes and never had them.

[kdog]

Originally Posted by vjsoto

Drilling holes in your foundation?????? I'd stay away from that.

There are plenty of bait system options that you can stick in the ground in 10 ft intervals that will kill em off pretty quick. Just search for "termite bait" on your favorite internet search engine.

No they don't drill holes in your foundation. I said drill holes in slab areas in your garage or on porches near the structures. These are open slab areas and support nothing. You should educate yourself on slab construction before spouting off so vehemently. And yes they then patch the holes after they inject the poison. This is standard practice in the industry and they do this to complete the perimeter around your home which otherwise you would not be able to protect.

[keninaz]

On mine the other day the drilled though some type of cushioning type material in my garage between the step in the garage and the foundation for the house. I forget what they call that stuff.
That is how they got up from their ground next underneath the house.
He used about a 1/8" 24" drill to get though that material and then pressure foamed though those holes down into the dirt below and then sealed the holes in that materials.

[vjsoto]

Originally Posted by kdog

No they don't drill holes in your foundation. I said drill holes in slab areas in your garage or on porches near the structures. These are open slab areas and support nothing. You should educate yourself on slab construction before spouting off so vehemently. And yes they then patch the holes after they inject the poison. This is standard practice in the industry and they do this to complete the perimeter around your home which otherwise you would not be able to protect.

Wow... No need to get so defensive about it and start accusing me of being uneducated. It's a personal thing. Having some guy drill holes every foot in my garage slab is a fast way to have cracks spread all over the place. I don't care if they pump fresh concrete in, it degrades the strength of the original slab. Seems to me like you are just inviting more termites by doing this after the initial poison insertion wears off. It's a waste of money to me, and could end up costing you more in the long run when the slab fails. Even with a patio slab, it's unattractive, degrades the slab, and you will eventually get cracks. Again, complete waste of time and money. It may be standard practice in the industry, but maybe it's standard practice to rip off customers by doing this, and it ends up damaging the property more than needed.

I've always handled my own bug control and have never had a problem with termites, even in older historic houses. I definitely don't need to put holes in my concrete to do it.

[kdog]

Originally Posted by vjsoto

Wow... No need to get so defensive about it and start accusing me of being uneducated.
It's a personal thing. Having some guy drill holes every foot in my garage slab is a fast way to have cracks spread all over the place. I don't care if they pump fresh concrete in, it degrades the strength of the original slab. Seems to me like you are just inviting more termites by doing this after the initial poison insertion wears off. It's a waste of money to me, and could end up costing you more in the long run when the slab fails. Even with a patio slab, it's unattractive, degrades the slab, and you will eventually get cracks. Again, complete waste of time and money. It may be standard practice in the industry, but maybe it's standard practice to rip off customers by doing this, and it ends up damaging the property more than needed.

I've always handled my own bug control and have never had a problem with termites, even in older historic houses. I definitely don't need to put holes in my concrete to do it.

Honestly, you really have no idea what you're talking about. You've probably walked over hundreds of porches in your lifetime that have been drilled and patched for termite treatments and never noticed it. The repair is all but invisible. Concrete is going to crack where concrete is going to crack. The holes are just as likely to stop a crack as they are to create one. Like I say, this is the industry standard way of treating homes for termites. Feel free not to use a treatment like this, but don't expect misinformation to go unchallenged.

[dacubz]

I hired a pro and paid to have it done on my rental. Just can't trust stuff that you can pickup at Home Depot to protect my investment.

[vjsoto]

Originally Posted by kdog

Honestly, you really have no idea what you're talking about. You've probably walked over hundreds of porches in your lifetime that have been drilled and patched for termite treatments and never noticed it. The repair is all but invisible. Concrete is going to crack where concrete is going to crack. The holes are just as likely to stop a crack as they are to create one. Like I say, this is the industry standard way of treating homes for termites. Feel free not to use a treatment like this, but don't expect misinformation to go unchallenged.

To each his own. I agree to disagree with you. Putting holes in concrete will eventually crack the concrete. Nuff said. I'd never let anyone butcher my patio like that.

[keninaz]

I have been around awhile and drilling into a lot of concrete at home and on the job.

When done properly I have not seen it crack out, ever.

[kdog]

Originally Posted by vjsoto

Putting holes in concrete will eventually crack the concrete. Nuff said.

Prove it. Show us even one report of a termite drill job causing the concrete to crack. Let's see you back up those words.

Everything in life is a trade-off. In a perfect world, I wouldn't have my slab drilled either. But the FACT is, just you're just pusssy-footing around and only putting the barrier where it's convenient. Your do-it-yourself job is a crap shoot, end of story.