Termites on house on cement slab and concrete walls? (Fort Lauderdale: 2015, houses)

[akimaheco2015]

In Cape Coral (or SW Florida), if a house is on cement slab and the outside walls are concrete, what is the probability of getting termites. Is there a practical need to get termite treatment in this situation?

[nhkev]

Originally Posted by akimaheco2015

In Cape Coral (or SW Florida), if a house is on cement slab and the outside walls are concrete, what is the probability of getting termites. Is there a practical need to get termite treatment in this situation?

despite the amount of concrete there is still plenty of wood inside the house and roof system. purchasing a sprayer at home depot or lowes and spraying around house on regular intervals will prevent most termites from starting.

[BugManTPC]

CBS, concrete block structure as in hollow cinder blocks.

Concrete Slab, your foundation.

All of these things settle over time and crack.

Subterranean Termites look for water sources and then food. On a CBS home the main intrusion point is up through the slab around the plumbing. IE Bathrooms, water spigots, laundry drains (Hot and cold effluent water creates condensation on the pipes). Once they have a water source they will build their tubes in search of a food source.

In a CBS house this can be, drywall, framing, cabinets and possibly the attic trusses.

We have seen subterranean termites go from the ground to the attic of a second story home.


Now that I have scared you, here is what you need to know.

Have the home inspected every 5 years. Ask for a full WDO report. Pay for this, don't call one of these guys who do it for "Free". There is no such thing as free, he is going to find something and he is going to scare the heck out of you with it.

If the home is older than 10 years, the soil barrier that was put down when the slab was poured has dissipated and is non-effective. You should consider having the home Trenched and Treated. This is where we dig around the home 18inches and then put down termiticide. We then cover it back up so the sun doesn't break it down. In areas where concrete patios or garage slabs are adjacent to an interior wall we have to drill into the slab every 12 inches and inject termiticide. We then patch those holes with concrete.

The other alternative is to install Termite Bait stations. This is a container that we put around the home every 15 feet in the ground. Inside the container is bait and termiticide. The termites are attracted to the bait, they ingest the termiticide, take it back to their colony and hopefully the queen. The bait stations require quarterly monitoring.

I hope this helps...

[akimaheco2015]

Thanks for the helpful replies.
I wonder about the statistics on termite infestation for the houses in Cape Coral. Is it available?
Wonder too if the statistics breaks out the data in terms of locality, type of house, age of house, etc.

[Restrain]

The big thing now is a mutant termite appearing in Fort Lauderdale, may not respond to traditional treatments.