Are bugs a problem? (Kailua, Waimanalo: home, buy, living)

[Jeepers Creepers]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

Gecko feces can have some bad bacteria. I can't remember what, maybe salmonella.

Some, think that Geckos can be good insurance,
but, I am SURE, someone will put something here to be the last poster.

[CyberCity]

For those who wonder, there are two types of termites in Hawaii: dry wood and ground.

Dry wood termites can be detected by their droppings (sort of like coffee grounds). If there is a heavy infestation, the house gets "tented". Tenting does not prevent future infestations. Spot treatment with poisons can take care of small infested areas. Dry wood termites "swarm", and new colonies are started that way.

Ground termites live underground, and they make "mud tunnels" to travel into the structure of your house. The mud tunnels can be spotted externally along walls. A ground termite nest is not killed by tenting. They are controlled by using a "bait" system, where the termites take the poison bait back to the nest (underground). Ground termites can do vast damage in a very short amount of time! [Some companies use ground spraying of a poison (and perhaps drilling through your concrete foundation to inject the poison) to control ground termites, but that process introduces toxins into your home environment and yard.] And, if your house sits on stilts, ground termites will build a mud tunnels up the sides of the stilts to reach the wooden structure.

[scottfree00]

Originally Posted by CyberCity

Ground termites live underground, and they make "mud tunnels" to travel into the structure of your house. The mud tunnels can be spotted externally along walls. A ground termite nest is not killed by tenting. They are controlled by using a "bait" system, where the termites take the poison bait back to the nest (underground). Ground termites can do vast damage in a very short amount of time! [Some companies use ground spraying of a poison (and perhaps drilling through your concrete foundation to inject the poison) to control ground termites, but that process introduces toxins into your home environment and yard.] And, if your house sits on stilts, ground termites will build a mud tunnels up the sides of the stilts to reach the wooden structure.

Sounds like you are talking about Sentricon. The company I work for in AR wont even use it because its not very effective. We use Termidor to treat soil. You would have to use it completely wrong to be "introducing toxins to your home environment and yard". It is only applied to 6 inch trenches dug around a slab or around posts. It bonds to soil particles and doesnt go any further than the area that is treated. It does last at least ten years so I can see where that would concern some. Is it the law in Hawaii that you have to have a house treated to sell it? Thats how it is here. So when you buy a house around here its usually been treated already anyway. If you buy a new house around here the entire area under the house has been pretreated with 2 or 300 gallons of the stuff. There is a fairly new thing out called termimesh that is basically a metal mesh screen that goes in the ground. I dont think anyone likes to use it though.

[PaliPatty]

Originally Posted by Meg Griffin

Today there was a roach in my room for the first time

Um...it probably wasn't the first time a roach was in your room. Just the first time you've been lucky enough to see it.
And the odds are there are more. Lots more, if it was the smaller kind.

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by scottfree00

Sounds like you are talking about Sentricon. The company I work for in AR wont even use it because its not very effective. We use Termidor to treat soil. You would have to use it completely wrong to be "introducing toxins to your home environment and yard". It is only applied to 6 inch trenches dug around a slab or around posts. It bonds to soil particles and doesnt go any further than the area that is treated. It does last at least ten years so I can see where that would concern some. Is it the law in Hawaii that you have to have a house treated to sell it? Thats how it is here. So when you buy a house around here its usually been treated already anyway. If you buy a new house around here the entire area under the house has been pretreated with 2 or 300 gallons of the stuff. There is a fairly new thing out called termimesh that is basically a metal mesh screen that goes in the ground. I dont think anyone likes to use it though.

They wrap some electrical poles in Termi-Mesh here

Edit: Here's a list of commercial Termi-Mesh installations in Hawaii http://www.termimeshhawaii.com/Termi-Mesh_Hawaii_Honolulu_HI.html (broken link)

[CyberCity]

Originally Posted by scottfree00

Sounds like you are talking about Sentricon. The company I work for in AR wont even use it because its not very effective. We use Termidor to treat soil. You would have to use it completely wrong to be "introducing toxins to your home environment and yard". It is only applied to 6 inch trenches dug around a slab or around posts. It bonds to soil particles and doesnt go any further than the area that is treated. It does last at least ten years so I can see where that would concern some. Is it the law in Hawaii that you have to have a house treated to sell it? Thats how it is here. So when you buy a house around here its usually been treated already anyway. If you buy a new house around here the entire area under the house has been pretreated with 2 or 300 gallons of the stuff. There is a fairly new thing out called termimesh that is basically a metal mesh screen that goes in the ground. I dont think anyone likes to use it though.

We had a severe infestation problem, and it took about a year to completely get under control (that is, to where the bait stations no longer even showed activity), but Sentricon worked 100%. We tackled the infested wood by replacing the problem areas (which were damaged anyway), and baited to kill off the underground nest(s). With our young children playing and digging in the garden, and crawling and rolling on the floor, I was not willing to put poisons into the slab foundation of my house, nor trenched around the outer perimeter of my house.

In Hawaii, you need a termite inspection to sell if you are getting financing. If no termites are found, you are off the hook. Cash sales do not require an inspection (although the buyer might want to add it on as a condition of the offer).

It was a great selling point for that house when we sold it: ground termite free, and no toxins introduced into the ground or slab. Maybe Sentricon is not as effective in all environments?

[scottfree00]

Originally Posted by CyberCity

We had a severe infestation problem, and it took about a year to completely get under control (that is, to where the bait stations no longer even showed activity), but Sentricon worked 100%. We tackled the infested wood by replacing the problem areas (which were damaged anyway), and baited to kill off the underground nest(s). With our young children playing and digging in the garden, and crawling and rolling on the floor, I was not willing to put poisons into the slab foundation of my house, nor trenched around the outer perimeter of my house.

In Hawaii, you need a termite inspection to sell if you are getting financing. If no termites are found, you are off the hook. Cash sales do not require an inspection (although the buyer might want to add it on as a condition of the offer).

It was a great selling point for that house when we sold it: ground termite free, and no toxins introduced into the ground or slab. Maybe Sentricon is not as effective in all environments?

That's actually what I would expect from sentricon. Just don't consider taking a year to get under control that effective compared to termidor. I think the company liability probably has a lot to do with it. It can cost thousands to warranty against termite damage. They tell us termidor and other pyrethroids are safe when used at the right dosage. I don't blame you though. I have 2 kids that are very young myself and I would let termites eat my entire house before I would put them at risk. I feel the same way about my customers. I feel like the risk is very minimal if there is any.

[Pooua]

My family lived in Hawaii for 3 years when I was a young boy. I don't remember much about the bugs and humidity, but my mom says we had to buy Tupperware to store all our flour, sugar and cooking supplies, to keep the bugs out. I do remember the huge cane spider that wove a web over our front door, and the termite swarms. All the buildings have to be built of concrete, because the termites would destroy anything made of wood. We lived aboard a Navy base (NAS Barber's Point), not out in the country.

[Dthraco]

Killed me a nice quarter size transient today. 25th floor up. They don't wig me out, I just grab a tissue and remove them. Gotta be quick though, if you miss the first time, you don't often get another chance.

Compared to living in the Dallas area, I see about the same quantity of the mid-small size roaches. A few here and there, but no permanent residents. I do see WAY less of the huge one's here.

We keep a clean place, that helps a bunch. The nice thing about putting cereal in bins is that it keeps fresh way longer than in a bag.

[vrhunski]

I hate Cockroachs. I lived for while in Waikiki Liliokalani garden building on 16 Floor and we had like tons of Cockroachs in apartment . I hate them for real now

Then we traveled for while in Europe (our home country) and somehow we transported them in Europe. I can't get a rid of them yet from my own apartment!!! In my apartment I never had any kind of bug EVER and now I have Cockroachs (( Same one from Hawaii.

I will be back on Hawaii in next few months and I just wonder if there is any Cockroachs in expensive Kahala homes?