One of the things that we all have to deal with as homeowners is termite and pest control protection. I’ve taken the chance before and didn’t get termite plans in place at my previous house from years ago, but that’s not the wise thing to do. So, now I’m shopping for a termite protection plan for this house. So, today, I’m going to talk about that process and what it looks like. Trying to decipher what all goes into planning for termite protection is not an easy thing to understand.
Reading online and looking at a state map, I found that Georgia has Subterranean as well as Drywood Termites in our state, which means termites that live underground and can come in through gaps underground and around the perimeter of a house.  Drywood termites also get into dry wood and can eat away at the foundation of a house, wherever there is wood available.
(via Termiteweb)
I’ve also researched and found that there are two traditional methods for termite protection. I found these explanations below on Ask.com:
1. The bait method, i.e. Sentricon systems: Sentricon, the baiting technique, requires that the termites find the bait stations. This is dependent on the density and location of bait placement, and behavior of the termite colony. It could occur that your house is just too tasty for the termite colony to switch to Sentricon. Sentricon by itself might not stop the termites from eating your house. However, Sentricon is touted as the more environmentally friendly, safer alternative.
2. The liquid barrier method, i.e. Termidor:  It treats the problem more directly, with fewer variables, assuming proper application, that could cause the treatment to fail. The termites are supposed to ingest or come into contact with the Termidor, and because it is slow acting, they take it back to the nest where it also affects their nest mates and hopefully the queen.
I also found this page that has a lot of termite information.
(via Sageexterminators)
One thing for sure, they are ugly little creatures and I sure don’t want them to get in my house. Termite protection is an insurance policy to assure they don’t eat us out of house and home.
After reading online and asking questions of family and friends, I’m still confused. So, I thought I’d broach the subject on my blog and see what all of you think about this subject? It can get quite confusing, trying to figure out the best thing to do, not to mention what a fair price for protection will be. It’s not inexpensive to get termite protection, but it’s an insurance policy against those pesky critters eating your house out from under you. I know I have to do it!
Right now, I’m leaning toward the Termidor liquid barrier method, which is supposed to last in the ground for up to 7 years. The company still comes back and does a visual check every year (for a fee, of course) and neither of these methods is inexpensive. I just want to be sure I’m getting the best protection for my money.
As homeowners, we all have to deal with these sorts of issues and these aren’t the pretty decorating things, but obstacles we have to deal with when you own a home. It’s always something, isn’t it? I love having a home and want to protect it in every way I can.
I had the opportunity to talk to Allstate to learn more about the damage caused by termites and the methods to go about protecting your home from these pesky critters.
Did you know that every year termites cause more than $5 billion in property damage, according to the National Pest Management Association. And while they can be a very real threat to your own home, you should know that termites are generally not covered by a homeowners insurance policy. That’s because standard homeowners policies provide coverage for perils that are sudden and accidental; they’re not designed to cover damage from termites and other pest infestations, which are preventable through proper home maintenance.
- Place mulch on landscaping at least 12 inches from the bottom of your foundation wall.
- Construct your home so that your siding is about 6 inches or higher above the ground. Siding that reaches the ground provides yet another entry point for termites.
- Know how large your shrubs will grow when you plant them next to your home. Keeping them far enough away and pruning often will prevent them from harboring unwelcome pests.
- Seal cracks in your foundation or basement walls, attic, eaves, vents, and window seals.
- Keep wood sources away from your home. Firewood, debris, mulch and lumber piles are all good sources of new termite activity.
- Inspect the inside of your home for bubbling or honey-combed wood that sounds hollow when knocked or easily chips and breaks. Also ask your contact about other integrated Pest Management (IPM) solutions to make your new home unappealing to termites.
Another area that I never dreamed I’d have to deal with is pests getting inside the walls of my house, but I recently had a bout with paper wasps. My roommate, Rhonda, began hearing something up at the ceiling line in her room and we thought at first it might be a squirrel in the attic. She had listened to the noise that had been going on for about 3 weeks, but it was faint and we couldn’t tell what it was, so we waited to see what would happen next. I really didn’t think that much about it, but we knew something was up there.
I had a pest control company come out and add heavy metal screening inside my attic where long ago squirrels had torn through the mesh screen on the vents up in my attic and they set out traps in case any were inside the attic still hiding out.
The weekend of Haven, I came home and my roommate texted me that there were tiny holes coming through the drywall at the top of her inside wall where the noise had been, between her room and mine. She saw a few bees coming out of the hole, so that is when we knew it was bees inside the wall after all and not a squirrel in the attic! That was so crazy. She had the presence of mind to tape a doubled plastic bag over the hole, which she then found the drywall was mushy and about to cave in right there in that spot.
I called the pest control folks back out to tell them that it wasn’t squirrels after all, but BEES in my wall! I had never heard of that before on an inside wall, but after putting pics up on Facebook, many people told me that they had dealt with this pest problem too, from honey bees, to yellow jackets. I found out that paper wasps are in the yellow jacket family. He came out the first day and when he peeled back the tape and plastic to take a look, the bees came boiling out from behind the bag. He quickly got out of the room, we placed a towel under the door so that they couldn’t get out and then he fogged the room under the door killing several hundred bees in the process.
This is the outside window where the bees were swarming against the window inside. We could hear them hitting the walls in there, that’s how many came out all at once.
Once the bees were fogged, they died within minutes and we left the room over night until the next day. Poor Rhonda had to move out for a couple of days.
The next day, the pest control guy came back out and then dealt with the nest in the wall. He carefully poked a straw in the wall and began to inject a foam ingredient that immediately killed the rest of the bees in the nest. He left that for a few minutes to be sure they were all dead, and then began to pull back the mushy drywall where the nest was built. Those bees made a condo in my wall with stack after stack of hives in there. They were having a field day, but no longer! Now they were good and dead.  I had to quickly snap this pic before he began to tear it all out with gloves and placed them in a big garbage bag to haul away.
And here’s the gaping hole that was left. I vacuumed it out well and then had a company come out and repair the drywall. It’s all fixed now and you can’t tell it even happened, but wow, what an experience that was!
There were bees all over the room and I vacuumed them up with my shop vac and after the drywall was repaired, her room is back to normal.
Have you ever heard of a situation like bees in the wall? I sure had not, but apparently it is not uncommon and pesky bees can get into small cracks in the attic line or anywhere and build their nests. I was happy to get them out of my house, that is for sure!
So, I’ve still got to figure out the termite protection plan and right now I’m leaning towards the Termidor barrier method. I’d love to hear your opinion on the subject too so feel free to leave a comment about any pest control issues you’ve faced.
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YIKES! But insects in the wall can happen anywhere. I live in Chicago and when pulling down the paneling in my house – we found a HUGE abandoned nest in the walls. The carpenter bees ate perfect holes in my deck until I applied a deep stain and the carpenter ants made us call a pest control company ASAP. I’m not familar with terminates but go with the strongest stuff you can. Nothing is worse than a insects eating your home – I’d want them gone ASAP by any means necessary. Good luck
we lived in SW Florida for 15 years and originally had Sentricon. The bait station ALWAYS had live termites in them. After a few years they switched us over to a liquid barrier because they said the Sentricon wasn’t working. After that, no more live termites. As long as there were live termites in the bait stations, the warranty from the exterminating company was no good. They re-applied the liquid every five years in FL.
Don’t go with the nationally known company that starts with a T and ends with and x! We had them and they outright lied about a number of “problems”. First they said I didn’t have a problem with animals under my house…. another company brought the evidence that a raccoon was living under there and had destroyed my duct work. The other thing the company said that I had excessive moisture under the house and needed an elaborate ventilation system and plastic underlayment. They said the moisture was 33%. I had the company that got rid of the raccoon check and they said it was under 15% and that my plastic was in good shape.
My sister believed them and put in the venting system. 2 years later a new tech came to her house and said she had excessive moisture and that she needed a venting system. She told him to go back and look and he’d see that there already was a system. He sheepishly said that they were supposed to sell them to keep their jobs. **MAD!!**
Hi, Janet, thanks for that. I’m definitely not going with the big T company.
I think what is more important than what type of protection you choose, is who you choose to cover your house for termite protection. We had a termite protection warranty and after my husband found our termite damage, we found out they were doing a yearly “drive by” termite inspection. Make sure you find a company that does a termite repair guarantee, meaning they will fix any damage to your home from the termite damage. This is much different than a guarantee to retreat only the termites. You can make sure that if a company has to repair the damage to your home from termites that they will be much more likely to make sure that your home doesn’t get termites in the first place. I always make sure that they call and that I am home when they do my yearly inspection. I make sure they go under the house and actually do the inspection that I pay for yearly. The “repair guarantee” may cost slightly more but worth it. You’re in Atlanta and have probably heard of Clark Howard. His website has info on picking the right Pest Control Company for termites.
And by the way….we have the liquid barrier.
It is important to locate the points of entry that the bees were using and to seal them. When a hive or nest is built, it leaves a scent that attract bees again. We bought a house and shortly after, noticed honey bees swarming a bay window in the dining room. We contacted local bee keepers who removed almost 100 pounds of honey from the area above the window but couldn’t find the queen. We then hired a contractor to take the roof off of the window and remove the rest of the hive. We thought our problems were over, bu not so. Every spring the bees swarmed and began building another hive. Insects are adept at finding new points of entry and are persistent in returning to a favorite spot. I hope your infestation is a one time thing!
I was very fortunate on termite control. I work on an agricultural campus of a university. I talked with personnel in the Entomology Department (which trains entomologists and termite technicians). They gave me the name of an entomologist in our area, who had graduated through their program. Many who are in pest control are NOT entomologist, which I don’t guess it is a requirement, but at least I know we are dealing with someone who really knows his stuff! We have been in this house right around 17 years. The first treatment was done when our house was being built. That was a different company (I believe our contractor helped arrange that). After about 5 years we saw termites swarming. They are very prevalent here in TN. I got this name of the entomologist and he came out and inspected the house, the basement, all around, etc. We did have termites swarming, but they had not done any damage yet. We had the Termidor treatment done and that treatment is guaranteed for 10 years. We had an annual inspection which I believe was $125/year. This past fall, we had a booster treatment done. I can’t remember if that is good for 5 years or 10. We have had no problems whatsoever with the treatment. I would highly recommend it.
I HATE TERMITES! Now with that said, LOL I live in Fl and we have both kind. They are usually treated differently. If you have drywood termites active the treatment is usually tenting. If not active they do some kind of treatment and check every year for activity. Subterranean termites build the tunnels from the ground, ugly. There is a treatment for that as well.
Yes, it is expensive, we pay about $600.00 a year for that protection, but the damage they can cause makes that look like nothing. I know some companies go with “environmentally safe methods” but if all of the treatments weren’t safe within guide lines they couldn’t use them. So I say “hit em hard” being gentle with termites is not the way to go.
Also, I know we all love old furniture, but be careful, termites do also! I had an old chest that just recently had to be treated for drywood termites. According to our pest control company a small colony can be dormate for up to 5 years! They took it to their shop and treated it so they are dead now but that was scary!
Oh, bees in the wall, yes we have had that as well! We didn’t kill them, we had bee keepers transfer the hives. That was an experiance! It took about 4 months, but it was well worth it. Without the bees we would be a sad world.
Good luck.
I really appreciate your blog comments and the readers’ comments! So much we don’t usually know that can cause a lot of damage. Thanks!
I’m glad you can at least do some prevention where you live. We have a termite tag on our house that was established when we bought it in 1989. We’ve faithfully kept it up to date, paying our yearly dues & getting our yearly inspections. For years, they did a preventative spray when they did their inspection, all covered under our yearly dues.
Then environmental laws in our state became so strict, now they are not allowed to spray unless they actually see termites or temite damage. As our inspector says, now it’s not IF you get termites but WHEN. Needless to say even with all of the prevention, we did get termites a few years ago when they were still spraying. We had to have walls & ceiling ripped out & replaced – what a huge pain.
I also always insist on my inspections be made in the spring. That is when they’re most active. If they inspect any other time they’re dormant & they won’t find them unless there is severe damage. It’s all very frustrating to me.
One good thing about keeping our tag up to date is that if there is damage they have to pay for it, because it basically is insurance against termite damage. As far as choosing a company to go with, we have a friend who is an inspector. We were considering changing our tag to a smaller company that had better rates. He advised staying with the larger company. Larger companies are much better prepared to deal with extensive damage when it comes.
I’ve never heard of bees doing this! No fun.
I just got the liquid barrier. And like previously stated make sure the pest control company is responsible to repair the damage.
I live in south Florida, so all of your concerns are pretty much part of the norm here. We purchased our home new, about ten years ago. The builder treated the ground under the home prior to construction, and we currently are using a sentricon-type system with bait stations around the foundation of the house. These are checked every two months by the pest control company. Sub termites do a lot more damage than the dry wood variety. There is also a new variety that eats concrete that is now in south Florida, so there is even more to be concerned about. The bees are another insect we have encountered. Ours were honey bees and a bee keeper removed them. Wasps would be scarier to me. Glad you were able to remedy that situation without any injury.
My first husband’s parents had a cabin in Oklahoma and we drove up from Texas for the Thanksgiving weekend many years ago. The in-laws got there first and started the wood burning fireplaces, the only heat in the cabin. Hundreds of yellow jackets started to boil out of the chinks in the log walls. We battled those nasty little beasts all weekend. They were hibernating in the walls and the heat of the fireplaces woke them. Funny now but not then.
What a timely post, as just this morning we signed a contract to have a pest control company come next week to apply the liquid barrier method, i.e. Termidor. We had been gone for six weeks, and upon returning home to AZ last week, found evidence of termites in our kitchen area. We signed a ten year contract. So, hopefully it is good-bye to these pests! When I mentioned to the pest control consultant that we have lived in our house for twenty years and this is the first time we have seen any evidence of termites, he replied that we were “just lucky”!
It’s helpful to know how to prevent termites from attacking our house. For the past few weeks, my mom’s been suspicious about her house’s safety because she’s been hearing noises and seen small wood traces around her furniture. I’ll call her now and suggest she calls a pest management solution before the termites eat her house.