Termite Control: Sentricon vs. Termidor
We live deep down in termite country, and it’s time to think about extending our termite contract. Our house had a clean bill of health when we bought it earlier this summer, but the initial five year termite contract is almost up. Thus, we’re currently considering our options. Right now we have two main alternatives… The Sentricon System and Termidor.
The Sentricon System consists of a series of bait stations surrounding the perimeter of your house. The pest control company periodically monitors these stations and, once they detect termite activity, they replace the wood bait with a poison that is supposed to wipe out the colony. Sentricon is probably the most ‘green’ solution out there, but its effectiveness has also been brought into question by a number of so-called experts.
Termidor, on the other hand, is a chemical termiticide that provides a soil barrier surrounding your house. From what I’ve read, it’s far more effective than Sentricon, and not particularly dangerous to people. Termidor costs about $50 more than Sentricon up front, but the annual contract, which covers monitoring, periodic reapplication (if necessary) and repair of any termite damage is about $150 less for Termidor as compared to Sentricon.
We had Sentricon at our previous house, and we never had any termite activity (either in the house or in the bait stations). But that house was built on a slab foundation, and it was much more difficult to apply a chemical barrier in that situation — in fact, some companies refused to even treat slab houses. Our new house is on a crawl space, so you can readily access the foundation (inside and out). Thus, chemical treatment is a more viable alternative.
Does anyone out there have real life experience with either of these? Any recommendations? And please don’t say to just go without — where we live that’s just not an option.
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Modified on September 10th, 2006 - 307 Comments
Filed under: House & Home
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
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April 29th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Scott, $10/LF would be the higher end of our local rates.With the exception of Orkin and another locally owned company at $12/LF. I am at $4-$6/LF myself, which would be $920.00 with a 5 year guarantee ..My location is near the center/east coast. Jay is right to say the farther north you are the higher the prices.Down south with a year round bug season there are alot of companies competing.
May 3rd, 2010 at 8:34 am
Termidor wins hands down,i have been a sentricon tech for 11 years,and we are constantly going back to treat because the termites still get in the house,we NEVER have call backs with termidor.just hammer some wood in thr ground and check it yourself,what they are selling you is 2 pieces of wood and a piece of plastic,also alot of the techs that service the sentricon have no training in pest control,i am pretty sure you do not have to have a license to service this
May 3rd, 2010 at 9:26 am
TB I agree with you. Liquid will always be better than bait. Someone made a comment earlier about the White House using Sentricon… great. The government does everything right don’t they? We are twelve trillion dollars in debt right now, and by 2019 we will owe one trillion dollars in interest on our national debt. So clearly everything they do is the best way to do it.
Liquid is the only thing that can give you a solid barrier all the way around your home. Not to mention TB that once a bait grows fungus on it (which can after about 1 month of being in the ground) it will repel termites. You will never get that with a liquid. Termidor is the best way to treat a house for termites.
May 5th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Let’s see what some of the leading experts have to say.
“The barrier treatments are effective immediately upon application. In the case of the bait installations, the average time to first feeding is 100 days, and there is no estimate of the average time to termite control.”
-Dr. Roger E. Gold, Entomologist, Texas A&M University
“Termite baits are another tool to control termite infestations. However, they don’t always eliminate the infestation and even when they do, one or more years is often required to eliminate the infestation. Therefore, other tools such as liquid soil treatments, wood treatments and mechanical alterations should be used when possible. Other tools quickly stop the damage which is occurring and permit baits to provide a long term solution. When used alone, baits often fail or additional damage may continue to occur until they work. The best termite control strategy considers all available tools and integrates them to provide the customer the best possible termite protection.”
-Dr. Doug Mampe, Consultant
Exactly what I’ve been saying. Bait only is not the best treatment for termites. You either need liquid, or a liquid PLUS bait to protect from termites.
And as far as having ‘hundreds of gallons of pesticide’ dumped around your home with a liquid treatment, not true. It is true that hundreds of gallons will be used, but most of that is water. With a Termidor treatment, it is recommended to treat at a dilution ratio of 0.06%, which is .8 ounces per gallon of water. So for every one hundred gallons, only 80 ounces of it is chemical while the rest is water.
I hope that helps somebody!
May 6th, 2010 at 12:55 am
This has been very informative. We just bought a home, originally built in 1975. The house was inspected in January and there were no signs of termites. On Sunday, however, we saw a swarm of several dozen swarmers, which are ‘hiding’ in the wood paneling on our front stoop.
We’ve gotten two bids — both to use Termidor. Company A would charge $500, use .06 concentration, and then $75/year to maintain the warranty. Company B would charge $700, plus $69/year for the warranty, at .12 concentration. Company B says that .06 is not sufficient for our soil, which has a lot of clay. What do you think about this argument? I can’t seem to find any information online about the concentration issue.
Also, can someone provide more information about the toxicity of termidor. Company A has said it is not a neurotoxin, and is ‘totally safe’ for animals and people — just like Frontline. I have three little kids (and a cat), whom I want to protect.
May 6th, 2010 at 6:53 am
MJ, I use .06 myself in an area with alot of clay (WV) and have never had a problem. What I don’t understand is all these companies only doing a 1 year guarantee I do a 5 year. BASF who makes Termidor backs it for 5 years so it’s no sweat off the companies back..
May 6th, 2010 at 8:39 am
MJ,
At a dilution ratio of 0.06% you will apply 4 gallons per ten feet, but in clay BASF says it is okay to double the dilution (0.0125%) and apply 2 gallons per ten feet. The 4 gallons per ten feet is desirable, but 2 gallons per ten feet may be better in your case.
Termidor is safe. The first 24 hours after the treatment, keep your kids away from the foundation wall. After that, it has had enough time to dry and should be fine.
As far as a one or even a five year guarantee, both of those are a little short. If somebody does a conventional style treatment with Termidor, there is no reason not to put a ten year guarantee on it, unless of course the house has some rare and conducive condition that can not be fixed. BASF says that the Perimeter Plus style treatment, or EPLI, is good for ten years. So Truthfully, a conventional treatment with Termidor should, in most cases, last longer than that. Again, every house is different, but you can get more than 5 years out of Termidor in most cases.
The only other thing I want you to be careful of MJ is to make sure they are doing the job properly. $500 is a cheap Termidor treatment, so be careful. Both Jim and I have been sent in to clean up the messes of companies who’s only goal is to see how cheap they can make their prices. Sometimes it is worth it to spend a little extra a use a company you know is going to do the job properly. Good luck!
May 6th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
MJ, 500.00 sounds a little cheap but that greatly depends on the size of your home. Both bids are not that far apart, cause if you asked the 500.00 company to price it at .12% instead of .06% their price would be about $700.00 also. Tyler, my 5 year guarantee is the only one in my area, everyone else does a 1 year guarantee. The bottom line is Termidor will last 10 – 15 years..
May 6th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Jim,
A one year guarantee on a Termidor treatment is pathetic! Have you ever thought of extending your guarantee? You could have great success.
If everybody else in your town is only offering a one year guarantee, you should offer a 15 or 20 year guarantee with a renewal price at 15% of the initial treatment. We both know you could safely offer that, and it would really make you stand out from the competition. Plus those 15 or 20 years would give you plenty of chances to sell the customer other services, such as moisture barriers, crawl space insulation, etc. A guy like you who, unlike some of us, knows how to treat people could go real far. I wish you the best!
May 6th, 2010 at 11:53 pm
Sorry Tyler but I think we are misunderstanding each other on guarantees . What I do is a 5 year guarantee,with no yearly renewal fee due for the first five years, then after 5 years a yearly renewal fee of 50.00 -75.00. As far as I know I am the only one in the state that has no yearly fees for the first 5 years.Its an awesome sales point.And now for a KILLER reason to choose Termidor over bait. With Termidor if you choose not to keep a renewal you still have the Termidor in the ground killing termites. With baits if you don’t renew all you have is a plastic station with two pieces of wood in it. And if you do choose baits SIZE COUNTS. When I worked at Terminix we used Sentricon for years until Dow fired Terminix. Then Terminix went to Advance Bait Stations which is a little larger. Our hits doubled with a larger station. I use Ensystex ,the Exterra bait station is the largest station I have seen.Ensystex has done studies that prove termites hit a larger target more often.The Exterra station is recommended at 15 feet apart and no more than 20 feet. In fact it gets more hits at 20′ than Sentricon at 10′ spacing because of it’s size..
May 7th, 2010 at 8:24 am
Okay Jim I’ve got it… that sounds like a good system you have in place. And I agree with you on the bigger bait stations too. I did pest control for a little while after college, and we used Advance bait stations. They seem to work well. I like the idea of a 2 part monitoring system. Keep up the good work.
May 12th, 2010 at 11:09 am
I am thinking about getting a termite job to our house to keep termites out. I thought about going with a bait system, but there seems to be controversy over it, whereas there really doesn’t seem to be too much controversy with the Termidor. Not sure what to do.
May 12th, 2010 at 11:15 am
Jessica- A lot of it is political. In order to be a Sentricon Dealer, you have to have been selected, sort of like a Mercedes Dealer. There were a lot of hurt feelings in the industry from those that did not get selected, therefore they badmouth Sentricon every chance they get. Termidor is probably the best liquid treatment material out there and Sentricon is the best bait product out there. They both work equally (about 98-99% effective). Termidor works a little quicker. Sentricon is more environmentally friendly. Cost is about the same. Get bids for both types and make the decision for yourself.
May 12th, 2010 at 11:54 am
Jessica, This guy Jay is always Blah-Blah-Blah Sentricon.The truth is sentricon is the second worst bait on the market due to its SMALL size.The worst is Firstline which is what Orkin uses.And for the record I turned down Sentricon!Also bait is MUCh more expensive in the long run. Jessica if you do choose baits go with Exterra or Advance.And it sounds like your home would be a candidate for either one.
May 12th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
Jay- I never attempted to become ’selected’ by Sentricon. Why would I when Termidor is better anyway? You may be correct in a few isolated cases, but wrong in most. Again, the leading experts say that bait alone is not enough. Experience shows that a bait station not checked monthly can grow fungus and mold, which repels termites. So why would I be bitter that I was not selected (again, I never applied) to sell an inferior product?
May 12th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Tyler- Obviously, you make my case. How could you “attempt” to be a Sentricon Dealer when it is Dow who selects you? You had no say in it. The foremost expert on Termites in the United States is Dr. Nan-Yau Su, Professor of Entomology for the University of Florida. He spent over 10 years researching the habits of termites and knows Sentricon is very effective. You are welcome to your biased opinion as to how effective Sentricon is, however, my opinion, having worked with both products is that they are equally effective. Your absurd comments regarding the wood monitors is just plain wrong. Termites go for the wood in the ground no matter how old it is. Please stop trying to play expert in a matter which you know very little about.
May 12th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Jay- you are rude and a poor business man. And whats with the arrogant attitude? You don’t look like a proffesional to me. For being president of your little Gunter Pest management, you sure treat people poorly. You should stop replying to my messages before you make yourself look any more stupid than you alredy have. And relax Jay, I don’t think killing bugs is something to get a complex over anyway lol!
May 12th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
You can dish it out, but you can’t take it, my friend.
May 12th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
You know what Jay? I’ll be the bigger man here and apologize. I did not mean to get personal with you, or insult you as a person. I know what I have seen, and I know what has worked for me. It is not to impressive to see a grown man acting on his emotions, so I will end this for your sake. With the reputation of Gunter Pest Management on your shoulders, I think that will be in your best interest. Your attitude and display of self control has been way below where it should be (as the president of a business).
I do not change my position. I think liquid will always be better than bait, but I do apologize for personally offending you.
May 12th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Jessica,
Your best bet is to go with Termidor. Termidor is a superior treatment, and the annual renwal is usually a lot less. Baits can work, but liquid will work faster and is easier to maintain. I would recommend Termidor. And I would agree with Jim on the Advance bait stations. They are bigger and have a unique two part feeding station. Getting a system that involved Termidor and bait stations would be a great treatment as well. Hope that helps, and good luck!
May 12th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Thanks guys. I think Termidor is the way I’m going to go. It seems to have less complaints online than the bait stations as well. I hope it works good for me.
P.S.
Jay, work on your attitude! I’ve reviewed all the posts to see what the huff and puff was about, and have seen the way you talk to people… you’re not very nice mister!
May 12th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Yes, I admit that I get defensive when I am personally attacked, and I apologize for that. Instead of a thread to help people learn about the difference between liquid and bait termite treatments, it has turned into an “two against one” anti-Sentricon site. I was accused early on (if you read the posts) of working for Sentricon. Some of these posts were actually taken out by the web host because of the personal attacks on me. That kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I am merely a bug guy working for a family pest control business…with a lot of experience – 41 years. I have tried to educate consumers about the difference between the two products. I don’t get paid for that, nor do I wish to. Some types of treatments are better for some situations and some types of treatments are better for others. Enough said. This will be may last post.
May 13th, 2010 at 11:58 am
I live in a raised ranch in NY and have found termites in my basement. One tunnel led in through the foundation and they have eaten away some of my paneling’s support wood and a mud tunnel led in up thru my shingles into the basement. I have not removed paneling there but am sure they’re munching away on the paneling supports as well. I am sure but no evidence yet that they’ve also gone in thru my stoop as well.
I’ve had 3 companies recommend Sentricon (Erlich & Knockout only bait, Orkin bait and borate sprayed on damaged wood) and 1 local company (Pest Shield) that recommends using Phantom around the outside of the house (drilled into my stoop and rear patio as well) & sprayed on damaged wood inside, in combination with Advanced bait traps around the house.
I am leaning toward the Phantom/Advance trap combination and would appreciate any input on this solution. I’ve read good things about Phantom but would appreciate input on Phantom vs. Termidor.
Thanks
May 13th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Jessica, you won’t regret going with Termidor. You mentioned bait complaints online, there are alot of them yet very few on Termidor. In your case it sounds like either one (with the right company) would would be fine. Tom, the best advise would be to stay away from Orkin (Firstline is by far the worst bait on the market), overpriced and under trained. Orkin is known for hiring guys off the street,shows them a couple of training videos turn them loose and tells them to tell customers that they have been exterminating for 2 years. New York has some very restrictive laws on Termidor.Termidor and Phantom are both great products. Termidor does spread much better than any other non-repellent
May 14th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Jim,
You are wrong about Orkin. For one, Orkin (at least in North Carolina) uses Advance bait stations, and not Firstline. And their training is world class. They are ranked at 59th in the country for training. I know this because I worked for them for a while after college. I had 2 full weeks of satelite training (a system that Glen Rollins paid almost 5 Million dollars for so he could have the best trained technicians in the industry) and they sent me down to Atlanta for another full week of classroom training before I was allowed to talk to anybody about a termite job. That is not undertraining. They are a great company with great customer service, so get your facts straight.
Tom- Jim is right in that Termidor will be your best answer. Especially since you have an active infestation. Termidor will by far be in your best interest.
May 14th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Tyler, good to hear there is a good Orkin office. I worked for Orkin for 11.5 years, and worked at 10 different offices in WV, Va, Ky and Penn.I found them all to be crooked. They taught the sales staff how to work the obituaries, and how to drive through areas with alot of elderly and look for certain lawn ornaments (frogs & turtles) or just alot of ornaments. Which is a good sign of a elderly lady and possibly a widow.I was sent to fix there screw-ups, and the tough retreats back in the dark days with Dursban and Pryfon 6 (junk). which is why I was at so many branches. I honestly didn’t know any Orkin branches were using Advance, that’s good. Firstline is a stomach poison, it can reduce the colony size , but not eliminate. In my area Orkin has a really bad reputation for high pressure sales..
May 14th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
Jim,
You should call the headquarters and report them. They have no business doing shady garbage like that. The North Carolina branches switched from Firstline to Advance (thank God) last year. The one I worked at was very fair and honest, and our branch manager really took the customer service a step above, which is why it angers me to know there are Orkin branches doing shady stuff like that. Everyone of them ought to be reported to Atlanta. I was very proud to work for Orkin. They (or at least the one I worked at) did work that was second to none and treated their customers very fairly.
May 20th, 2010 at 11:18 pm
Had our house treated with Termidor 5 years ago. I paid about $450 per year with a Terminix franchise on ground termite repair protection. Bi-annual termite inspections have not seen any indication of ground termite activities.
Recently we found drywood termite droppings in a piece of furniture. Terminix franchise said it’s not covered because damage the was not caused by ground termites. They recommend to tent the house ($2800) and add drywood termite repair protection.
During the one hot night this season, I saw 4 flying termites in the house. Should I tent the house? I am concern with roof damage.
Appreciate your feedbacks.
May 24th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
We had our house treated with Termidor last year. We saw some signs of termites, but they came back and spot treated, twice. They did an exterior treatment and also treated all the perimeter walls from the inside. The call backs were to treat roof areas (two story house) Its swarming season again and a few signs have been located. Most everybody here in Florida gets tented, but the company I’m using says the Termidor will kill them all, just be patient. From reading all the posts, I curious to hear what would be the next course of action. Thanks in advance.
June 8th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
I live in GA and recently found active termites in the front of my home behind a brick wall (the rest of the house is hardi-plank). The pest control company I called indicated the Termidor system was only good for 7 yrs and would have to be redone at that time. Does that sound right?
June 9th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
I’m curious as to why my 2 posts detailing my concerns with using Termidor have been deleted. I did not say anything offensive or personal in the posts. I’m starting to think this site is biased. Anyone know what’s going on?
June 10th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
Theresa,, Termidor is good for about 10 – 15 years . EPA regulations say all termiticides must show signs of breaking down in 3 – 5 years. Some companies will only carry a guarantee for so many years and then you must re-treat or drop the guarantee. Check around and good luck…………Anthony,,, I’m shocked to hear your posts against Termidor was removed. It looks to me like the person running this is pro Sentricon..
June 11th, 2010 at 9:44 am
Anthony & Jim: I had to go through and cleanse the comments due to personal attacks, etc. It’s possible that Anthony’s comments got inadvertently caught up in that purge. There were also several comments where people were trying to guess the complete, real world names of two of the people that were arguing the most strongly. Those were also deleted.
As far as “the person running this site” being pro-Sentricon… Oh please. This is a personal finance site where I write about my personal experiences. Go back and read the original article. I’m not pro-anything. We had Sentricon at our old house, we have Termidor at our new house. We didn’t get termites either place. I have no idea which is truly “better” which is why I was asking for recommendations.
Enough with the immature pissing matches and conspiracy theories. I would like to leave the comments open on this thread because there has been a lot of good discussion. However, if I have to spend any further time moderating it, I will simply lock the comments.
June 12th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Nickel,
I had 2 almost identical posts which were in no way personal, but which were deleted. I had a strange feeling that the posts would be deleted so I saved them as a Word file. I’ll post it again on Monday. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t delete that posting.
Anthony
June 12th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Anthony: The only other explanation that I can think of is that they contained an excessive number of links and got moderated. Otherwise, it must have been accidental.
June 15th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
I did have a few links. How many are allowed?
June 15th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
Anthony: It depends. It filters automatically based on an algorithm that factors in a bunch of different things, but one of the biggest factors seems to be the inclusion of links. Once you exceed 2-3 the likelihood of getting filtered goes up dramatically. Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil as there is way too much spam to moderate things manually.
June 16th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Jay/Jim,
A pest control company once told me that since termites prevention and termite treatment are using the exact same stuffs, there is really NO need to do anything termites prevetion, which is “actually ripping”. Annual or semi-annual inspection over the house and treat only after spotting any active termites is the right way… do you agree?
June 16th, 2010 at 11:05 pm
Howard, A termite treatment , prevention or active is the same treatment ( bait and Liquid ).. A prevention treatment is not a rip-off with the right guarantee.. I don’t push prevention treatments like some companies do.. If you don’t have termites I recommend a yearly inspection which any reputable company will do at no charge . If a company wants to charge for a yearly inspection with no initial treatment, run away from them as fast as you can… Terminix is now selling a program called T.I.P. (termite inspection program )which is a rip-off. It will cost you more in the long run than a full treatment will. It is currently under review by attorney generals nation wide and I believe banned in California?
June 17th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
What about for areas in the basement that are drywalled or patios with brick steps that go right up against he siding. Also cases where termites have come through cracks in the floor of the basement directly into studs. Will an inspection catch termites in all cases?
June 18th, 2010 at 1:59 am
There is no perfect science to a termite inspection. Finished basements can often hide damage til the floor starts to swag or a colony matures enough to swarm. That is where a prevention treatment could be a good thing and actually save money in the long run.
June 23rd, 2010 at 2:08 pm
if you have swarmers in the northeast, what degree of damage can you expect?
July 5th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
I appreciate the conversations here; I hope someone responds to my termite dilemma. I live in northeast PA. Home is 10 years old and no signs of damage. I discovered I have termites because I had holes in my KAF-FLEX flexible PVC pipes to my 6 yr old inground pool. I uncovered 6-7 ft of pipes but I am unable to uncover the other 9 feet because they greatly drop down below the ground and under a 4ft Versa-Lock wall. I am concerned about those pipes and even damage to the pool. I had terminix and Ehrlich both give Sentricon and Termidor options. I collected live soldiers so I have proof termites are doing the damage. My dilemma is the fact that the pipes to the pool go througha lush garden area. If I use termidor, terminix says I can keep my garden just not any eatable plants within 3ft of the treated areas. Ehrlich says they wouldn’t plant anything in the whole garden. That is why Ehrlich thinks the Sentricon system might be best. I think termidor is best since I know I have a colony that can continue to attack other pipes and the house. I also need to determine if the rest of the pipes need to be ripped up prior to treating with Termidor. I am afraid of discovering pool pipe damage in future years then having to remove treated soil. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
July 17th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Any chance the flexible pvc pipes are chemical permiable?
If Sentricon works, it should kill the entire colony. Personally, I wouldn’t plant edible plants anywhere near a Termidor treatment no matter what anyone tells you. Why risk it? That’s just my opinion.
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:19 am
I just closed on a house that had termite damage a couple of years ago, but was repaired. It is a den that was built above and old carport, and is inaccessible. The former owner got a local company to spot treat the area with Termidor, and put Sentricon around the house. The last check revealed one of the bait stations had been hit. This house is mostly crawl space, about 50 years old. A termite inspection was done before closing, and no active termites found. I am thinking about doing a whole house Termidor treatment for peace of mind. It just seems there is a lot of unguarded space between stations–the stations could be bypassed. I live in South Georgia. I have to make a decision soon as I will have to renew the Sentricon warranty for another year. $280/yr for just retreatment coverage and $340 for damage repair. They monitor stations every 3 months.
August 1st, 2010 at 2:31 am
Joey, If the last check had activity in a station it should not have passed unless the inspection was done by the company doing the baits, or the realtor shopped around til they found someone to pass it. It happens all the time, realtors are mostly all crooked!!! If you are going to keep a bait service you need to find someone who will do monthly or bi-monthly service, quarterly and tri-annual is a complete and total rip-off unless ALL stations are — PRE-BAITED—-.. Termites will clean out the wood monitors easily in less than 2 months. Also choose a reputable small to mid size company, the larger ones like Orkin and Terminix will usually process you like a piece of meat.
August 1st, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Is there a best time of year to do wither termidor liquid or sentricon baits. Do season, soil temperature, or soil moisture make doing either treatment better at one time or another?
August 2nd, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Sorry to stir up an old thread guys, but I’d like some input on my situation from a few experts that are not going to make a buck off me.
I live in Cleveland, OH. I have an active termite infestation in my detached garage, which is basically nothing more than an enclosed parking space. The house just got a clean bill of health from two different exterminators. I need to ensure that the termites do NOT make it into the house, here is my plan:
Pay the quoted $1000 price for Sentricon installation by the pro(Orkin).
Purchase Termidor online and apply it myself around and under the garage (its small, 16×20).
Based on what I’ve read from all of the conversations above, this is probably overkill. However, I personally like overkill if it makes it more likely to keep the little bastards out of my house.
Thoughts or comments?
Thanks in advance!
August 4th, 2010 at 8:16 am
Dan, just be careful buying Termidor online.There is alot of counterfeit being sold online and E-Bay is full of it..You can get it from one of those doityourselfpestcontrol.com sites, but once you buy enough to do it right you’ll have almost as much in it as if you had paid a pro. That garage would only be about $400 – $500 to treat which will kill the colonies feeding on the garage so they will never get to your home…..Stay away from Orkin, find a good locally owned company.
August 4th, 2010 at 9:40 am
It’s hard to find unbiased advice about termite treatments – I hope I can find it here.
My mother’s house is in NY where Termidor can’t be used. She had a swarm in the basement of her split-level house in April. The mud tunnels are in the boiler room leading up from the joint between the floor and the wall (poured concrete), about 4 ft below grade. The rest of the basement was drywalled 2 years ago with no sign of termite activity.
3 inspections by small companies and she doesn’t want to spend $1,500+. I bought 28 Sentricon stations over the internet with plans to install and inspect them myself. I read the university studies and was satisfied about their effectiveness, but I’m a little concerned about the issue of disrupting the tunnels when inspecting them. I can’t find any Sentricon AG stations, which I think would be very helpful now (none of the previous discussions mentions these as a more immediate baiting treatment for active infestations – why?) How often should I inspect the stations? Should I clean out any mud that gets in them? Any tips I should know?
We also got a quote for $750 to treat the boiler room with Transport, drilled into the basement floor, and trenched and rodded from the outside. I’m concerned with conflicting info about whether Transport is a nonrepellent or not – the FMC website says it is but bifenthrin is described as a repellent elsewhere. Using a repellent would seem stupid because it would just divert the termites to a part of the basement where we couldn’t see them (if they’re not already there). I could buy Termidor myself from doityourown… but I don’t have special equipment and I’m not qualified to drill into the basement.
I would appreciate honest advice since I hope it’s apparent that I’ve spent a lot of time and thought on this.