# Freaking termites!



## DKMD (May 19, 2013)

Walked out of my shop just a minute ago into a swarm of f-ing termites!:dash2: Looks like the dry wood variety based on location and a bit of internet research, and my shop is detached from the house... No signs of swarming anywhere on the house.

Anybody had experience with treating these little bastards? I emptied two cans of mosquito fogger(all I had handy)which seemed to kill the exposed bugs immediately... Either that, or they're playing possum. Is this something I can handle myself? I saw a bunch of stuff about fumigation, but I'm not too interested in plunking down that kind of money if there's a decent alternative. The area of the shop that's affected is not pressure treated wood, and it comes into contact with the driveway(read moisture). I can replace the boards, but I would like to impart some kind of harsh chemical punishment onto the little buggers.:fit:

If the recommendation is to go with the pros, any idea what a reasonable cost would be for a 600 sq ft structure? Sometimes, I get blessed with 'doctor job' pricing... When we first moved to town, we wanted to have the wood floors in the house refinished. One of the contractors who have us a bid left his appointment book sitting on the counter(mistake #1) while he was trying to talk down to my wife(mistake #2)... She noticed that our appointment was noted as 'Doctor job' with a big circle around it. Needless to say, she chewed his arse and sent him packing!


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## Mike1950 (May 19, 2013)

Hell I found Doc's to be on the most part great to work with- paid on time and were for the most part with one notable exception some of my best clients. The bad one was and ortho. :dash2::dash2:

We had termites in 2 of our rentals. 1. I am very handy but dealing with them is not my gig. They are for the most part subterranean critters. At least the ones we have- not native here but got shipped up with a bunch of bark in the 70's. Now the housing areas built around the old landfill are infested with them but the county says that has nothing to do with it. Of course nobody took their infested wood to the landfill or put in the garbage cans and there are no wood products in the landfill- SURE!!!!!

My advise- Treat both house and shop- they just dug a trench around house and put chemical in it and buried it. They check every year and it is warranted for 5 yrs.
PS- Tell them you are a low paid janitor- Hell I would believe it...:sorry2::flag_of_truce:


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## Mike1950 (May 19, 2013)

PS- I think we used Pointe.


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## conchwood (May 19, 2013)

Down here, we use the fumigation for dry wood termites, we don't have problems with the sub-terrains, (I think they drown at high tide), recently we have been invaded by the Formosan termites, I have seen first hand their damage, They will do more damage in 1 week than the dry ones do in 10 years. Fumigation for them requires 3X the gas along with boring holes around the foundation and pumping some other poison in the holes a few times. very expensive. The gas used by the fumigators is only available to them and pretty pricy as well, also needs to be retented every few years. I believe one species is thought to have been introduced into the continental United States at Key West, Florida, around 1919. I have heard that no insect can survive ingesting Borate, the trick is getting them to it. Good Luck


DKMD said:


> Walked out of my shop just a minute ago into a swarm of f-ing termites!:dash2: Looks like the dry wood variety based on location and a bit of internet research, and my shop is detached from the house... No signs of swarming anywhere on the house.
> 
> Anybody had experience with treating these little bastards? I emptied two cans of mosquito fogger(all I had handy)which seemed to kill the exposed bugs immediately... Either that, or they're playing possum. Is this something I can handle myself? I saw a bunch of stuff about fumigation, but I'm not too interested in plunking down that kind of money if there's a decent alternative. The area of the shop that's affected is not pressure treated wood, and it comes into contact with the driveway(read moisture). I can replace the boards, but I would like to impart some kind of harsh chemical punishment onto the little buggers.:fit:
> 
> If the recommendation is to go with the pros, any idea what a reasonable cost would be for a 600 sq ft structure? Sometimes, I get blessed with 'doctor job' pricing... When we first moved to town, we wanted to have the wood floors in the house refinished. One of the contractors who have us a bid left his appointment book sitting on the counter(mistake #1) while he was trying to talk down to my wife(mistake #2)... She noticed that our appointment was noted as 'Doctor job' with a big circle around it. Needless to say, she chewed his arse and sent him packing!


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## LoneStar (May 19, 2013)

I found a swarm last summer at my shop and around some of the wood outside. After some research and talking to a few guys, I ended up with a product called Termidor. It was explained to me like this; the sprays on the shelf at big box stores is like over the counter medication, Termidor is the good stuff you need a prescription for. I was also told its the product most of the professionals charge big bucks to come spray. 
I sprayed it once, they all disappeared, thats all I know.
You can order it online.


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## healeydays (May 20, 2013)

DKMD said:


> Walked out of my shop just a minute ago into a swarm of f-ing termites!:dash2: Looks like the dry wood variety based on location and a bit of internet research, and my shop is detached from the house... No signs of swarming anywhere on the house.
> 
> Anybody had experience with treating these little bastards? I emptied two cans of mosquito fogger(all I had handy)which seemed to kill the exposed bugs immediately... Either that, or they're playing possum. Is this something I can handle myself? I saw a bunch of stuff about fumigation, but I'm not too interested in plunking down that kind of money if there's a decent alternative. The area of the shop that's affected is not pressure treated wood, and it comes into contact with the driveway(read moisture). I can replace the boards, but I would like to impart some kind of harsh chemical punishment onto the little buggers.:fit:
> 
> If the recommendation is to go with the pros, any idea what a reasonable cost would be for a 600 sq ft structure? Sometimes, I get blessed with 'doctor job' pricing... When we first moved to town, we wanted to have the wood floors in the house refinished. One of the contractors who have us a bid left his appointment book sitting on the counter(mistake #1) while he was trying to talk down to my wife(mistake #2)... She noticed that our appointment was noted as 'Doctor job' with a big circle around it. Needless to say, she chewed his arse and sent him packing!



Hi Keller,

Can't help you with the termites, but understand your comment around the Doctor rates. I live in a very well to do town in NH (Bedford) which we have many CEO types and other well to do people living in. I don't live on their side of town, but as soon as a contractor of any sort here's the town of Bedford, rates jump 25% at a minimum. 

Time to move. I keep telling my wife if we move to Quartsite AZ, we won't have that same problem...

Mike B


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## sbwertz (May 20, 2013)

DKMD said:


> Walked out of my shop just a minute ago into a swarm of f-ing termites!:dash2: Looks like the dry wood variety based on location and a bit of internet research, and my shop is detached from the house... No signs of swarming anywhere on the house.



It is that time of year. My brother is dealing with it in Okmulgee OK. Had a swarm last week. The local Terminix people quoted him about 700 dollars for a three bedroom house. But they won't come in and treat until all the damage is repaired because they don't want you crawling around in the poison. So he is ripping up floors and replacing floor joists eaten by the little critters. The attic has some damage, but most is in the floor joists. 

We had problems almost 50 years ago. They will come and check for damage and give you a quote, then you fix the damage and they will come and spray. Be sure to get the extended coverage. Ours costs about $30 a year and they come out annually and check for re-infestation. If there is new activity, they respray and fix any damage for free.

Sharon


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## NYWoodturner (May 20, 2013)

Doc - What Mike said is very relevant. Treat both the house and the shop. They will move up to 200 feet to find a new food source. Treating the shop will kill some but not all. Some will flee to the house. They will find new food sources that will keep them undetected for a while - maybe a year.then you are right back where you started, except now they are in your home. You will end up treating both home and shop either way. Best to do it one time now than multiple times later.
Scott


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## Mike1950 (May 20, 2013)

NYWoodturner said:


> Doc - What Mike said is very relevant. Treat both the house and the shop. They will move up to 200 feet to find a new food source. Treating the shop will kill some but not all. Some will flee to the house. They will find new food sources that will keep them undetected for a while - maybe a year.then you are right back where you started, except now they are in your home. You will end up treating both home and shop either way. Best to do it one time now than multiple times later.
> Scott



Hell he is a Doc- they love paying contractors multiple times. :rotflmao3::rotflmao3::rotflmao3::rotflmao3:


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## woodtickgreg (May 20, 2013)

Mike1950 said:


> NYWoodturner said:
> 
> 
> > Doc - What Mike said is very relevant. Treat both the house and the shop. They will move up to 200 feet to find a new food source. Treating the shop will kill some but not all. Some will flee to the house. They will find new food sources that will keep them undetected for a while - maybe a year.then you are right back where you started, except now they are in your home. You will end up treating both home and shop either way. Best to do it one time now than multiple times later.
> ...


Funny!


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## DKMD (May 20, 2013)

If I spent my life on and off a ladder and working with power tools, I think I'd make a point to play nice with a local guy who might be called to put me back together at some point if I found myself in the middle of a bad day... Especially if that guy never forgot the names of the folks who had tried to take advantage of his family... And perhaps most importantly, if that guy was the one in charge of my pain medicine before, during, and after a potentially painful procedure. Did you know that pain medicines can be given rectally? 

Just sayin'...


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## Mike1950 (May 20, 2013)

DKMD said:


> If I spent my life on and off a ladder and working with power tools, I think I'd make a point to play nice with a local guy who might be called to put me back together at some point if I found myself in the middle of a bad day... Especially if that guy never forgot the names of the folks who had tried to take advantage of his family... And perhaps most importantly, if that guy was the one in charge of my pain medicine before, during, and after a potentially painful procedure. Did you know that pain medicines can be given rectally?
> 
> Just sayin'...



:awwwman::pics::please2::booboo::hang1::timeout::sorry2::flag_of_truce:


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## shadetree_1 (May 20, 2013)

DKMD said:


> If I spent my life on and off a ladder and working with power tools, I think I'd make a point to play nice with a local guy who might be called to put me back together at some point if I found myself in the middle of a bad day... Especially if that guy never forgot the names of the folks who had tried to take advantage of his family... And perhaps most importantly, if that guy was the one in charge of my pain medicine before, during, and after a potentially painful procedure. Did you know that pain medicines can be given rectally?
> 
> Just sayin'...



:rotflmao3::rotflmao3: Go gettem Doc !!! I will pay you on time I promise ! :rotflmao3:


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## woodtickgreg (May 21, 2013)

DKMD said:


> Did you know that pain medicines can be given rectally?


Rectum..........damn near killed em........LOL :rofl2:


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## DKMD (May 21, 2013)

woodtickgreg said:


> DKMD said:
> 
> 
> > Did you know that pain medicines can be given rectally?
> ...



One of my favorites! Also like, 'With friends like that, who needs enemas?'


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