Termite Treatment Chemicals For Homeowners

Once termites are established in the wood and the foundation of your house they are very difficult to eradicate. Even with chemical treatments, the termites just dig their nest deeper into the wood or into the foundation to avoid getting poisoned. Once the initial treatment wears off, they rise again and it's business as usual. This is why it is important for termite treatment chemicals to create a continuous barrier that includes the soil and the foundation of the house. Holes are drilled in the soil and in the wood to allow termite treatment chemicals to seep in and soak. This is the only way to make termite treatment chemical effective for digging termite colonies.
There are several chemicals used to treat termites and all these treatments are regulated by laws.

Pretreatment of Lumber

The best anti-termite treatment so far is to pretreat the lumber before the house is built. This way termites are discouraged from building their nests in your home in the first place. Wood preservatives are used along with pressure to treat wood intended for building. Pressure treated lumber can be bought at most construction and hardware stores.

Drilling and Trenching

This is the kind of termite treatment homeowners can do as a precaution or to control termites when the home is already infested with termites. Holes are drilled into the wood and trenches are made in the soil around the house so that chemicals can be injected into the wood and soil. Chemicals approved for this procedure are cypermethrin and permethrin, both in the pyrethroid family. They are insecticides used to repel termites from digging into the soil.

Other Termite Treatment Chemicals

There are several insecticides used to kill termites. Some chemicals only repel termites such as those used to pretreat lumber and pyrethroids used to discourage termites from digging. Imidacloprid and fipronil are insecticides used to control the population of termites. Insecticides that are designed to kill termites are handled only by professionals. Repellents however, like pyrethroids, can be bought by homeowners themselves. In fact, many termite extermination companies even sell these repellents to their customers so that they can apply it to their homes. Repellents are cost efficient and help prevent a termite invasion. They can be easily applied by the average homeowner.

Different Termites Need Different Treatments

There are two main kinds of termites, those that only live in drywood above the ground and those that live in the soil and only come up to feed on wood. Drywood termites require that the whole house be fumigated. The entire house is covered with a plastic or tarp protective structure, then the entire house is fumigated with sulfuryl fluoride. The protective tarp is used to keep the fumes in the house. Sulfuryl fluoride is a natural gas but it is poisonous. So all living things including people, pets and plants need to evacuate the house before fumigation. All food should be removed from the house and the gas turned off.
For smaller termite colonies, homeowners can use termite traps and baits to control their termites.


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