Modern Termite Treatment Solves Age-Old Problem

New class of “undetectable” termiticides quickly eliminates entire colony

It’s the call every home inspector dreads: a client complaining that the home you just inspected is now infested with thousands of swarming termites.

Unfortunately, termites are tricky to diagnose—sure, you know the signs, you know where to look, and you’ve spent plenty of time in the crawl space or basement searching for the smallest mud tube. But the truth is, no matter how hard you look, termites sometimes can be just down-right impossible to spot before they turn your client’s house into the insect version of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic movie “The Birds.”

The fact that termites are sometimes so difficult to spot makes it more important than ever to know what the control options are when you do find them. And, when it comes to control options, a lot has changed in the pest management industry over the last few years.

Repellent Liquids

It’s no secret that someone looking to sell his or her house wants to quickly fix any problems while paying the lowest price available. This mindset leads many sellers and their pest management professionals (PMPs) to recommend repellent liquid treatments be applied around the perimeter of the home. These relatively inexpensive repellent liquids form a protective barrier that, in theory, repels termites, driving them away from the home.

In practice, however, this option can often prove to be a more costly, time-consuming fix than its price tag suggests. Termites that are initially turned away by repellent termiticides will often search out breaks in
the chemical barrier, eventually finding one that leads directly to the home. The ensuing infestations, damage and additional treatments are big liability issues for the home inspector, home seller and the PMP. For the sake of your reputation, your business and your peace of mind, repellent termite treatments are no longer worth your recommendation, especially since there are more modern and effective termite control options available.

Bait Systems

Bait system technologies developed in the early 1990s still are a common approach to termite control. However, the effectiveness, speed and labor costs of baits are hotly debated in the pest management industry. Typical bait monitoring systems consist of small traps that are inserted at intervals into the ground around a property. The stations often contain cellulose material like wood or paper to attract termites. PMPs must be employed to regularly check each station on the property to detect termite activity, and once sufficient feeding is evident, the nourishing cellulose is replaced with termiticide intended to eliminate the colony over an extended period of time.

It is important to understand that for bait systems to function effectively, the bait must cause “recruitment,” meaning the termites must first eat the cellulose and then return to the colony to recruit others to feed at the same station. The problem is that while these systems require termites to encounter a station for the desired control, there is no guarantee that termites will ever run into the bait stations during normal activity. When it comes to a real estate transaction, wasting time waiting for a termite treatment to begin working is just not an option, especially when a client wants the home termite-free before taking possession. Fortunately, a better solution exists.

Undetectable Liquids

Liquid termiticides have a long history in the pest management industry. Nevertheless, home inspectors who think they’re familiar with this treatment category might be surprised to learn of new, undetectable liquid chemistries, known as “non-repellents,” that have shown great success in the field.

In the last several years, scientists have rewritten the book on termite control with the development of these undetectable liquid termiticides such as Termidor®, Premise and Phantom. These solutions are applied around the home using the same accepted, time-tested methods as repellent liquids, creating a treated-zone. The difference is this: while “repellent” termiticides cause termites to turn tail and run, non-repellents let them plow right through to their daily destructive chores. For termites, plowing through an undetectable termiticide is a fatal mistake.

Once exposed to a non-detectable termiticide, termites pass the active ingredient throughout the rest of the colony via contact or ingestion during normal feeding and grooming activity. This process ensures even termites that don’t directly come into contact with a treated area will still be eliminated, providing rapid control of active termite populations.

The success of these new treatments is most remarkable. Used to treat over one million homes since its introduction in 2000, Termidor®’s unique “Transfer Effect™” begins working the same day it is applied and consistently eliminates 100 percent of termites within three months. What’s more impressive is that the termite populations are wiped out entirely and not merely repelled only to find another way into the house. With non-detectables like Termidor®, inspectors can feel confident that the termite problem has been fixed, and the new homebuyers will be moving into a house that’s been treated with the most effective termite control product on the market.

When homebuyers are faced with the discovery of a termite problem, they rely on the home inspector to tell them exactly what needs to be done to make it go away. Unde-tectable products like Termidor® do exactly that. With the liability issues facing today’s inspector, it’s just not worth recommending your client accept anything else.

For more information on termites and undetectable liquid control treatments, go to www.termidorhome.com .

From the editor…
Because pest control inspection regulations and practices vary widely from state to state, and home inspectors may or may not choose to suggest the use of a product—any product—to a client, this report on product development may not be of interest to some of our readers.

For those interested in the topic, this is additional information about bait systems. In addition to those described in the article, there are indoor stations that can be placed directly over active mud tubes, new bait formulations that cut the time to colony elimination dramatically, and bait gels and other new products that make baits a viable alternative. Bait treatments often are more expensive than liquid treatments, but not always. In addition, some people prefer baits because they are less intrusive and are perceived to be more environmentally friendly.