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What To Expect From Home Subterranean Termite Treatment


Finding out that your home is infested with termites can be a scary diagnosis when you don’t know what to expect both physically and financially from a termite treatment — especially if your home is infested with underground termites.

Every home is unique and should be evaluated by a termite professional to provide an estimate and details for treatment to eliminate unexpected expenses or surprises during the treatment process.

However, a vast majority of the time the termite treatment process follows the same essential guidelines when describing a standard termite treatment.

Subterranean termites feed on cellulose found in wood and other wood-based products.  They enter the home through gaps as small as 1/32 of an inch.  Entry points often include foundation settlement cracks, floating slabs, as well as plumbing and utility penetrations through the foundation slab.  “Wood to ground contact” also assists in creating conducive conditions for termites to enter the structure and often occurs when soil or landscaping materials are built up around the foundation causing siding and/or wood-based exterior materials to come in direct contact with the ground.

Preparing Your Home For Underground Termite Infestation Treatments

Prior to having your home treated for termites, some preparation will be necessary at the home.

On the exterior of the home, trees and bushes will need to be trimmed away from the foundation 18-24 inches to allow for continuous treatment along the entire foundation.

In the event an interior treatment is necessary, the interior of the home will likely require preparation.  All furniture and belongings will need to be moved 3-5ft away from exterior foundation walls.  The same is typically necessary for garage areas that share a common wall with the structure of the home.

Additional areas may need to be prepared based on activity found within the home.  Water or utility areas may also be needed just prior to your treatment to ensure that pipes are avoided during the drilling process.

How We Treat Subterranean Termite Infestations

The treatment method utilized by Mug-A-Bug Pest Control in Colorado Springs is a conventional liquid treatment, which has historically proven to be the most effective type of termite treatment.  The normal residual of the product used during treatment is between six and eight years (6-8 years).  However, homes in areas where water tables are high may experience a shorter lifespan of the normal residual effectiveness as a high water table will, over a period of time, break down the active ingredient in the product faster.

Exterior Treatment: Soil areas along the exterior perimeter will be trenched including areas under landscaping materials, which will be pulled back during the treatment process and replaced once treatment is completed.  Once trenched, the trench will be flooded with a liquid termiticide and backfilled to create an exterior barrier. Areas in which landscaped grass is growing against the foundation, a short-rod method in which termiticide is applied below the surface will be utilized in order to avoid damage to the sod.  Concrete areas will be drilled every 12” in order to treat below the slab surface.  All drilled areas will be plugged with a synthetic rubber plug, capped and patched with cement which will be smoothed off so that the cement is flush with the original surface.

Exterior Drilling of Concrete to Prepare for Treatment
Exterior Drilling of Concrete to Prepare for Treatment
Application of termiticide below the exterior concrete slab
Application of termiticide below the exterior concrete slab

Interior Treatment: Carpet and padding will be pulled back in areas of any Colorado home to be treated in order to gain access to the foundation slab which will be drilled and treated in the same manner as exterior concrete.  Following treatment, carpet and padding is replaced to the best of our ability.  Areas to be treated within the home that contain tile, hardwood or alternate types of flooring will be discussed with the homeowner by our termite professional prior to treatment as treatment recommendations may vary based on the flooring type and location.  In addition, walls containing activity may need to be foamed during the treatment process.

Basement Drilling Prior to Treatment Application
Basement Drilling Prior to Treatment Application

Accessible Crawlspaces: Unfinished, accessible crawlspace areas will be trenched 360 degrees and treated in the same manner as the exterior soil areas.

Subterranean Termite Treatment Products of Choice

Primise 75WP, which is manufactured by Bayer Environmental the same company that manufactures Bayer Aspirin.  This product has been on the market for well over ten years and has less than a 1% re-treat rate.  Premise 75 WP is a wettable powder that is mixed with water according to label rates/standards and will not require any personal protective equipment during our treatment process.  It is virtually odorless and is very user/resident-friendly.  The product only requires that children and pets remain off of treated areas until it is dry, which normally takes about one to two hours (1-2 hours).  We have used this product for years now and have had phenomenal results and success with its use.

Termidor kills termites in two ways, first, when they eat it (and since they don’t know it’s there, they readily ingest it along with the wood fiber and other material they typically eat). Second, Termidor kills termites that simply come into contact with it. So, even if your termites are not feeding, Termidor will kill them.

Termites that come into contact with Termidor will also carry it on their bodies. As a result, other termites they contact, feed, or groom will also be exposed to Termidor. All these termites will in turn transfer the termiticide to still more termites. This will go on for several days, allowing Termidor to be spread throughout the entire colony. This unique mode of action is known as the “Transfer Effect”.

The active ingredient in Termidor, fipronil, is slow acting. That’s a very good thing for you and a very bad thing for the Eastern Subterranean termite colony. Why? Because Termidor remains active long enough for one termite to transfer the termiticide to a large number of other termites in the colony before dying itself. And although Termidor’s effect on individual termites is intentionally slow, the overall impact on the colony is fast.

Both Premise 75WP and Termidor are non-repellent termiticides that mean that the termites can’t see it, smell it, or feel it.  They do not know it is there at all.  As a result, termites spread the product within the colony.  Aside from active ingredient and price, Premise 75WP and Termidor are very similar in their actions.

Alternate Methods: There are several termite baiting systems on the current market; however, Mug-A-Bug has chosen NOT to use these baiting systems due to their ineffectiveness in termite colony prevention and elimination.  Previously, we have had several baiting systems in the ground and we chose several years ago to remove them and replace them with conventional liquid treatment.  We were experiencing live termite activity against the foundation of homes and a bait station was only one to two feet (1-2 ft) away with NO ACTIVITY inside the station.  Therefore, we made the decision to ONLY use conventional liquid treatments from that point forward.

Termite Treatment Warranty: In MOST cases, our standard warranty for termite treatments is one (1) year from the date of treatment, for all labor and materials, should a re-treat occur during that timeframe.  In addition, we do offer an extended warranty or an annual termite renewal for all treatments after the one year initial warranty period has expired.  This annual termite renewal can be extended for an additional fee on a per additional year basis.  Once your annual renewal fees are paid, Mug-A-bug will return to the property and inspect the home for any signs of new termite activity.  During the inspection process, we would apply a Premise granular application to the ground surface to provide your home with additional coverage to help prevent any future activity from occurring.

Worried About Your Home & A Termite Infestation?

Our Mug-A-Bug Pest exterminators are experts in getting termites away from your home and keeping them away.

We use the most exceptional tactics to treat the interior and exterior areas of your home to keep subterranean termites away. If you’re worried about the termite infestation treatment process from the Mug-A-Bug Pest Control team in Colorado Springs, contact us today and we’ll help answer all the questions you may have.

Contact us today and get your termite infestation treatment free when you sign up for an annual treatment plan.