Termite trenching

Question

"How to ApplyFor termite trenching application : Add 3.2 fl. oz. to 1 gallon of===&gt; So what do you think termite trenching is?water for each 2 1/2â?linear feet using a sprinkling can.For all other pests: Use one tablespoon per gallon of water sprayed over 167 sq. ft. using an Ortho Dial 'N Spray or a tank sprayer."s/ meirman If you are emailing me pleasesay if you are posting the same response.Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 yearsIndianapolis, 7 yearsChicago, 6 yearsBrooklyn NY 12 yearsnow in Baltimore 20 years

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]"How to Apply For termite trenching application : Add 3.2 fl. oz. to 1 gallon of ===> So what do you think termite trenching is?[/nq]
Dig a trench near the infested area, apply the poison there.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]===> So what do you think termite trenching is?[/nq]
Termites often live in the ground around the house. Trenching them involves digging a shallow trench, about six inches or so wide, all around the house, right up against the wall, and filling it with your termite-killing chemicals. The trench is then filled in with soil.

Incidentally, if you have termites, you may want to reconsider treating the house yourself... especially if it's on a slab rather than a basement. I think it's better to let a pro do it because if they* ***** up *they have to fix it. My dad had a pro treat the house when I was young, and they poisoned our artesian well. If Dad had treated the house, he probably would have poisoned the well too, but chances are good he wouldn't have known it until we all came down with the rather dramatically ugly symptoms of organophosphate poisoning... and then he would have had to pay to decontaminate the well, rather than having the exterminator's insurance company do it.
Besides, your homeowner's insurance may even require a professional.

Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet?

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Incidentally, if you have termites, you may want to reconsider treating the house yourself... especially if it's on a slab ... then he would have had to pay to decontaminate the well, rather than having the exterminator's insurance company do it.[/nq]
Purely from idle curiosity, how does an artesian well get contaminated/decontaminated by? My idea of such a well is a sealed pipe under pressure from aquifers at higher levels than the well-head. So poisons in the surrounding soil would be unable to penetrate. My artesian well could only be affected by contaminated water entering the system several miles away. I assume they're different where you live?

Phil C.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Purely from idle curiosity, how does an artesian well get contaminated/decontaminated by?[/nq]
As best I can remember, the poison migrated along the outside of the pipe that went down to the source.
They decontaminated it by forcibly blowing it out with some sort of compressed air rig. It got rid of the toxin, but the water has been sandy ever since.

Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet?

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]===> So what do you think termite trenching is?[/nq]
[nq:1]Termites often live in the ground around the house. Trenching them involves digging a shallow trench, about six inches or ... on a slab rather than a basement. I think it's better to let a pro do it because if they[/nq]
Thanks for the very good advice. Actually, the part I quoted was just a matter of curiosity. The only termites I have are in my wood fence, pretty far from the house.
And I do have a basement with cinder block walls and a cement floor.

OTOH, I've had termites in parts of my fence for probably 15 years and I'm wondering now if they are headed for my house? There was a termite inspection before I bought it, but half the basement is finished. Should I be paying more attention to the other half?

Although a mouse walked into the house though a doorway, I don't think a termite would do that. How do they get in? There is a perforated, corrugated plastic pipe that circles the foundation below floor level to catch water and then goes under the floor to the sump in the basement. It's usually dry, but there is always some water in the sump. Could they enter that way? They'd have to crawl up the corrugated plastic sump wall, then walk across the cement floor to a wooden "wardrobe" I use for storage or to the box of scrap wood, or farther is the framing for the wall that divides the basement.

I have a hole in the ground near the front door. It got covered up by me accidentally, but it's reopened today, a day or two later. Any easy way to tell what animal is using it?
[nq:1]***** up they have to fix it. My dad had a pro treat the house when I was young, and they poisoned our artesian well. If Dad had treated the house, he probably would have poisoned the well too, but chances are[/nq]
Some of the instructions, of this product or a competitor or both, mention wells. There are no wells here, and I wouldn't spray anything.
When I first found the termite tunnels in my pickets, I talked to the wife of a local exterminator. (Her busband and grown sons were out exterminating, but she had a baby in her arms and a little kid next to her. She's probably handles the phone calls to the business.) She told me it wasn't worth using poison for a fence, and I should just cut off the bottom of the pickets so they don't touch the ground, or the grass when the grass grows as tall as it will.

But in this particular case, the two rails for one section are broken, and I want the two pickets on either side of the break to reach to the ground and support the rails like fence posts. And I found a product that sounds like it will keep the termites out, Ortho-Klor, Termite and Carpenter Ant something or other. The required precautions with regard to the environment are not that burdensome. But they want users to wear rubber gloves and iirc a mask and long pants and sleeves,

I'll let the pickets dry thoroughly before putting them out. I don't know if any of the ingredients would redissolve in the rain, but I'm not that close to any water. To preserve a fence post, they say to pour a gallon! of the mixture into the ground around the post.
[nq:1]good he wouldn't have known it until we all came down with the rather dramatically ugly symptoms of organophosphate poisoning... ... the well, rather than having the exterminator's insurance company do it. Besides, your homeowner's insurance may even require a professional.[/nq]
My fence posts are 25 years old and doing fine (except the ones that get little son have a little rot as deep as a half inches to 2 inches.

I think the fence rails are cedar, and again, where they don't get enough sun, they are being eaten a bit by moss. Plus there was one kid who stomped on some and broke them. But matching rails are sold at Lowes.
But I'm running out of pickets that match, and can't find more. The original fence company discontinued them, and one other only sells 4 inch wide, instead of 2 inch. I can't just trim them because these are peeled pickets, round on one side and flat on the other, with a standard Gothic top, curved almost to a point, but with a short horizontal cut at the top.
So I thought I would soak the bottom four inches of each newly added picket in Ortho-Klor, from Ortho.

And maybe paint the bottom 4 inches of the pickets that are already on the fence, in the area where they get termites.
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
now in Baltimore 20 years

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]OTOH, I've had termites in parts of my fence for probably 15 years and I'm wondering now if they are headed for my house?[/nq]
My dad suspects that the termites he had came from his neighbor's woodpile. So, yes, your fence-termites could eventually end up as your house-termites. Sooner or later they'll swarm; they may have already. You may have termites now and not know it.
[nq:1]Although a mouse walked into the house though a doorway, I don't think a termite would do that. How do they get in?[/nq]
They can fly on occasion. Some also build mud-tunnels up the side of the bloc foundation to reach the tasty wood of your house.
[nq:1]There is a perforated, corrugated plastic pipe that circles the foundation below floor level to catch water and then goes ... in the basement. It's usually dry, but there is always some water in the sump. Could they enter that way?[/nq]
I suppose they could, but I don't know that they would. It seems a little bit too complex a route for such a creature.
[nq:1]I have a hole in the ground near the front door. It got covered up by me accidentally, but it's reopened today, a day or two later. Any easy way to tell what animal is using it?[/nq]
I imagine there are folks who could look at it and know. If it were I, I'd probably rent a small cam-corder and put it on a motion sensor.
[nq:1]Some of the instructions, of this product or a competitor or both, mention wells. There are no wells here, and I wouldn't spray anything.[/nq]
With trenching, you don't spray anyway. You dilute the poinson and pour it into the trench.
[nq:1]She told me it wasn't worth using poison for a fence, and I should just cut off the bottom of the pickets so they don't touch the ground, or the grass when the grass grows as tall as it will.[/nq]
The problem with that is, if they can't eat the fence, they'll find the closest thing they CAN eat, and that's probably your house.
[nq:1]Ortho-Klor, Termite and Carpenter Ant something or other. The required precautions with regard to the environment are not that burdensome. But they want users to wear rubber gloves and iirc a mask and long pants and sleeves,[/nq]
It's a cholinesterase inhibitor. Nasty stuff at high doses. If you've ever seen the movie, "The Rock", you will remember Nick Cage's line: "It's one of those things we wish we could disinvent." The stuff he's talking about is also a cholinesterase inhibitor. It's also used in chemical warfare; it's called a "nerve agent" then.

Wear rubber gloves, long pants and sleeves, a mask, and eye goggles. Wear large plastic bags over your shoes. I'd recommend taping down the cuffs of your pants and sleeves too. Stay upwind of it. Undress outdoors when you're done (maybe wear a bathing suit under your clothes) and put the clothes in a plastic bag, and take them directly to the washing machine for immediate washing. Take a LONG (at least 20 minutes) warm shower immediately after starting your laundry.

If, over the following day or two, you feel weak or nauseated or notice any tremors, or start any aspect of SLUDGEing:
Salivation (drooling)
Lacrimation (watery eyes)
Urination (unusual increase or decrease in flow)
Diarrhea
Gastric distress (usually cramps)
Emesis (vomiting)
...get yourself to an ER and tell them what you used, that it's a cholinesterase inhibitor. Tell them you showered already. They may want to shower you again; that won't hurt. They'll probably treat your symptoms and observe you for a while. If it's bad, they may give you atropine, but unless you huff the stuff you probably won't get there.
[nq:1]I'll let the pickets dry thoroughly before putting them out. I don't know if any of the ingredients would redissolve ... To preserve a fence post, they say to pour a gallon! of the mixture into the ground around the post.[/nq]
Yeah, it isn't just the wood you have to treat; you have to treat the ground. That's where they live.
[nq:1]My fence posts are 25 years old and doing fine (except the ones that get little son have a little rot as deep as a half inches to 2 inches.[/nq]
Treated lumber is a good investment.
[nq:1]I think the fence rails are cedar, and again, where they don't get enough sun, they are being eaten a bit by moss. Plus there was one kid who stomped on some and broke them. But matching rails are sold at Lowes.[/nq]
Cedar is more expensive, but worth it for many reasons besides termite resistance.

[nq:1]But I'm running out of pickets that match, and can't find more.[/nq]
Ouch. You'll have to replace the whole fence or make the pickets yourself (or have them made for you).
[nq:1]So I thought I would soak the bottom four inches of each newly added picket in Ortho-Klor, from Ortho.

And maybe paint the bottom 4 inches of the pickets that are already on the fence, in the area where they get termites.[/nq]
Sounds like a plan. I'd consider treating the ground under it, though. And when you're soaking the pickets, make sure you're doing it outdoors (but in an area where no dogs or kids can find the bucket). I wouldn't even use that stuff in a garage unless I could open both ends.

Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet?

Termite trenching

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