OT: termite question....

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

A friend of mine discovered that we had some termites eating away at

the wood at the door of our unit. Given the fact that I am sensitive to

so many things including chemicals, what would be the best and worst

chemicals to use to get rid of them? Thanks;)

le

[Guest guest]

Hi le,

If you are in California there are a number of firms that can apply the

ThermaPureHeat process for termites. It is one of two processes (the

other being fumigation) that is accepted by the State of California for

effective total structure eradication. The process uses heaters to

elevate the temperature of the structure to a level that is lethal to

the termites. If you can have it treated in just the location that the

termites were discovered you may be able to use a spot treatment.

There are a number of these available that do not use chemicals. Both

the spot and heat processes only work with drywood termites as

subterraneans are also resident in the soils. I don't know of any non-

chemical methods to treat termites that are both in the structure and

the soil. The California Department of Consumer Affairs has a bulletin

you can find online that provides some description of acceptable

methods. Make sure the firm is licensed for structural pest control.

If you are outside of California or Arizona I'm do not know of any

total structure treatments that are both safe and effective.

If you want more information I can direct you to some firms that can

provide the ThermaPure process. The University of California has some

very good information at their Integrated Pest Management site. The

link is: http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7440.html

Good luck.

Larry Chase

--- In , " le " <danielletoile@...>

wrote:

>

> Hi Everyone,

>

> A friend of mine discovered that we had some termites eating away at

> the wood at the door of our unit. Given the fact that I am sensitive

to

> so many things including chemicals, what would be the best and worst

> chemicals to use to get rid of them? Thanks;)

>

> le

>