Termite Control

The Pest is called Termite and the service is called termite control or termite management service. 
There are three types of termites: 

Damp wood Termites: Dampwood termites are called so because their colonies are found in damp and sometimes decaying wood. Dampwood termite nests are not found in the soil. They love decaying wood. 

Dry Wood Termites: Drywood termites extract moisture for their survival from the humidity in the air and from the wood they eat. As a result, the drywood termites can survive without living in soil and do not construct their nests in the ground, but instead construct their nests in the dry, above ground wood they infest. Drywood termites enter our homes through infested items wooden furnitures and other external wood. 

Subterranean Termites: Subterranean termites are social insects that live in colonies in the soil. They feed on a variety of cellulosic materials as their principal energy source. Subterranean termites coexist in soils with many other microorganisms, especially fungi. 
 

1. Termite makes furniture fixtures and walls hollow and ugly: Termites can damage wooden fixtures and furniture at home, office, factory and any other buildings. The wood becomes hollow and soft and filled with moisture which further causes discoloration. The wall looks ugly and you need repainting along with termite control.
2. Termites weaken building structures: Termites weaken building structures as they chew their way through the voids in the brick mortar joints and the voids in the concrete and that’s how it hollows the wall, floor, and ceiling of any building.
3. Wooden Floor Sound: In case of wooden floorings, first they weaken the inner wooden framework which supports the floor causing floorboards to swell, discolor, loosen up fittings and also cause strange irritating sound.
4. Termites destroy documents: Termites are hidden monsters that can destroy all the important documents (such as certificates, house papers, passports, precious books, legal documents, and sometimes currency notes), garments and other stuff in a wardrobe. (Very common in termite prone areas)
5. Termites are difficult to eradicate from home and keeps us in dark: Even after getting routine termite control AMC, people face termite damages as they fail to locate the exact places of infestation in absence of expensive camera which can detect termites. Very few people know that there is actually a camera which can spot the exact location of termites hidden in any building.
6. Termites spoil aesthetics and beauty of the property: Termite mud/soil tubes spoil the aesthetics/beauty of the property as they become visible near wall painting and wall papers, switchboards, false ceilings, AC frames, wooden wall panels and floorings, along the utility lines (Electricity, plumbing, AC ducting etc. Doors and window frames
7. Closet drawers, doors, windows get jammed: Closet drawers, doors, windows get jammed due to termite attack, dust, soil, mud tubes and debris.
8. False ceilings damaged: False ceilings are generally found damaged most severely leaving behind no other options but to dismantle and reconstruct, of course after the termite control treatment of the structure.
9. Termite makes our building unhygienic and unsafe: The infested house becomes unhygienic and unsafe due to damages caused and weakening of the building.
10. Discoloration, Buckling Wood or Paint with Bubbles: Discoloration, Buckling Wood or Paint with Bubbles: In case of hidden termites, you will find discoloration, buckling wood or paint with bubbles in it.
11. Irritable Termite Noise disturbing sleep: Termites can make sounds like snapping, or popping becomes irritable especially during the nights when it can be heard clearly. The sound of tapping on hollow wood is also a common sign of a termite infestation.

1. Worker Termites 
Worker Termites are most in number and are also the most destructive. They enter the house from underneath the floorboards and cause the most damage to the house quietly and without drawing any attention to themselves. They are white in color and move with help of their antennae rather than their eyes, because they are actually blind. Their job is to get food and take care of the other classes of termites while building the vast network of tunnels in their nest with a mixture of their saliva and dirt. 

2. Soldier Termites 
Soldier Termites have such huge jaws that they can’t even eat by themselves and have to be fed by the workers. They have only one job and that is to protect the colony. Their biggest enemy is the ant. Sometimes they also attack colonies of other termites. 

3. Winged Termites 
People generally detect termites when they see the winged termites on their doors or windows. These look like ants except for some key differences. Ants have thin torsos whereas termites do not. Ants have antennas that are at a 90-degree angle whereas termites have antennas that are totally straight. Termites have four wings of the same size.

1. Stay aware & alert: Sometimes we only get to know of a termite infestation when it’s too late and the pest has done a lot of damage. We should make frequent and regular inspections and be aware of whether the paint on the wall is spreading or cracking, or whether the building show signs of mud or soil tubes.
2. Take proactive action in time: If you observe any signs of damage. If even single shreds of evidence of termite infestation are seen then you have to plan a call for a pest controller you know well to take suitable action If you do not know a reliable and expert pest controller, then as a second step you will have to find out. Any further delay is nothing short of sheer foolishness.
3. Keep regular inspections and examinations scheduled: Even if these signs are not visible it does not mean that there are no termites. Every house should be inspected by termite control experts periodically (annual checkups). Most of the time, you may not be able to notice that they are silently working behind the wooden panels, cupboards, and walls. There, they are eating, damaging, defacing, and discoloring your wooden furniture and fixtures.
4. Hire only a trained professional pest controller and do not fall for cheap alternatives: Regular inspections to check whether the termite pesticides are still doing their job and if the house is still termite free is an essential regular task that has to be undertaken.
5. Vegetation around the outer wall: Do not let vegetation grow on the outer walls of the house.
6. Storage: Keep Manure, Firewood, Wooden logs, dead plants/trees, etc. away from the house.
7. Leaky water going down to the foundations of the house: Make sure that there is no leaky faucets and the drainage system should be efficient so that the dripping water doesn’t go down to the foundations of the house.
8. Leaky roofs & Rainwater Drainpipes: They should be regularly maintained and repaired, do not let vegetation grow inside those pipes and keep them clean.

• When, you cannot identify the pest which is causing damage at your place?
• Whether you should call expert for inspection?
• Whether the pest has been completely eliminated, after the treatment?
• How to find out the efficacy of the treatment? Can you do it yourself?
• Which Pest Control Agency will provide best treatment and solution to your problem?
• Are there any side effects of the chemicals being used?
• When you wish to check whether the soil tubes on walls, wooden fixtures is of termite or other insects like wasps?
• You don’t see termites or any insect but strangely find soil in your garments and documents.
• You want to check whether the chemical and the dosage used is appropriate or not?

1. This checklist is only helpful and desired in case of large commercial property needing termite treatments.
2. Get a detailed inspection of your property both inside and outside and even nearby places to check the entry points for the pest
3. Ask for a written report from a professional termite control company after the inspection of the premise.
4. Do not fix up the charges over the phone.
5. Check if common areas of your society or your neighborhood also need termite treatment for effective pest control.
6. Choose well-informed and trained technicians. (On all the safety aspects including the safety of kids, elders, and even their own safety.)
7. Choose a PCO who understands “Food Safety”, you better not take chances with them. Remember, they also enter your stores and kitchens.
8. Choose a company that has written documented procedures for the treatment and quality policy.
9. Ensure all the preparatory activities are done before taking up pre-construction termite control work:

• Site Map: It is necessary to understand and take a site map in proper coordination with the concerned site engineers
• Water supply: Proper coordination on the planning of water supply for emulsions.
• Method Statement (MS) and Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS): Must have with QA/QC Engineer before work starts.
• Preparing to deal with waterlogged conditions in foundations: To deal with waterlogged conditions in foundations, there should be a drainage system so that the chemical emulsions are properly absorbed into the soil. This is relevant in case of pre construction anti termite treatment.

Lot of people look for home made and safe solution for everything. So, genuinely they will also seek such information to reduce or hold or kill termites.
Unfortunately, there has been nothing home made solution found effective for termites. It has been reported that essential oils like neem oil can kill termites slowly over time by inhibiting their ability to shed their skin or lay eggs. Just mix two cups of water with a couple drops of dish soap and about 10 drops of your chosen oil. Shake it up and spray it on infested wood and materials. Another such method adopted for killing termites is to combine the juice of two lemons with a half cup of white vinegar and pour this mixture over the termite attacked areas.

Different Stages of Pre-construction Termite Control: 
A. Treatment in foundation with no RCC: 

1. Area to be sprayed: Bottom surface of trenches and sides (up to a height of about 300 mm) of non-RCC foundation or load bearing foundation 
   Ratio of mixture of chemical and water: 2.1 ml of chemical solution (emulsion) prepared at the rate of one liter of water should be sprayed at the rate of 5 liters of emulsion per square meter. 
   Note: This treatment is not applicable to RCC Foundation.
2. Treatment of backfill soils in immediate contact with the walls rising from the foundation: 
   The solution (emulsion) prepared at the rate of 2.1 ml of chemical to one liter of water should be sprayed at the rate of 7.5 liters of emulsion per square meter.
3. Treatment of top soil surface of plinth filling (floor): 
   On soils below plinth level, 2.1 ml of chemical emulsion prepared at the rate of one liter of water should be sprayed on 5 liters of emulsion per square meter of plinth area.
4. Treatment at the junction of wall and floor: 
   A small channel 30 mm x 30 mm which should be dug at floor and wall joints and at all junctions of columns (before sub-grade laying) before starting termite treatment. 
   The chemical emulsion should be poured at the rate of 7.5 l/m2 over the vertical wall or the standing surface of the column.
5. Soil treatment around the perimeter of the building, adjacent to the walls of the building: 
   After the construction of the building is complete, the soil along the outer perimeter of the building should be loosened with iron rods at intervals of 150 mm and to a depth of 300 mm, to help absorb your chemical emulsion into the soil. If instead of iron bars, you can also loosen the soil with a large drill machine to help absorb the chemical into the soil. And then, the chemical emulsion is poured over the vertical surface of the walls at the rate of 7.5 l/m2. 
   Since, the area to be treated is 1 m horizontal length and 0.3 m depth (1 m x 0.3 m = 2.25 m), the rate of emulsion will be 2.25 liters per running meter of outer perimeter.
6. Anti-Termite Treatment of Soil Around Building Sewage Pipes and Drains: 
   When sewage drain pipes enter the soil inside the foundation, the soil around the point of entry is treated after loosening the soil to a distance of 150 mm around them and to a depth of 75 mm. goes. And when these same pipes enter the soil outside the foundation, they should be treated in the same way to a distance of no more than 300 mm.
7. Anti-Termite Treatment of Concrete Expansion Joints: 
   Expansion joints should be treated at the rate of 2 liters of emulsion per running meter.

B. Treatment to Building with RCC foundation:

When the foundation of the building is RCC structure, the anti-termite treatment shall commence at a depth of 500 mm below. Whenever, the ground level of the building is raised or lowered by earth filling, in such cases, the depth of 500 mm shall be determined from the new soil level. The soil which is in immediate contact with the vertical surfaces of the RCC structure of the foundation of the building should be sprayed at the rate of 7.5 liters of emulsion per square meter.

• Injection of Chemical Emulsion by Drilling on Walls
• The skirting is to be drilled on the walls above the tiles, one by one, in such a way that the tiles do not crumble
• Injection of chemical emulsion by drilling a one-to-one fit between frames and adjacent walls
• Chemical - Imidacloprid 30.5 SC
• Emulsion Ratio - 2.1 ml of chemical (imidacloprid) per liter of water
• After drilling and then injecting chemical emulsion, will seal it with white/grey cement.
• We will also be spraying all the expansion joints in the basement. Drilling on expansion joints is not recommended.
• We will additionally provide a free Termatrack checkup at AMC after 3 months.

Special feature of Termite Reticulation/Piping technique: In this method, at the time of construction of a building, a network of a special type of pipe is laid before the floor is made. This pipe is called porous pipe because it has very small pores through which the chemical seeps slowly. So this pipe is laid under the floor in every corner of the building so that between the soil and the floor, an impermeable wall of that chemical is formed which does not allow the termites to enter the building from the soil.

Method of chemical reloading: Taking care of the convenience of the people living in the building, outside the house, a junction box and inlet junction point is made to pour the chemical into those pipes. Every year, a technician from the termite reticulation/piping expert agency comes once and without disturbing you, with their pumps and motors, they pour a certain amount of chemical emulsion as per the SOP, into the porous pipe network, which seeps through, again to the entire soil and at all the joints of the floor and make a strong barrier against termites. 

Guarantee of reticulation system: So, every year, by doing this method, the whole building is efficiently protected from termite infestation. And neither termites cause frequent trouble nor do you have to go through drilling problems and other complications. And this pipe will comfortably last for fifty years. Almost every pest control agency that specializes in termite control through reticulation systems gives a guarantee of 25 years, but for this guarantee, reloading of the chemical is required every year.

Outdoor Termite Bait Stations: 
Structure: It is a long cylinder shaped hollow plastic box with a round plate-like lid screwed over it. In this box, termite-attracting cellulose and termite-killer products are added to the wood by method of soaking. This termite bait box is buried in the soil of the garden around the bungalow in such a way that the entire part goes down to the ground, only the top disc is visible flat with the soil surface. So that, you can open it from time to time and check whether your termite’s bait, has been eaten by the termites or not. 
Technique and methodology: As explained above, termites get attracted and come to eat bait in this plastic mesh box, inside the ground and from there take the amount of bait (active ingredient) with them, to their colony. And in this way, the entire colony of termites is wiped out. 
Quality, Strength And Success: These plastic bait stations are extremely sturdy and last a long time. After the cost of a one-time placement, it just needs to be checked every few weeks and if the bait has run out, a new one is put back in by a pest control technician. It is known to everyone that the sub terranean termites always come from the soil, their entire colony is inside the soil, so it is best to kill them before their entering into the building. By the way, the chemical (growth regulator) for which they were invented is not yet registered in India, so the consumer definitely has a right to know. But, there is no problem in doing it with any other approved termite chemical which is registered in India. 
INDOOR TERMITE BAIT STATION: 
Structure: It is a plastic tiffin-shaped hollow box with a square plate-like lid on it. In this box, a mixed solution of termite-attracting cellulose and termite-killer recommended, after the wood has been immersed and soaked, is added. This box is placed on the walls of homes in such places where termites are more likely to be inside the walls. And you also select those spots on the basis that they hide behind furniture, TV etc. so that the beauty of the house is not spoiled and you can open it from time to time to check that your termite bait means poisonous bait. The termites ate or not. 
Technique and methodology: In this way, termites get attracted and come to eat bet in this tiffin-shaped box, inside the ground and from there take the amount of bet (active ingredient) with them, to their colony. And in this way, the entire colony of termites is wiped out. 
Quality, Strength And Success: These plastic bait stations are extremely sturdy and last a long time. After the cost of a one-time placement, it just needs to be checked every few weeks and if the bait has run out, a new one is put back in by a pest control technician.