Termite Inspection Orange County Termite Terry Pest Control

Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, South Orange County, Long Beach Area

Subterranean Termites “Blues”?

Subterranean termites are very destructive pest and can be very difficult to eradicate. Why are they so hard to get rid of?  To answer that question, let’s take a look at how they live and operate:

Subterranean termites live underground and must maintain contact with the ground unless there is a constant moisture source above ground. Moisture is very critical for these pest because they have soft bodies – They will lose their water rapidly if they are exposed to dry air. Subterranean termites build mud tunnels when they pass over exposed areas. These mud tunnels provide a moist environment and help protect them from their enemies.

Subterranean termites go from their nest underground, travel through their mud tunnels up into your house to eat up it’s wood members and then they take this delicious food back to their nest to share with the other members of the family. The termite workers that do all of the damage to your home are blind and all they do is eat 24 hours a day!

Where’s The Nest?

    If we knew where the nest was, our job would be so much easier. The nest could be 30ft or so under ground and maybe 100ft or so away from your house – Who knows for sure?

Careful Inspection May Be The Most Important Key To A Successful Treatment!

Let me ask you a question, “If you point a loaded gun at your foot, pull the trigger and the bullet misses your foot by one inch, HOW MUCH WILL IT HURT?” That’s right – Your foot won’t feel any different! Subterranean termites are the same way. If you do a treatment but you miss hitting the target, THEY WILL JUST KEEP ON EATING!

Recently, I was asked to inspect a home that had a serious termite infestation in the kitchen area. This home had a history of subterranean termite problems in this same area. A day or so before I got there, he had another termite man inspect his home. This other guy looked around for maybe ten minutes and told the owner that he needed the outside wall treated and everything would be alright. But the owner had heard this song and dance before and wanted a second opinion. That’s why he called me at 949-631-7348.

I looked at the mess of termites in his kitchen. These were the adult swarmers (Kings and Queens) of the termite colony and there were hundreds of them all over the place. Subterranean termites mate in the spring and it’s common to see swarms like this. The hot spot looked to be right under the sink near the plumbing pipes. This home had a raised foundation so I asked if I could go under his home and take a look.

I went under the house but couldn’t see a trace of anything. Oh, I was so disappointed! Went back around to the front of the house and couldn’t see anything there, either. What bothered me was that you could see termites around the plumbing on the inside of the home but you couldn’t see any of those pipes on the outside of the home or from under the home. I knew those pipes were there, but where were they? The underside of the home was covered by wood and gypsum board in the areas of these pipes, so I asked the owner if he would let me cut a small hole in the area of the pipes so that I could take a closer look. I carefully measured where these pipes were in the kitchen, went under the house and marked the spot. Cut a small hole in the gypsum board and opened it up. Instantly, hundreds of termites came flying out of this hole and I had them crawling all over me! I couldn’t even see because so many were covering my face!

Once I brushed myself off and cleaned up the area, you could see a huge subterranean mud tunnel built right next to the plumbing drain pipe. This drain pipe went directly into this foundation wall and there was no other way to access it. Yes, you could have taken the other guys advice and treated the outside of the foundation wall, but that was almost ten feet away from this pluming pipe and the chemical would have never even come close to this spot! THE TERMITES WOULD HAVE NEVER FELT A THING! All they would have done is laugh while the termite man went to the bank to cash the owner’s check!

What did I do? I said, “Let’s go for the jugular and we’ll stick it right down their throat!” And that’s what we did. We injected our materials right into the mud tunnels next to the pipe and treated the surrounding areas. They aren’t going to come back to that area for a long time!

BOTTOM LINE: Please note that my inspection took over one hour to perform. There’s no way anyone could have figured out this owner’s problem in ten minutes! Every house is different and there is no “One size fits all” treatment that will work for everybody. A thorough inspection is so important if you really want your problem solved! Have a subterranean termite problem and want to get rid of it?  To schedule your inspection or call us at 949-631-7348  click here and use our on-line order form.

Finally, A Product That Can Eliminate Termite Colonies!

For years, we had nothing that could actually kill off the termite colonies. All we could do was treat areas around the foundation so as to form a chemical barrier to keep termites out of a structure. This type of treatment didn’t usually eliminate the termite’s nest – They were still alive! And, the termites would often find a small break in this chemical barrier and go right back to eating!

We have a new product, Termidor, that we’ve been using exclusively for the past year. This new product is “stealth like”. Termites don’t even know we’ve used this product because they can’t see it, they can’t smell it and they can’t taste it! The best part is the “transfer effect”. Once they’ve been exposed to Termidor, they take it back and share it with the others in the nest. And, it keeps getting spread around until the whole nest is wiped out.

You’ll love how Termidor solves your termite problems and once you’ve seen it work, you’ll never settle for anything less.

For more information about Subterranean Termite Control Services offered by Termite Terry Pest Control, please call us at 949-631-7348 to set up an appointment or if you prefer, use our online Order Form and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

The following links contain a lot information that you will find to be very useful:

Termidor

We use Termidor on all of our subterranean termite treatments. For more information about this product, click on the Termidor logo.

For even more information about termite control, lots of pictures and videos, click here for Termidor’s Termite Institute

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