I live in the Northeast in a wooded are with lots of decaying wood.
Like the termites, carpenter ants are everywhere. I did have a living
tree next to the house that was infested with ants. The bottom of the
tree was eaten out and I didn't see any activity so I figured it was
inactive. When I took the tree down though, the solid part 6 ft up
and higher was infested. Got rid of those, treated the house and
figured I was ok. Then found a stump on the other side of the house
that was infested. Got rid of that last fall and thought I'd be ok
this year but started seeing ants again this summer and treated the
house again. Hopefully with those two sources gone I'll be ok next
year. I'll probably still have a preventative
treatment done in the spring.

Lar wrote in message . ..
On 4 Sep 2004 10:14:04 -0700, (George
Pagliarulo) wrote:

I had an exterminator in for a carpenter ant problem (a yearly event).
Next to an attached garage, I had some pieces of pressure treated
wood sitting on some 2X4's to keep the pt off the ground. The
exterminator lifted one of the 2X4's and found termites in the wood
and tunnels under the 2X4. This is about 1.5 to 2 feet from the
cement foundation. The ab ove ground foundation is about 2 feet high.
He told me that I should have the house treated, otherwise the
termites will attack the house. Now, I live in a wooded area, lots
of decopmposing wood around, I see termites all the time. Although I
don't think I've seen them this close before. I've never had a
termite problem. My question is, is it likely that the termites will
attack the house? How close do they have to be before you worry?

Impossible to say, I have seen 20+ year old homes supposedly never
treated and never a termite discovered and next door to them termites
have been found multiple times in the structure. A common thought is
a home without a sprinkler system will probably have termites show up
7-11 years and a home with a sprinkler system 4-7 years. If your home
is on a slab, the bath trap area is a common place for them to be
found, but this location is never opened up until a treatment is done
from finding termites in other parts of a home. I would guess over
80% of the homes I treat will also have activity in the bath trap area
when I open up the wall, usually they being there long before termites
were discovered in other parts of the home. How much cellulose around
the home will not determine where they will feed. It is not a nest
just feeding on the wood they were found in, the same colony will also
be feeding in over a dozen other places possibly over 100 feet away
from where you saw them. There are products out there that companies
can use as a minimum treatment and still protect your home and usually
saving you a bit of money over to having to totally treat the area of
concern when you know you have termites.

Curious also on why you have to be treated yearly for carpenter
ants..is it preventative or actual nests being found on the home.


Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!


It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.