Ok,
I've DAGS and I think I know the answer to this but thought I'd see if it
matches with what the current wisdom suggests.
I live in NM where termites are plentiful. I've seen them in my yard and a
while back, I even had them in my house. We had a professional out that
treated the entire house yet two years later, the termites were in the house
chomping away. The pro came back and retreated the area but quite frankly
I'm not all that confident that it's going to keep me safe. He was using
Timbor (???...a borax solution of some sort). What I'm thinking about
doing is applying Termidor myself. After reading the literature on it, it
seems pretty simple to do. Trench to the footing and apply at the
specified rate. I do have approx 30 feet of slab I will need to drill and
inject so I still need to figure that piece out but overall, it seems pretty
foolproof. What am I missing here? What are the cons of doing my own
treatment other than no warranty (which given my previous experience, I'm
not overly confident a warranty really means anything)?
Cheers,
jlc

I have the same problem here in Southern California. The pest control
operators have a monopoly on termite work. They charge an arm and a leg for
just pumping some termiticide under the slab. The last time they did it, it
cost $ 2000 and they had to come back in less than a year.

I would like to do it myself, too. The trenching is easy but how to get the
Termidor under the slab? I guess a 1/2 inch hammer drill will get through
the slab. But, how does one go about injecting the solution under the slab??
A pressure washer with the Termidor in a siphon bottle?

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-
"James "Cubby" Culbertson" wrote in message
. ..
Ok,
I've DAGS and I think I know the answer to this but thought I'd see if it
matches with what the current wisdom suggests.
I live in NM where termites are plentiful. I've seen them in my yard and
a while back, I even had them in my house. We had a professional out that
treated the entire house yet two years later, the termites were in the
house chomping away. The pro came back and retreated the area but quite
frankly I'm not all that confident that it's going to keep me safe. He
was using Timbor (???...a borax solution of some sort). What I'm
thinking about doing is applying Termidor myself. After reading the
literature on it, it seems pretty simple to do. Trench to the footing
and apply at the specified rate. I do have approx 30 feet of slab I will
need to drill and inject so I still need to figure that piece out but
overall, it seems pretty foolproof. What am I missing here? What are
the cons of doing my own treatment other than no warranty (which given my
previous experience, I'm not overly confident a warranty really means
anything)?
Cheers,
jlc

"Walter R." wrote in message
...
I have the same problem here in Southern California. The pest control
operators have a monopoly on termite work. They charge an arm and a leg for
just pumping some termiticide under the slab. The last time they did it, it
cost $ 2000 and they had to come back in less than a year.

I would like to do it myself, too. The trenching is easy but how to get
the Termidor under the slab? I guess a 1/2 inch hammer drill will get
through the slab. But, how does one go about injecting the solution under
the slab?? A pressure washer with the Termidor in a siphon bottle?

--
Walter
That's one dilemma I haven't tackled just yet. I wouldn't think it'd be
that difficult though. Perhaps even a
garden sprayer would work....it'd be slow but might work. I do have an
engine cleaning gun that would probably work actually.
Got it cheap at Harbor Freight and it might just be the right size. Plug it
in to an air compressor and attach a bottle of liquid and it sprays pretty
strong. Hmmmm.
I'm curious, when they did your slab did they use
Termidor or something else? If Termidor, and it didn't work after a year,
then getting a warranted job might be
worth it. I have heard however, that Termidor is very effective so hence
I'm willing to forego the warranty if I can
save a few thousand bucks.
Thanks for the response. Hopefully others will chime in with their
experiences.
Cheers,
cc

In article , "James
\"Cubby\" Culbertson" says...
What I'm thinking about
doing is applying Termidor myself. After reading the literature on it, it
seems pretty simple to do. Trench to the footing and apply at the
specified rate. I do have approx 30 feet of slab I will need to drill and
inject so I still need to figure that piece out but overall, it seems pretty
foolproof. What am I missing here? What are the cons of doing my own
treatment other than no warranty (which given my previous experience, I'm
not overly confident a warranty really means anything)?



Some cons would be drilling into your copper water line and causing a
$1200 sub slab leak.. drilling through your plastic drain pipes and
creating a wash out under the slab a few years down the road... hanging
up your drill bit with re barb burning out your drill...hanging up on re
barb allowing the drill to whip around breaking a wrist bone or
shattering a window or toilet porcelain....selling your house and the
WDI inspector see signs of old activity or previous treatment, but there
is no paperwork showing the work was done by a licensed company and the
new buyers insist that termite work is done again....nosey neighbor
complains to the state about you putting chemicals all over the place
and you now have to deal with a smart arsed state inspector asking what
part of ...to be applied by an individual/firm licensed by the state to
perform termite work...

as far as your second post...since termidor came out in 2000, I have yet
to have a call back on any home treated with it..and you probably won't
have any ants inside your home for the rest of the Summer

Hi Lar

Your comments kind of put a damper on this project. I, too, was concerned
about hitting water and drainage pipes. How does a professional avoid this
kind of disaster?

Thanks
--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-
"Lar" wrote in message
...
In article , "James
\"Cubby\" Culbertson" says...
What I'm thinking about
doing is applying Termidor myself. After reading the literature on
it, it
seems pretty simple to do. Trench to the footing and apply at the
specified rate. I do have approx 30 feet of slab I will need to drill
and
inject so I still need to figure that piece out but overall, it seems
pretty
foolproof. What am I missing here? What are the cons of doing my
own
treatment other than no warranty (which given my previous experience,
I'm
not overly confident a warranty really means anything)?



Some cons would be drilling into your copper water line and causing a
$1200 sub slab leak.. drilling through your plastic drain pipes and
creating a wash out under the slab a few years down the road... hanging
up your drill bit with re barb burning out your drill...hanging up on re
barb allowing the drill to whip around breaking a wrist bone or
shattering a window or toilet porcelain....selling your house and the
WDI inspector see signs of old activity or previous treatment, but there
is no paperwork showing the work was done by a licensed company and the
new buyers insist that termite work is done again....nosey neighbor
complains to the state about you putting chemicals all over the place
and you now have to deal with a smart arsed state inspector asking what
part of ...to be applied by an individual/firm licensed by the state to
perform termite work...

as far as your second post...since termidor came out in 2000, I have yet
to have a call back on any home treated with it..and you probably won't
have any ants inside your home for the rest of the Summer

In article , wer25
@example.com says...
Your comments kind of put a damper on this project. I, too, was concerned
about hitting water and drainage pipes. How does a professional avoid this
kind of disaster?


There is a kill box that cuts off equipment at grounded metal... water
lines, re bar, sewage pipes. I have never looked at rental stores to see
if they rent them. With plastic pipes you need to pay attention to how
they are running. Keep a water meter key handy in case of the worse and
you need to hurriedly turn off the water.
At this site... http://unexco.com/Termite.html is a walk through of a
job I did along with a few others from around the country and shows some
problems that you may encounter.

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 20:05:29 -0700, "James \"Cubby\" Culbertson"
wrote:

Ok,
I've DAGS and I think I know the answer to this but thought I'd see if it
matches with what the current wisdom suggests.
I live in NM where termites are plentiful. I've seen them in my yard and a
while back, I even had them in my house. We had a professional out that
treated the entire house yet two years later, the termites were in the house
chomping away. The pro came back and retreated the area but quite frankly
I'm not all that confident that it's going to keep me safe. He was using
Timbor (???...a borax solution of some sort). What I'm thinking about
doing is applying Termidor myself. After reading the literature on it, it
seems pretty simple to do. Trench to the footing and apply at the
specified rate. I do have approx 30 feet of slab I will need to drill and
inject so I still need to figure that piece out but overall, it seems pretty
foolproof. What am I missing here? What are the cons of doing my own
treatment other than no warranty (which given my previous experience, I'm
not overly confident a warranty really means anything)?
Cheers,
jlc


When faced with this decision a couple of years ago, I did a lot of
research into DIY termite control (standard subterrainian) and
concluded that a baiting system was the best option for a slab on
grade and particularly one with a deep perimeter turndown because of
frost line.

My research indicated that it was possible to buy the bait pots and
the installation and subsequent monitoring was not technically
difficult.

I ended up having a local independent put in the system, (I was
planning to sell the house within a year and wanted to be able to show
reports of no infestation). The independent was much less expensive
than the major franchise guys. And it has worked, no signs either in
the house and the bait pots show no activity (initially, several of
them did).

Frank

"Lar" wrote in message
...
Some cons would be drilling into your copper water line and causing a
$1200 sub slab leak.. drilling through your plastic drain pipes and
creating a wash out under the slab a few years down the road... hanging
up your drill bit with re barb burning out your drill...hanging up on re
barb allowing the drill to whip around breaking a wrist bone or
shattering a window or toilet porcelain....selling your house and the
WDI inspector see signs of old activity or previous treatment, but there
is no paperwork showing the work was done by a licensed company and the
new buyers insist that termite work is done again....nosey neighbor
complains to the state about you putting chemicals all over the place
and you now have to deal with a smart arsed state inspector asking what
part of ...to be applied by an individual/firm licensed by the state to
perform termite work...

as far as your second post...since termidor came out in 2000, I have yet
to have a call back on any home treated with it..and you probably won't
have any ants inside your home for the rest of the Summer

For me, I'm not too worried about most of the cons you list. The only
places that need to be drilled, I think, are clear of any utilities either
in or under the slab. I'm not too worried about drilling concrete. I've
drilled enough to know how to do it and have the tools to do it as well.
Your point on the inspector is well taken. The only real time I would need
to produce such a document would be when I decide to sell the house. My
neighbors are pretty cool with all my various projects. If I have to pay
someone to do it due to the sale, well all I did was postpone the cost which
is probably not a bad thing. Hmm, I'd better give this more thought.
Cheers,
cc

"Frank Boettcher" wrote in message
...

When faced with this decision a couple of years ago, I did a lot of
research into DIY termite control (standard subterrainian) and
concluded that a baiting system was the best option for a slab on
grade and particularly one with a deep perimeter turndown because of
frost line.

My research indicated that it was possible to buy the bait pots and
the installation and subsequent monitoring was not technically
difficult.

I ended up having a local independent put in the system, (I was
planning to sell the house within a year and wanted to be able to show
reports of no infestation). The independent was much less expensive
than the major franchise guys. And it has worked, no signs either in
the house and the bait pots show no activity (initially, several of
them did).

Frank

I would very much prefer to use a local person but unfortunately, none of
them seem to be licensed to use Termidor. Terminex seems to be the only
game in town (at least according to BASF/Termidor) and I know they'll charge
a damn fortune. I may have to make a few phone calls just to see though.
Cheers,
cc

In article , "James \"Cubby\"
Culbertson" says...
I would very much prefer to use a local person but unfortunately, none of
them seem to be licensed to use Termidor.


Here are a couple of links where you might find someone near you.
http://www.ipconetwork.org/referral/referral.mv
http://www.pestworld.org/consumer/find.asp

and if you have no luck let me know your area you are in and I might be
able to ask around and get some names myself