My annual home termite inspection and "insurance" policy has been costing
$125 per year. This year, now that the house has been standing five years,
the exterminator wants to do a $445 "booster" treatment. I thought the
barrier remains intact for many years until the soil is disturbed, so I
asked why the house would need a booster, and the lady said the barrier has
been breaking down over the five years because of "walking in the yard". Is
the a bona-fide service they are offering?
-BAM

Your annual inspection/insurance is a waste of money as is the booster they
are trying to sell you. If you put the $125.00 per year in a savings
account you will end up with more than enough money to rid your house of
termites several times over your life.

Example:
I am 43 years old. I have owned homes for 20 years. 20 years X $125.00 =
$2500.00. This is enough to rid a home of termites 2-3 times and I have yet
to have termites.

My father is 69 years old and has owned homes for 46 years. 46 years X
$125.00 = $5750 - the cost of one termite infestation cost $750.00 leaves
him $5000.00 that he did not give to the termite people.

You can send me a $125.00 a month and I'll guarantee your home against
termites. ha ha ha!

cm

"Gullible is not in the dictionary"


"Em" wrote in message
...
My annual home termite inspection and "insurance" policy has been costing
$125 per year. This year, now that the house has been standing five years,
the exterminator wants to do a $445 "booster" treatment. I thought the
barrier remains intact for many years until the soil is disturbed, so I
asked why the house would need a booster, and the lady said the barrier
has been breaking down over the five years because of "walking in the
yard". Is the a bona-fide service they are offering?
-BAM

Em wrote:
My annual home termite inspection and "insurance" policy has been costing
$125 per year. This year, now that the house has been standing five years,
the exterminator wants to do a $445 "booster" treatment. I thought the
barrier remains intact for many years until the soil is disturbed, so I
asked why the house would need a booster, and the lady said the barrier has
been breaking down over the five years because of "walking in the yard". Is
the a bona-fide service they are offering?
-BAM

Since they stopped using chlordane, I don't believe that there is any
long lasting chemical barrier. If you are observant, as other
respondant indicated, you are wasting money on inspections and
treatments. I've saved over 30 years without problems. OTOH my next
door neighbor ignored the termites in his wood pile next to the house
and did not call exterminator until he saw them flying in his basement.
Then he got the full treatment. Before the juvenile hormones killed
the nest, I was seeing them in wood 20 ft from my house. That year, I
put out, I think they are called "Terminate" stake and also I spray
foundations a couple of times of year because of ants, and termites did
not visit me.
Frank

Frank wrote:

Em wrote:

My annual home termite inspection and "insurance" policy has been costing
$125 per year. This year, now that the house has been standing five years,
the exterminator wants to do a $445 "booster" treatment. I thought the
barrier remains intact for many years until the soil is disturbed, so I
asked why the house would need a booster, and the lady said the barrier has
been breaking down over the five years because of "walking in the yard". Is
the a bona-fide service they are offering?
-BAM


Since they stopped using chlordane, I don't believe that there is any
long lasting chemical barrier. If you are observant, as other
respondant indicated, you are wasting money on inspections and
treatments. I've saved over 30 years without problems. OTOH my next
door neighbor ignored the termites in his wood pile next to the house
and did not call exterminator until he saw them flying in his basement.
Then he got the full treatment. Before the juvenile hormones killed
the nest, I was seeing them in wood 20 ft from my house. That year, I
put out, I think they are called "Terminate" stake and also I spray
foundations a couple of times of year because of ants, and termites did
not visit me.
Frank

Our older condo was tented twice, before we lived here. Termites are
all over here, in Florida, so finding them in the yard really has
nothing to do with whether the home will be infested. Since we moved
here, inspections are done yearly (not all unit owners would "bother").
Newer condos, on either side of us, have been tented within the past
two years or so. We have trees chewed up by termites, and seem to have
a little war going on between insect species .. one year lots of
carpenter ants, another year lots of fire ants, etc. Fire ants eat
other larvae, so perhaps they keep the termites down. Some choice! )

In article ,
says...
My annual home termite inspection and "insurance" policy has been costing
$125 per year. This year, now that the house has been standing five years,
the exterminator wants to do a $445 "booster" treatment. I thought the
barrier remains intact for many years until the soil is disturbed, so I
asked why the house would need a booster, and the lady said the barrier has
been breaking down over the five years because of "walking in the yard". Is
the a bona-fide service they are offering?


For a termiticide to be labeled a termiticide it has to go through
Government testing and be effective 100% for at least five years, many
will start to break down after that, but termiticides are applied in the
soil so walking in the yard has no effect on them.
You need to see how the original contract is worded. If you paid for a
5 year warranty only, then their obligation will end then. If it states
it is a year to year renewal after initial then tell them since they are
liable for any activity since it is under contract it would be in THEIR
best interest to perform the booster free if they feel their product is
breaking down. What product was originally used?...if it was Termidor,
it is the only product on the market to go over 8 years at 100%
effectiveness in the Government testing and is now over 12 years at 100%
effectiveness. If termidor was used you should be in good shape for a
number of more years. Different states have different laws but most
protect the consumer. If you choose not to go for the booster I don't
think they can drop your service or increase you rates so high that you
won't continue with the plan.
--
Lar

to email...get rid of the BUGS

Lar wrote:
In article ,
says...
My annual home termite inspection and "insurance" policy has been costing
$125 per year. This year, now that the house has been standing five years,
the exterminator wants to do a $445 "booster" treatment. I thought the
barrier remains intact for many years until the soil is disturbed, so I
asked why the house would need a booster, and the lady said the barrier has
been breaking down over the five years because of "walking in the yard". Is
the a bona-fide service they are offering?


For a termiticide to be labeled a termiticide it has to go through
Government testing and be effective 100% for at least five years, many
will start to break down after that, but termiticides are applied in the
soil so walking in the yard has no effect on them.
You need to see how the original contract is worded. If you paid for a
5 year warranty only, then their obligation will end then. If it states
it is a year to year renewal after initial then tell them since they are
liable for any activity since it is under contract it would be in THEIR
best interest to perform the booster free if they feel their product is
breaking down. What product was originally used?...if it was Termidor,
it is the only product on the market to go over 8 years at 100%
effectiveness in the Government testing and is now over 12 years at 100%
effectiveness. If termidor was used you should be in good shape for a
number of more years. Different states have different laws but most
protect the consumer. If you choose not to go for the booster I don't
think they can drop your service or increase you rates so high that you
won't continue with the plan.
--
Lar

Lar-

How long has Termidor been on the market? We had our house done in 1992
by Terminix, but I have no idea what was used. I do remember them
saying that the old "lifetime" stuff had been banned and thus we also
ended up with the yearly insurance policy (but they have never found
termites).

Given the company and year, can you guess what was most likely used and
how effective it is thought to be?

thanks,

John

In article .com,
says...


How long has Termidor been on the market? We had our house done in 1992
by Terminix, but I have no idea what was used. I do remember them
saying that the old "lifetime" stuff had been banned and thus we also
ended up with the yearly insurance policy (but they have never found
termites).

Given the company and year, can you guess what was most likely used and
how effective it is thought to be?

thanks,

John

John,
Termidor came on the market in 2000. Just guessing, with Terminix it
was either Dursban, which took the place of Chlordane and was the most
widely used product at the time....maybe Premise, which was coming into
the market place around then, which until Termidor and Phantom came out
probably was considered the best quality product or a number of the
pyrethroids, some were effective some were worthless. Look under your
kitchen sink and see if there is a sticker that has the name of the
product that was used.

Now the question comes with Terminix, probably any large
company....each branch had a Branch manager who may have different
philosophy's... if the bottom line was his issue, he may have his guys
use the cheapest stuff he could get and if termites showed back up, he
has his pool of hourly guys to remedy the problems as they occurred.
The other scenario with the large national companies is they expand
their termite department during the Spring to take on the craziness of
the termite season. As the season moves into Summer, as the helpers get
more experience, they now may be sent off to do termite jobs with
helpers of their own, thus not being really experienced and not always
being the best employees, many knowing they will be let go when the
termite season slows down. I hear the same things around the country of
being able to buy "black market" termite chemicals from these type of
employees, and I would guess the chemical they sell comes from the
chemical supposed to be used at Mr Jones' house. So it is really hard to
guess of the effectiveness of the work from Terminix and the like. The
best protection you have is to have it routinely inspected every couple
of years.

--
Lar

to email...get rid of the BUGS

On Thu, 05 Oct 2006 12:39:45 GMT, "Em" wrote:

My annual home termite inspection and "insurance" policy has been costing
$125 per year. This year, now that the house has been standing five years,
the exterminator wants to do a $445 "booster" treatment. I thought the
barrier remains intact for many years until the soil is disturbed, so I
asked why the house would need a booster, and the lady said the barrier has
been breaking down over the five years because of "walking in the yard". Is
the a bona-fide service they are offering?
-BAM


I have not purchased termite service, ever. I spend $30 a year on
ant/termite product and spray twice around the perimeter of the house.
It helps keep out spiders, ants, ladybugs. earwigs, crickets and
supposedly termites. You should inspect your house for termites, but
few homeowners actually do this. The $445 treatment sounds a bit
high. I know some areas of the country are more susceptible to
termite infestation that others; ie, I heard that half of Hawaiian
houses are infested.

replying to Em, Don wrote:
nospamblam wrote:

My annual home termite inspection and "insurance" policy has been costing
$125 per year. This year, now that the house has been standing five years,
the exterminator wants to do a $445 "booster" treatment. I thought the
barrier remains intact for many years until the soil is disturbed, so I
asked why the house would need a booster, and the lady said the barrier
has
been breaking down over the five years because of "walking in the yard".
Is
the a bona-fide service they are offering?
-BAM



As with all reviews very seldom does anyone review in the positive.
Let me state some FACTS.
1/ The United States Department of Agriculture states Termites do more
damage in the United States than all natural disasters combined These
include but are not limited to, Fire, Hurricane, Tornado, (all storms)
COMBINED! Again, this is stated by the United States Dept. of Agriculture!
To verify you can call the Dept. of Agriculture in your state.
With these natural disasters you can easily see the damage with the
naked eye, with Termites usually there is no visual signs until there is
damage. A Termite inspector MAY see signs an untrained eye can not see.
That is why he is State licensed. Before he can even take the very
difficult state (FL) test he must have 3 yrs verifiable experience under
a state licensed operator.
So where are these Termites? Usually inside the walls, where NO ONE can
see them. How did they get there? About maybe 20% of the time if you're
lucky thru mud tunnels on the outside foundation, MAYBE. In 26 yrs
experience in the Termite business I've seen, MAYBE 10 mud tunnels on the
outside of concrete block homes, at tops!! I have personally inspected
thousands of homes. The remainder of times they entered' on slab homes
under the tub, shower, cracks in the floor that are invisible due to tile,
carpet, wood flooring etc. Around plumbing pipes, expansion joints where
the floor meets the walls. Do you have these joints? If block home is pre
1980 probably so. Block homes are approx. 20% block, the remainder is
wood!! I have seen at least 75% as many block homes damaged by Termites as
wood homes. If your home is built on a crawl space there are MANY more
unvisible entry points.
So for you that have no termite protection with a TERMITE REPAIR
warranty, (many companies do NOT offer the repair warranty) you're rolling
the dice, good luck!!!
The Dept. of Agriculture has been involved in this a lot longer than
you!! Shop around, and be CERTAIN the contract states you are covered by
a REPAIR warranty.

--

On Thursday, February 20, 2014 9:44:02 AM UTC-5, Don wrote:
replying to Em, Don wrote:

nospamblam wrote:



My annual home termite inspection and "insurance" policy has been costing

$125 per year. This year, now that the house has been standing five years,

the exterminator wants to do a $445 "booster" treatment. I thought the

barrier remains intact for many years until the soil is disturbed, so I

asked why the house would need a booster, and the lady said the barrier

has

been breaking down over the five years because of "walking in the yard".

Is

the a bona-fide service they are offering?

-BAM







As with all reviews very seldom does anyone review in the positive.

Let me state some FACTS.

1/ The United States Department of Agriculture states Termites do more

damage in the United States than all natural disasters combined These

include but are not limited to, Fire, Hurricane, Tornado, (all storms)

COMBINED! Again, this is stated by the United States Dept. of Agriculture!

To verify you can call the Dept. of Agriculture in your state.

With these natural disasters you can easily see the damage with the

naked eye, with Termites usually there is no visual signs until there is

damage. A Termite inspector MAY see signs an untrained eye can not see.

That is why he is State licensed. Before he can even take the very

difficult state (FL) test he must have 3 yrs verifiable experience under

a state licensed operator.

So where are these Termites? Usually inside the walls, where NO ONE can

see them. How did they get there? About maybe 20% of the time if you're

lucky thru mud tunnels on the outside foundation, MAYBE. In 26 yrs

experience in the Termite business I've seen, MAYBE 10 mud tunnels on the

outside of concrete block homes, at tops!! I have personally inspected

thousands of homes. The remainder of times they entered' on slab homes

under the tub, shower, cracks in the floor that are invisible due to tile,

carpet, wood flooring etc. Around plumbing pipes, expansion joints where

the floor meets the walls. Do you have these joints? If block home is pre

1980 probably so. Block homes are approx. 20% block, the remainder is

wood!! I have seen at least 75% as many block homes damaged by Termites as

wood homes. If your home is built on a crawl space there are MANY more

unvisible entry points.

So for you that have no termite protection with a TERMITE REPAIR

warranty, (many companies do NOT offer the repair warranty) you're rolling

the dice, good luck!!!

The Dept. of Agriculture has been involved in this a lot longer than

you!! Shop around, and be CERTAIN the contract states you are covered by

a REPAIR warranty.


Aside from the fact the post is 7 years old, he said he has an insurance
policy, but didn't say it was a repair coverage policy. He could just
mean that for his $125
a year they come inspect the house once a year and if evidence of termites
is found, then the *treatment* cost is covered. That's what I have.
And the house is 30 years old and they have never suggested needing any
booster treatment. Might not be a bad idea, IDK. But given that the
best chemicals are no longer allowed to be used, I wouldn't be surprised
that any chemical barrier could be gone in 5+ years. It also depends
on how prevalent termites are where he's located, etc.

Why would you want to boost your termites?

replying to cm, tuna man wrote:
Ubove examples are simply examples or rolling the dice and hoping for the
best! Some win, some lose. I cand name many many homes, as can the dept or
agriculture that HAS had termite infestations many times with THOUSANDS of
dollars worth of termite damage. Usually noone can see termites in the home
until there IS hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of damage. The
gentleman with a 69 yr old father saved $5000....he was lucky! Termites CAN
and DO cause thousands of dollars worth of damage every year! Dont believe
me? Call the Florida Dept of Agriculture 850/617-7997, they have nothing to
gain nothing to lose!!

--
posted from
http://www.homeownershub.com/mainten...nt-153378-.htm

replying to John Ross, tuna man wrote:
1992, Termidor was not used then. The only thing available was cheap barrier
chemicals.

--
posted from
http://www.homeownershub.com/mainten...nt-153378-.htm

replying to micky, tuna man wrote:
good way toi generate dumb questions!

--
posted from
http://www.homeownershub.com/mainten...nt-153378-.htm

On Tue, 21 Jun 2016 21:44:02 +0000, tuna man
wrote:


replying to micky, tuna man wrote:
good way toi generate dumb questions!

I don't remember ever posting in this thread or about termites.

--
posted from
http://www.homeownershub.com/mainten...nt-153378-.htm

And nothing in the part of the thread that homeownershub has
plagiarized mentions me either.

No only that, nothing there was a dumb question either, and for that
matter, asking what others think are dumb questions very frequently
brings forth lots of valuable information. Asking incisive questions
is likely to scare away people who know lots about a topic but who
don't know everything.

replying to Em, NLB wrote:
I know this is an old post but i did want to comment. The U.S. environmental
protection agency requires that registered soil termiticides remain active for
5 years. Per the chemical manufacturer the chemical is good for 5 years
because thats what the federal government requires. With that being said what
happens is after about 4 years and 9 months the chemical begins to break down
due to a number of things like soil erosion, rain, heat, evaporation, just to
name a few. Keep in mind 5 years for a pesticide to stay active is quite
impressive considering non termiticides typically only remain active for about
30 days. Once the termiticide becomes inactive the termite colony is no longer
kept at bay in the soil and they will begin feeding on cellulose once again.
Termites are blind and once they begin to feed on the cellulose of your homes
wood/drywall foundation they risk popping through and forming what all home
owners dread to see which is the mud tubes. They dont mean to, in fact if they
werent blind termites would prefer not to be seen. Booster treatments aren't
do or die but with an investment as large and sacred as your home it is
definitely recommended. They go in pop open the plugs from the original drill
holes and reapply the termiticide. Termiticide is a time release chemical
which the termites eat and bring back to their colony which kills them from
the source thus keeping them at bay in the soil below your house for another 5
years.

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/mainte...nt-153378-.htm