How to Identify Termite Species. Don't get it wrong!
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- Опубликовано: 24 фев 2023
- Not all termites are the same. Different species of termites require different kinds of treatments. Find out what kind of termites you have, so that you don't waste time and money treating the wrong species.
Video on how to trench for subterranean termites: • How to Trench for Subt...
Video on how to treat subterranean termites with granules: • Unbelievable DIY Termi...
Video on drywood termite treatment options: • Drywood Termite Treatm...
Video on how to prevent drywood termites: • How to Prevent Drywood...
Video on how to treat drywood termites yourself: • How to Treat a Drywood...
Video on how to treat Formosan termites: • How to Eliminate Formo...
Please note, sometimes I do not always receive posted questions from viewers, or I do receive them, but RUclips does not allow me to respond to them. Sometimes I do not receive a question until six months after it was posted. These glitches do not happen often, but they do happen. It is my policy to respond to all questions within 48 hours, so if you do not hear from me in a couple of days, then please email your question to me at guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. Please do try to post questions in the comment section first and only use the email address if you don't hear from me. The reason for this is that other folks may have the same question, so it would be nice for them to learn as well. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. Remember... I will always get back to you.
I am going to sound as a broken record, I am a big fan of your work here in YT.
Thank you so much for those kind words. Always greatly appreciated. Be well my friend.
The world need more people like you Guy.
That is so kind of you to say. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Hi i am a certified termite technician through florida pest control through rentokil your knowledge on this is on point great job! (:
Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend
I live in Daytona beach.. Durwood or subterranean?
Your videos saved me a tons of money.
Thank you!!
You are very welcome. Be well my friend.
Thank God for this person. Saving me big bucks...
Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Great video. You clearly explain the differences between each species of termites. The pictures really help.
Thanks Chris. You are always so supportive. Very much appreciated. Be well.
Guy,thank you for making another great video!
You are very welcome. Thanks for watching. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Thank you!! Another great video!!
Thank you Irma. Always nice to hear from you. I appreciate the comment. Be well.
Dear Guy, thanks for your videos. They are very helpful and give me confidence to deal with my termites problems.
Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Really great information! Thank you
Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Simple and very informative video 👍
Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Thanks for sharing! Blessings 🙏
You are very welcome. Be well my friend.
Thank you, Sir. Great information
You are very welcome. Be well my friend.
thank you sir for the information. Health and best wishes
You are very welcome. Thank you so much the the well wishes. Very much appreciated. I wish you well too.
Awesome, I learned about the ones we had here, and how different they are
You are right Steve. You have some insane species of termites in Australia. We have it really easy compared to you folks. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions Yes...ours don't always read the memos either!😁🤣👌☺️
I checked and I just have the eastern subterranean variety, thank God. Due to these videos I have high confidence on tackling this myself. Guy is a real hero on RUclips
Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
I'm in North Texas, think I got Eastern Subterranean too😕
I'm so sorry that I'm only getting to answer this right now. For some reason, RUclips did not send me your comment until this morning. They do that sometimes and I have had them hold comments for as long as 3 years already. If ever you ask me a question, and you do not get an answer within a few days, then please email me at guyspestsolutions@gmail.com.
Please let me know if you need assistance with this. Be well my friend.
Very interesting information about termites. When does a termite swarm?? ty
Termites typically swarm during the spring and summer months. The exact timing of the swarming season can vary depending on the species of termite and the climate. They can swarm as early as late February in warm climates. Some species can swarm as late as early fall. I hope that helps. Be well McCardie.
I live in Middle TN and just found termites in the subfloor of our split level home upstairs. There were a few inactive mud trails downstairs on the cinder block inside the garage and under our stairs. Pest control company wants to drill into drywall, brick, and cinder block walls downstairs to foam and then do a trench around the home. If we do the trench then do we need to drill into the walls to foam? Also, we are considering trenching ourselves since we have watched your videos and want to know if there is a benefit to trenching and then using the granules right after? Thank you for the informative videos they are so helpful and will save us thousands of dollars.
If you trench around the entire house, then there is a good chance that is going to end the problem. I think the concern that the pest control had is that you have a mud tube on the inside of the garage. That can sometimes suggest that the colony is very close to the house and maybe part of the colony may even be under the house. I recommend that you remove about 2 inches of that mud tube and watch to see if the termites build it back. Sometimes a mud tube can look dead, but it isn't. If the termites do not rebuild the mud tube after a couple of weeks, then I do not think I would worry about doing any other treatment, other than the trenching. If you trench around the house, then you do not need to apply the granules over the top of it. Normally, I would tell you to just try the granules first, but I am a little bit concerned about that mud tube, so I think you may want to go a bit deeper with the treatment, and that is why I think trenching would be a better option for you than just granules. It sounds like you have already watched my video on how to properly trench, but let me give you a link to it anyway, in case you want to use it as a refresher. It would be worth watching that video one more time, just to make sure that you know what you're doing.
I hope that helps. You're well my friend.
Video on how to trench for subterranean termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
God bless you. So so helpful!❤
Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions 💕
I have noticed mud tubes on the inside of the house going up the wall...I live in Texas about 50 miles south of Dallas...would this necessarily be the subterranean termite? Thank you for sharing all your great knowledge concerning these pests.
This could be a common species of subterranean termites or it could be Formosan termites. So, how you handle it will depend on the species. Figuring out the species is actually pretty easy and I have a video on how to do that. I will provide you with a link below. After watching this video, you should be able to identify the species. Just get back to me after you watch it and let me know what you found out. At that point, I can tell you exactly what you need to do. Let me know if you have any problems identifying the species, but I do not think that you will. It is much easier than you may imagine. Formosan termites are serious, so do not delay.
Be well my friend.
Video on how to identify termite species : ruclips.net/video/dIs_a0nfVjg/видео.html
I live in Daytona beach Florida and had a pest inspection. Said there is evidence of drywood termites. But did not say anything about subterranean, are you saying I could have subterranean termites also? Are drywood termites considered Formosan termites?
Thank you for sharing your knowledge, foremost. I have looked for this info for years until today finding your videos by accident. I moved out of my elderly father’s house because I was tired of waking up covered with swarming termites every May. My previous research I was only able to identify the swarmers as termites vs wood eating ants. Living in south Louisiana I now know dad can have both subterranean and dry wood termites but I have only seen the same black termites, very black without question. But I am confused because there are many poke out holes and frazz as you describe but the 100’s of swarmers every year are solid jet black with equal sized clear wings. Most are mating and some have lost their wings and they die fairly soon. They do not come out of the poke out holes, they come through the a/c vents even though the outside wall is riddled with poke out holes and the window molding is now cracked all with caked frazz with loose frazz below. I have checked for mud tubes for years and never found one but I cannot see under the house to check the foundation pillars. My father will not accept that he has a termite infestation but I fear structural damage as the floor has some soft spots. I have inspected the attic and found no sign of termites. Please advise as my father is deciding whether to invest money into fixing the house from storm damage or not. I do not believe he just has swarming termites once every year without an infestation considering the holes and frazz indicating otherwise. The house is possibly compromised and beyond reasonable repairs especially at his 85 yrs of age. I will definitely trench treat my house as you recommend. Is the trench dug next to the foundation, or just close to it? Thank you in advance for all your help plus your invaluable information.
Let me start by saying that I think your concerns are totally justified. Just based on what you are telling me, it sounds very likely that your father has an infestation of subterranean termites. If the only swarmers you are finding are totally black, then they are almost certainly subterranean termites. It sounds like this has been going on for a very long time, so it is reasonable two suspect that there is a lot of damage. Since you do live in an area where drywood termites are known to exist, then you need to make sure that what you believe is frass, is actually frass and not something else. Drywood termite frass looks like tiny pellets. If the material you are seeing is more like a powder or it is more like mud, then it is not being created they drywood termites. If this material does look like pellets, then it is very possible that you are looking at an infestation by two different species. You should also look for carpenter ants, because these guys like to eat termites, and they will leave a powder behind that looks a lot like frass. Again, this would not look like pellets. It is more like a powder.
Those holes that you are seeing are most likely exit holes. You may not realize it, but the swarmers are coming out of those holes. The fact that you are seeing a lot of these holes means that it is a pretty serious infestation. Please look directly under these holes to see if there is any frass on the floor directly below the holes. If so, then you are probably looking at kick out holes that were created by drywood termites or carpenter ants. If this material looks like little pellets, then you have confirmed the presence of drywood termites. If this material looks more like a powder, then you probably have carpenter ants for another kind of wood destroying pest.
I have a video on the proper way to trench the house and I will give you a link to it. If at all possible, you want to dig the trench directly against the foundation. Just follow the directions in the video, and you should not have any problems.
I hope that helps. Please let me know if you determine that you have drywood termites or carpenter ants.
Be well my friend.
Video on how to trench for termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Guy I have watched so many videos of yours and I want to personally thank you for being such a selfless man. You're very knowledgeable and I know many of us appreciate you very much. I live right on the border in Texas to Oklahoma where your map is. I had a swarm of flying pure black winged termites twice (glued to the wall with plain old Ortho when I saw the 2nd swarm) I found them falling out the bottom of my window sill inside so thought the were drywood but color isn't orange. I have no mud tunnels and I look constantly around my white house (i did buy the granules for preventative purposes though). Happens the window isn't sealed underneath so it wasn't frass based on everything I'm reading. I THINK they're subterranean Eastern? There was babies inside on the floor dying clear ones, and the baseboard caught some bigger ones and some mess...the heads are rectangular. I'd love to send photos but I'd hate to ask...I'm sure everyone hits you up.
So my plan is drill holes inside the entire back walls and use Termidor foam high and low. Was looking at Termidor SC or Taurus SC for outside. Because they got in my brick house exactly where the siding meets the ceiling of my patio area, I have to assume I need to do my attic too. I'm 120 lbs and 5'5 and there's room to move but no ventilation. Is there a fogger I can put up there? And does my Termidor foam/SC for outdoors sound appropriate? You already know the pest control companies are going to get me and my husband died so I'm a fixed income and going to get this done my darn self. Especially when I found out they won't spray above their head. These black swarmers knew exactly to avoid the brick and to get in the cruddy siding roof area. Please advise 🙏 thank you kindly, Brandi
I am so sorry that you're having this problem. It sounds like you did an excellent job identifying the species. If I was still in the business, I would definitely hire you. Here's the thing though, the species of termites that you have do not colonize in the building. They almost always colonize under the ground within a 300 foot radius of the building. They do not live in your home. Your house just happens to be their favorite restaurant. You can do some spot treating where the activity is, but you still need to treat around the perimeter of the house. It is also possible that they have a colony under the house if you have a crawl space, so you need to look under there to see if there are mud tubes coming up from the ground. If that is the case, then you need to let me know.
There are two options for treating subterranean termites yourself. The easiest way is to use termite granules. It costs less than $60 to do and it only takes about an hour. The application is so easy that a child can do it. The other option is to trench around the entire building, including the driveway. It takes about a day for most people to trench around an average sized building and it only costs about $100 to do the job. You don't need to do it all in one day though. You can take your time with it. Trenching lasts for 5 to 10 years, but the granules should be applied every year as a preventive measure. I have videos on how to do both options and I will place links below.
For the granules to work you need to have dirt around most of the house and that dirt needs to be porous enough to allow water to seep into the ground fairly quickly. To find out if the dirt around your house is porous enough, just dig a small hole next to the house that is about 4 inches deep, 8 inches long, and just the width of the shovel. Fill the hole with water and watch to see how fast it drains down into the ground. If it seeps into the ground fairly quickly, then the granules should work just fine. However, if it just kind of sits there, then the granules would not be a good choice, and you should consider trenching. Make sure that you buy the correct granules. You need the ones that have imidacloprid as the active ingredient. A lot of the Home Depot and Lowes stores no longer sell the correct granules, but you can get them from Amazon. I will give you a link to them.
You can give any subterranean termite treatment a bit of a boost by doing a spot treatment. If at all possible, spot treating for subterranean termites should not be the only approach to eliminate an infestation. An additional exterior treatment should also be done with either granules or trenching, whenever possible. Spot treating alone may totally eliminate the infestation with no other treatments, but it's not a sure thing.
To spot treat subterranean termites, you need to buy a fipronil foam. I will provide links for two products that you can choose from. I like the FiPro the best because it's a little less expensive and I like the applicator tip better, but the Termidor Foam also works very well. The FiPro is not available everywhere. If you can get one of these foams, then drill holes in all damaged areas, that are 4 inches apart, and drilled about halfway through the wood. Look for exit holes in the walls. If you are seeing exit holes in the wall, then there is most likely a stud behind the exit hole. Get a stud finder and locate the stud where it meets the ceiling and drive a small nail into the stud a couple of inches below the ceiling. Attach a weighted string to the nail and that will show you where the stud is. Then drill the holes 4 inches apart along the entire length of the stud, about 3 inches deep. Do the same thing for woodwork, except only drill the holes halfway through the wood. If you think that there is a 2 x 4 behind the woodwork, then drill a 3-inch-deep hole every 8 inches. The holes only need to be wide enough to get the applicator tip of the foam can into the hole. After the holes are drilled, then shoot the foam into each hole for about 5 seconds or until you have foam either coming back out at you or coming out the other holes that you drilled. All the holes should have foam either going into them or coming out of them. This will contaminate their food source and they will take the fipronil back in the colony and spread it around to the other termites.
I know you are not seeing mud tubes, but most of the time, subterranean termites are going to be building mud tubes somewhere. You will most likely find these mud tubes going up the exterior or interior of your foundation and you may find them along joists and even in the attic sometimes. If you have a slab home, then you may find them going up the outside of the house on the slab and even the side of the house. If you can find the mud tubes, then you can treat them as well. Just scrape off about a 2-inch section of each mud tube down to the bare surface. Then, shoot that foam into each side of the mud tube and also apply a little of it on the surface where you removed it. The termites will rebuild the mud tubes and bring the foam back to the colony to spread around to the other termites.
Also, if you can find the mud tubes, this is a very good way to determine when the infestation is gone. If you scrape off that 2-inch section of a mud tube, you can see if there are any live termites in the tube. Again, the termites will rebuild the tube and go about their business. Do this every two weeks after you finish all your treatments. Apply the foam to the mud tube every time you do it. At the point you are no longer seeing live termites and they stop rebuilding the mud tube, then your infestation has been eradicated.
After you use one of these methods, you may want to consider installing monitoring stations around the house. This is not necessary, but it is very easy to do, and you will know immediately if you have termites in the area. If one of the stations goes off, then you can treat the termites right at the station, before they try to attack your house. This way, you are protected by either the granules or the trenching, and you have the peace of mind knowing that there are no termites in the area. You can make these stations yourself out of used water bottles for about 50 cents each. I have a video on how to do that and I will give you a link to it. These stations have a little orange dot on the top of them. When the dock disappears you either have termites or the station has malfunctioned. Either way, you can check to see if there are active termites, and if there are, then you can treat them right there. Now, let's face it, we are making these things out of used water bottles, so it is possible that one of orange indicators can move to the side and disappear, even though there are no termites. That's not really a big deal though because these things are very fast and easy to make and install. So, just keep a few on hand should you need to replace one. After they are installed, just walk around the house every couple of months to see if there are orange dots missing. It couldn't be easier.
It typically takes several weeks for any termite treatment to be effective. That is because you are using slow kill products. If you were to kill the termites too quickly, then they would not have a chance to bring the poison back to the colony and share it with the other termites. If you don't kill off the entire colony, you will not end the infestation. Therefore, you must kill off subterranean termites very slowly. So, I would give this at least 12 weeks before I would decide that something went wrong, and the process didn't work. Hiring a professional to trench your house is pretty much going to take about the same amount of time to kill off the colony.
I hope that helps. Be well Brandi.
Video on how to apply termite granules: ruclips.net/video/H7rW_TSBHJ4/видео.html
Video on how to trench for subterranean termites the right way: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Video and how to make termite monitoring stations: ruclips.net/video/gye27aXHRsY/видео.html
Termite granules: www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUIJYM?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_k2_1_4&=&crid=38N4G81Z51T3L&=&sprefix=term
FiPro: www.solutionsstores.com/fipro-foaming-aerosol
Termidor Foam: www.domyown.com/termidor-foam-p-3528.html
Ok got Bioadvanced GRANULES, I'll check seepage and soak in, I am on a slab and I haven't found anything like a mud tube but haven't checked attic. Praying these are not Formosan. They flew in last year and 😕came back same upper corner outside just like you said, dropped wings on ground and on wall then crawled up in that dang corner. I don't see frass, I'm betting these pinholes in my sheet rock inside are kickoffs, real tiny. So FiPro FOAM in voids and studs inside and I see something strange on ceiling so I'm shooting up there too. Case of FiPro, maybe 2 cases for second treatment lol. Then you fancy bottle trick, love that by the way thank youuuuu. And Termidor SC all around outside and every open area I can find.
So ultimately it doesn't matter which flavor of termites these methods will eradicate any if I'm correct?
Ordering Foam for voids and studs and SC liquid now, granules go down tomorrow. WISH ME LUCK IM GOING TO NEED IT 🙃
Thank you kindly Guy, youre my hero.
@@brandilipari9365 Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. Be well Brandi.
@@GuysPestSolutions you're priceless Guy, thank you kindly for helping people save their homes. You're my hero!
@@brandilipari9365 That is so kind of you to say. I don't think I have ever been anyone's hero before. I am totally humbled. You are very welcome. Be well Brandi.
took my sample to a local diy shop here in Pinellas they id for me. I opened my garage door and there were swarmers I opened both doors to the outside they flew away leaving behind a few dead bodies but I havent seen any since . they were subterranean, I trenched the house anyway. I dont now if/when it was ever done before. I did have some carpenter ants, treating w/Taurus took care of them so that was a bonus. still, trenching in FL is no fun.
It sounds like you did the right thing. Trenching is never fun, but believe me that there are much worse places to do it. Good job. Be well my friend.
Hello Guy, I recently found a 2" area of protruding pinholes on my drywall. I scraped the hole revealing termites behind drywall paper. Question I have is are they drywall or subterranean termites? I have a picture but don't know how to attach. I have a slab and there are no mud tunnels on it leading into the house. Would trench treating around the perimeter also treat for drywall termites? I live in Fort Worth, Texas and the dirt here is like clay so I'm not sure if granule treatment would be effective. Thank you for any advice you would like to share.
They are going to be subterranean where you live, but they could be Formosan. Please watch my video on how to properly photograph a bug and send a photo to guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. I would be happy to have a look. It is important that you obtain a specimen with a red head. Meanwhile, go up in the attic and see if there are any mud tubes up there. If you have very dense soil, then the granules would not be a good choice because they need to leach into the ground. Trenching works for all subterranean termites where you live, including Formosan termites. So, you should begin doing that. I will give you a link to my video on how to trench for termites. If these are Formosan termites, then you may require some inside treatment as well. We will cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, I recommend that you send me the photo and start trenching.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to properly photograph a bug: ruclips.net/video/I8qd63hX6y8/видео.html
Video on how to trench for termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Thanks!
Thank you so much. That was so thoughtful of you. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Can you have both? I have had the tunnels and frass. I have seen the eastern subt. It had a red rectangular head. In calif.
You can have all three where you live. It is not uncommon to have two in California. Please let me know if you need guidance. Be well Alice.
Hey guy, I'm in the white zone but not far from the orange zone. My question is I found a start of a mud tube on a ceiling close to a door. Outside close to that door were the flying termites swarming on the wall where there are seams from siding. I'm not sure if red or black but I will definitely be checking that when I get home. We sprayed them with something and they died on the spot. My question is dose that tube that was started mean there are termites already in that wall?
You have a species of subterranean termites. Probably not Formosan, but if you are close to the line, then they could be. They do not colonize in your house, unless they are Formosan. Colonies are in the ground. Your house just happens to be their favorite restaurant. Most species must return to the ground fairly often, and that is why they build those mud tubes. So, yes, you do have them in your wall and in your ceiling. Please watch my video on how to trench for subterranean termites. If they are Formosan, then watch that video as well. If they are not Formosan, then you may be able to just treat them with granules. I will give you links to all the videos. I recommend that you watch them all to educate yourself on the problem and how to treat it. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to trench for subterranean termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Video on how to treat subterranean termites with granules: ruclips.net/video/H7rW_TSBHJ4/видео.html
Video on how to treat Formosan termites: ruclips.net/video/xDtGUWxMrRw/видео.html
will Formosan leave frass also? we have mud tubes and frass. Also every year in May in our area the panhandle of Fl termites swarm all over our neighborhood. They seem to swarm toward lights and get inside but die soon after
Formosan termites are subterranean and do not leave frass. They will however leave mud, so make sure that you are looking at actual frass and not mud. You do have both Formosan and drywood termites where you live, and it is very possible to have both. Drywood termites do not create mud tubes, so you know for sure that you do have some sort of subterranean termites. Try to obtain a specimen with a red head and compare it to the photos in the video. Most likely the swarmers are drywood, so my guess is that you have both species infesting your home. You need to treat the subterranean termites FIRST by trenching. After you trench, then you need to hire a company to fumigate. This will kill off the drywood termites and any Formosan cartons that are in the walls. I will give you a link to my video on how to trench. Also, please watch my video on how to hire a pest controller without getting ripped off. Prices can vary wildly with fumigation, so the video can save you a lot of money.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to trench for termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Video on how to hire a pest controller without getting ripped off: ruclips.net/video/y-a8XOqVrlE/видео.html
Can you make a video on different actives/products used to kill termites? Bioadvanced granules has two products with different actives, spectracide stakes has a different active, and termite foam sprays uses a different active. Which active would you recommend?
There are all sorts of products out there that utilize a wide variety of active ingredients. Unfortunately, not all of them work the way they are supposed to. The granules are a good example. As you pointed out, there are two versions of granules and one of them does not work. You need the version that has imidacloprid as the active ingredient.
I do have a video that talks about the Spectracide Termite Stakes, and I will give you a link for it.
The termite foams come in a variety of formulations. You cannot buy anything that works from the big box stores, like Home Depot or Lowes. They typically sell the Spectracide foam that is a quick kill product that is not very effective. You need to stick with any of the professional products that use either fipronil or imidacloprid as the active ingredient. I prefer pure fipronil, but I'm sure the fipronil and imidacloprid combination works just fine as well. The foam I liked the best is FiPro, but you can only get it from Solutions Pest and Lawn. Thermador foam works fine too. These are both firpronil products. You can also buy Fuse Foam, which utilizes fipronil and imidacloprid as the active ingredients.
I also have a video that discusses the differences between baiting and trenching.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Spectracide Termite Stakes video: ruclips.net/video/UDzg-1lpynA/видео.html
Video on the differences between baiting and trenching: ruclips.net/video/jrPrr5DdB_g/видео.html
Termite granules: www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUIJYM?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_k1_1_7&=&crid=X6B5VFS87P09&=&sprefix=termite
Hi Guy! I just moved into a super old house in Southern Missouri and recently discovered a subterranean termite infestation inside the wood trim around a closet door in the bedroom. This seems like a very odd place! It seems localized to that area as I cannot see any further evidence of them being anywhere else. The closet door trim does meet the wall that is an exterior wall. I've found no mud trails, no holes, etc, so wondering where they came from. The house does have a crawlspace. If they are in the door trim im assuming theres a good chance they are also in the wall/floor behind/under it as well? My husband wants to remedy the situation ourselves without the use of chemicals/exterminators, but i am doubtful that's the best way to go about it. I would appreciate any thoughts you have on this situation! I know there are a lot of DIY solutions, but im not sure which one to go with since i can't figure out how they got in exactly. Thanks for your great videos!
Thank you for reaching out to me. I'm so sorry that you're having this problem. As the saying goes, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the only species of termites that you have when you live are subterranean and they are somewhat slow eaters, so it takes them a while to do any serious damage. Also, these termites are actually reasonably easy to treat yourself. The bad news is that you cannot use any of those natural solutions that you see on RUclips. They simply are not going to work. They get lots of views and they are making money for the people who post them, what they are causing people to get their houses eaten by termites. So, I recommend that your husband ignore all of that stuff and just kind of resign yourselves that you need to do this correctly. That being said, I can assure you that the materials I will be recommending a perfectly safe after they dry. It is always a good idea to handle all materials like this with rubber gloves. The truth is that they are no more hazardous than common laundry detergent. You probably wouldn't want to stick your hands in laundry detergent all day long either. Please tell your husband that I have been married over 45 years and I have learned the hard way that the wife is almost always right. When a man fails to head his wife's advice, he proceeds at his own peril.
Before I get into how to treat these guys, let me briefly explain how they work. The subterranean termites that you have always colonize in the ground and never in your house. They are only coming to your house because it's their favorite restaurant. Not all termites leave the colony, because some of them hate eating out. So the termites that like to eat out will bring back food for the other termites. That means they need to go to and from your house on a regular basis. So, if you apply some sort of a barrier around your house, then the termites will need to pass through it when they are traveling to and from the colony. Termites always travel underground because if they are exposed to air, then they will dehydrate to death. Since they know there is no wood underground, they only travel a couple of inches below the surface. Therefore, we only need to place a barrier in the soil around your house that is a couple of inches deep. We use a product that they cannot identify as being hazardous to them. So, they happily pass right through it to and from their trips to the colony and back. When they do this, they bring this material back to the colony and share it with the other termites, including the queen. Then, it's lights out to the entire colony sometime within 12 weeks. Now that you know how termites work, let me go over your treatment options.
I see that you already watched my video on how to use termite granules. For the granules to work you need to have dirt around most of the house and that dirt needs to be porous enough to allow water to seep into the ground fairly quickly. To find out if the dirt around your house is porous enough, just dig a small hole next to the house that is about 4 inches deep, 8 inches long, and just the width of the shovel. Fill the hole with water and watch to see how fast it drains down into the ground. If it seeps into the ground fairly quickly, then the granules should work just fine. However, if it just kind of sits there, then the granules would not be a good choice, and you should consider trenching. If it turns out that you need to trench, then please watch my video on how to do that correctly. Trenching is a lot more work, but it only costs about $100 to do an average size home, and it lasts 5 to 10 years. Most people can trench an entire house in one day, but you can take up to a month to get it done, and you can literally do just 10 feet at a time.
Make sure that you buy the correct granules. You need the ones that have imidacloprid as the active ingredient. A lot of the Home Depot and Lowes stores no longer sell the correct granules, but you can get them from Amazon. I will give you a link to them.
Do not use any locally obtained products from the big box stores to spot treat the termites because it may make them move to a new area of your home. Those products are never a good idea. The are quick kill products and that is not what you want for subterranean termites. Also, do not repair the damage yet. Let the termites eat and travel to and from the colony. If you replace the wood, they will just start eating the new wood or move to a new location in your home. So, do not disturb them.
If you go under the crawl space, you will probably find mud tubes under there. This is important. If there are mud tubes that are in direct contact with the ground, then you need to treat under the house as well. Let me know if this is the case and I will guide you further. Do not use the granules for this purpose. Granules are for exterior use only.
I hope that helps. Be well Abigail.
Termite granules: www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUIJYM?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_k1_1_6&=&crid=157C3RV0MY0AK&=&sprefix=termit
Video on how to trench for subterranean termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Hey if a comment plus factors a video's listing, I want to comment here cause Guy's good to learn from. He's also easy to listen to in pace and tone of voice. Yep.
Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
Thank you so much for this information. I live in WA, my house is very close to a forest, and there's a rotten tree I can see from my window. Last week, it fell just a few feet from my house. When I was cutting it today, I found hundreds of Eastern Subterranean termites inside it. Should I be concerned? As i was planning to remove it away but know i am worry to attack my house if i did that to find a new place. there are no signs of termites in my house so far.
Termites in the area is always cause for concern. Make sure that you did the inspection on your house correctly. Please watch my video on how to inspect for termites. Even the pros get it wrong. I would move the cut wood and place it next to the stump, but before you move it, dig out the ground six inches deep and 12 inches wider than the footprint of where the wood will be. Make sure that there is a 6-to-12-inch boarder around the pile. Stack it up if you need to. Soak that area really well with lots of Taurus SC, mixed 0.8 ounces per gallon of water. A watering can is great for this. Fill it in with 3 inches of dirt and soak it again. Then fill it in all the way and soak it once more. Then put the cut wood on top of it. The idea is that you want the termites to continue eating, but this time they will travel through the treated dirt and that will take out the entire colony, so they will not be able to eat your house. No colony, no termites, no infestation in your home.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to inspect for termites: ruclips.net/video/oGyAVT7Zyro/видео.html
Thank you for giving me the confidence to deal with termites. Would you provide a link on how to photograph? I have one trapped, but I am unable to identify it. It is very tiny and has no wings and I am
unable to identify its head. Thank you very much for all your videos.
The link to my video on how to photograph a bug is below. I am going on vacation after tomorrow, so please allow until after June 11 for me to get back to you. I know that I will have a lot of questions waiting when I get home, so it may take me a few days to get caught up. I will get back to you though. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
video on how to photograph a bug: ruclips.net/video/I8qd63hX6y8/видео.html
Guy, I have a question. Just found black swarmer termites at the top of a second story window casing that is above a sliding door. This looks to be Eastern Subterranian termites. All black. The windows are old metal frame windows that condensate when it's really cold outside. Some of the condensate runs between the window sill and the frame. Is there any way these termites started a nest around the window or would they have started in the ground and traveled up two stories? I am going to check the crawlspace tomorrow for mud tubes. I checked outside for tubes and didn't see any. I am trying to get an idea of how long they might have been there. Thanks.
Congratulations on determining the correct species. Well done. You should know that subterranean termites never colonizing your home. They always colonize in the ground and that colony is probably located within a 300 foot radius of your home. The only way to eliminate the infestation is to eliminate the colony. The termites must return to the colony fairly often to obtain moisture and to feed the other termites in the colony. So, we can use this to our advantage. We know that the termites only travel a couple of inches below the surface of the ground, so if we place a pesticide barrier in the ground around the house, then the termites are going to travel through it and take it back to the colony with them. They will spread it around the colony and the entire column will die out within several weeks. There are two ways that you can do this yourself. The easiest way is to apply termite granules around the house and water them in with a garden hose. This works about 95% of the time. You can also dig a shallow trench around the house and treat with Taurus SC. This is almost 100% effective. I will give you links to both videos. I suggest that you watch both of them, so that you have a full understanding of how subterranean termites operate and which of these options would be best for you. If you go with the granules, then make sure that you get the ones that have imidacloprid as the active ingredient. I do not think that Lowe's sells the correct granules anymore. Some Home Depot stores sell them and some do not. Oftentimes they sell the wrong granules that do not have imidacloprid as the active ingredient. If you want to be sure that you get the right ones, then order them from Amazon. I will give you a link to the correct product. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to trench for termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Video on how to treat termites with granules: ruclips.net/video/H7rW_TSBHJ4/видео.html
Termite granules: www.amazon.com/BIOADVANCED-700350A-Perimeter-Treatment-Granules/dp/B000RUIJYM/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1DK8U0I9R4XMX&keywords=termite+killer&qid=1679562436&sprefix=termite%2Caps%2C280&sr=8-6
@@GuysPestSolutions I really appreciate the reply and info. I'm going to get started. Thank you.
@@BA-pg4od You are very welcome. Be well my friend.
Hello, one thing, I mentioned on a couple of your other videos that I've been fighting subterranean termites and, they do actually create kick out holes. I found mud tubes on my fencing and some mud tubes inside of the wall near my front door with kick out holes on the inside. I believe I've killed them all but I'm going to continue treating them every 2 weeks. I've been injecting foam into the walls, perimeter and yard poisoning as well as foaming the fence and even trenched under the fence to both break their tubes as well as introducing fipro. I figure if I continue at this for a 6 months until it starts to get cold when termites are weakest, they will not be able to make it.
Subterranean termites do not create kick out holes. I know it may seem like they do, because you see those little holes in the drywall or the woodwork. That can be somewhat confusing, but what you are actually seeing are exit holes and not kick out holes. The difference is that kick out holes are used by drywood termites and carpenter ants to push waste material out of the wall or the woodwork. Exit holes are, as the name implies, a way for the swarmers to leave, in order to start new colonies. Both drywood termites and subterranean termites create exit holes, but only drywood termites and carpenter ants create kick out holes.
It sounds like you did a pretty extensive treatment, but you didn't mention if you trenched around the house. You said that you did trench under the fence, which is a very good thing, but you also need to trench around the house as well. I'm guessing that you did that, but I was unclear about it. If you did trench around the house, these guys are going to be toast. I love that you went nuclear on these guys, and it sounds like they don't stand a chance. The treatment does take up to 12 weeks to work, so you should be termite free after that.
Thank you so much for sharing this information. I always love to get feedback from people to let me know how they are making out with the treatments. Great job. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions i see, thank you for the clarification. I will trench after this heat wave is done, for now I only had enough gumption to trench under the fence, pour poison there, spray poison on all exterior walls and fences , and I am injecting a fipro foam into the walls and attic. The foaming is quite tedious, because it is hard to find the gap between the stud and the insulation. I've also put down a double treatment of the granules around my house and this weekend I'm putting down the granules all over my front, side, and back yard.
@@Fritbjorn The granules may be all you need, if these are not Formosan termites. For the granules to work you need to have dirt around most of the house and that dirt needs to be porous enough to allow water to seep into the ground fairly quickly. To find out if the dirt around your house is porous enough, just dig a small hole next to the house that is about 4 inches deep, 8 inches long, and just the width of the shovel. Fill the hole with water and watch to see how fast it drains down into the ground. If it seeps into the ground fairly quickly, then the granules should work just fine. However, if it just kind of sits there, then the granules would not be a good choice, and you should consider trenching. If it turns out that you need to trench, then please watch my video on how to do that correctly. Trenching is a lot more work, but it only costs about $100 to do an average size home, and it lasts 5 to 10 years. Most people can trench an entire house in one day, but you can take up to a month to get it done, and you can literally do just 10 feet at a time.
The heats a killer, but it will cool off soon.
Make sure that you buy the correct granules. You need the ones that have imidacloprid as the active ingredient. A lot of the Home Depot and Lowes stores no longer sell the correct granules, but you can get them from Amazon. I will give you a link to them.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Termite granules: www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUIJYM?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_k1_1_6&=&crid=157C3RV0MY0AK&=&sprefix=termit
Video on how to trench for subterranean termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Hello Guy, no one was in the house for most of the last few years, and I recently discovered one room with obvious termite damage, but even after your video, I'm struggling to determine who the culprit is, I live in the Texas panhandle, I cannot locate any individuals, no wings, I've dug into to the wood a bit ( there is very little exposed wood in my house, brick, drywall etc. ) I don't find any mud tubes, inside i find what could be kickout holes, but like, mostly under the paint? I have not seen any actual kickout holes, or frass, and i don't find mudtubes. My thinking is either treat for all of them or get an estimate..
I am so sorry that you are having this problem and I will do my best to assist you with it. If possible, please send me photos of the damage. You can send them to guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. I would like to see what is going on. Please let me know if you have inspected the outside for mud tubes and if you have looked in the attic and crawlspace as well. When you email, please remind me of the problem, where you live, and let me know your RUclips name. I get a lot of termite questions, and I don't want to confuse you with someone else. Don't worry. There is a very good change we can figure out what is going on and how to fix it. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutionsI sent you an email, I sure appreciate your help
@@lokismaster3 I just responded to your email. Thanks for sending the photos. I hope the information I provided proves to be helpful. Be well Sarah.
I live in north Alabama. Our house is brick. While removing carpet to install laminate we noticed insect damage to the subfloor about 1/8" inch deep by the corner. There is a window about 12" from the corner that is 10" above the floor. I noticed dead black swarmers underneath the window in the spring on top of the carpet. It looked like some damage to the outside window sill. We sprayed Termiticide around the window. There are no dirt tubes on the outside of the house, however, we saw some in the crawlspace although I was told they look old and no damage was noticed. The crawlspace is not high so going under there is a challenge. It is damp under there also. I'm hoping that since the swarmers were black that we are not dealing with Formosa termites but have ordered a borescope for a more thorough inspection. I've also ordered Bioadvanced Termite Killer with Imidacloprid. Since we found the mud tubes in the crawlspace where do we use the granules? Do you have any suggestions for us?
Thank you for providing so much information! It is greatly appreciated.
If the swarmers are solid black, then they are almost certainly subterranean termites. I know the crawl space is tight, but you need to look under there to see if the mud tubes are in contact with the ground. If they are, then you may have a colony under your house. If that is the case, then treating around the perimeter of your house with the granules is not going to get the job done. It is very unusual to have a colony under the house, but it does happen when you have a dirt floor. Most of the time the colony is outside the footprint of the house, and that is why treating around the house with the granules will usually work. However, if the colony is under the house, then you need to treat the perimeter of the house inside the crawl space. The granules are not a good choice to do that, and you should really trench under there. Unfortunately, if it is very tight quarters under there, then it is very difficult to trench. Therefore, if you have mud tubes coming up from the ground under the crawl space, then you may want to call in a professional. Keep in mind though that a lot of these folks are going to try to sell you the Sentricon system. This is a baiting system that can take up the two years to work and sometimes does not work at all. Also, installing a baiting system would not be appropriate if the colony is under the house. Therefore, I would avoid a baiting system. If you hire a professional, then you need somebody that is going to treat under the house with a liquid termiticide. That is going to be a bit of a nasty job to do, so it may cost you a bit of money to get it done. After you get the termites treated, then it is probably a good idea to hire somebody to cover the entire floor down there with polyethylene plastic. The reason termites can establish a colony under the house is because they are burrowing into the dirt. If you cover the floor with plastic, then they will no longer be able to establish a colony down there. This will not help with the existing infestation, but it will prevent new ones.
If you have mud tubes coming up from the ground under the crawl space, you can also try spot treating them from inside the house, but this is a Hail Mary Pass at best. It can work, but it is far from a sure thing. So, if you do have mud tubes in contact with the ground, under the crawl space, then let me know if you want to give the spot treatment a try and I will explain how to do it.
If the mud tubes under there are not in contact with the ground, then treating around the house with the granules should get the job done. Keep in mind that for the granules to work, you need to have dirt around most of the house, and that dirt needs to be porous enough so that water will leach into it. You can do a simple test to see if your dirt is porous enough by simply digging a shallow hole right next to the foundation that is 4 inches deep and about 8 to 12 inches long. Just the width of the shovel is all you need. Fill the hole with water and see how long it takes for it to seep down into the ground. If it drains down into the ground reasonably well, then the granules should work fine for you.
Make sure that you buy the correct granules. There are two versions of them now. You need the ones that have imidacloprid as the active ingredient. A lot of the Home Depot and Lowes stores no longer sell the right ones, but you can still get them from Amazon. I will give you a link.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Termite granules: www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUIJYM?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_k1_1_6&=&crid=1J82ULSZOXTYV&=&sprefix=termit
Thank you for your quick response. We have a dirt floor under our crawl space with almost 30" of headroom. We found 3 cinder block support columns (located towards the center of the crawlspace) that have mud tubes reaching into the dirt floor. Our plan is to trench & treat (with liquid termiticide) around the perimeter of the 3 cinder blocks plus around several of the nearby support columns. I'm hoping this will wipe out the termite colonies. Lastly, we plan to use the termiticide granules around the outside of the house. Do you think this will be enough?
@@Pam-lu6pc That sounds like a reasonable plan. Keep in mind that it takes up to 12 weeks for a termite treatment to work. This is the same for a professional treatment as well. You need to give the termites time to take the termiticide back to the colony and share it with the other termites. So, it is purposely a slow kill process. Please let me know how it goes. Be well Pam.
Hi Guy, i just found some termite swarm remnants in my house in Chesapeake, VA and the dead swarmer looks like the black subterranean one you showed, but I also see kickouts with frass along the side of the window and above the window (probably on a stud), which might indicate a drywood termite. There's also some small mounds covering some pinhead holes which they may have dug through from the outside (after mating maybe?) or popped out of from inside and covered it up to block the draft. I don't think i saw any tan/orange/red swarmers, and I don't think I saw mudtubes, unless theyre going through cracks in the foundation. Do you have any insights on what termites i might have in the wall? Thank you for your videos and any help.
If the swarmers are black, then you are correct that you are most likely looking at a common variety of subterranean termites. It is unlikely that you have drywood termites because they are not known to exist anywhere in Virginia. The holes that you are seeing are most likely exit holes and not kick out holes. The termites create exit holes so that the swarmers can leave and find another place for kings and queens to start a new colony. The material that you are seeing that looks like frass, is most likely just some mud that the termites left behind. This is actually a fairly easy problem to solve. You have two basic options. The easy way is to use termite granules and just water them in. This option costs about $50 and takes about an hour to do. For it to work you need to have dirt surrounding most of the building and the water needs to be able to leech into the ground. Just dig a tiny hole, about four inches deep, and a few inches long. Then, fill it with water and see if the water leeches into the ground fairly quickly. If the water just kind of sits there, then the granules are not a good option. However, if the water seeps down into the ground fairly quickly, then the granules should do the job. I will give you a link to the video on how to do this. Your other option is to dig a trench that is 6 inches wide and six inches deep around the house and treat with Taurus SC. I have a video on that as well. Trenching will usually take about a day to do and we'll cost about $100. Regardless of which option you choose, I also recommend that you do a spot treatment.
To spot treat subterranean termites, you need to buy a fipronil foam. I will provide links for two products that you can choose from. I like the FiPro the best because it's a little less expensive and I like the applicator tip better, but the Termidor Foam also works very well. The FiPro is not available everywhere. If you can get one of these foams, then drill holes in all damaged areas, that are 4 inches apart, and drilled about halfway through the wood. If you are seeing exit holes in the wall, then there is most likely a stud behind the exit hole. Get a stud finder and locate the stud where it meets the ceiling and drive a small nail into the stud a couple of inches below the ceiling. Attach a weighted string to the nail and that will show you where the stud is. Then drill the holes 4 inches apart along the entire length of the stud, about 3 inches deep. Do the same thing for woodwork, except only drill the holes halfway through the wood. If you think that there is a 2 x 4 behind the woodwork, then drill a 3-inch-deep hole every 8 inches. The holes only need to be wide enough to get the applicator tip of the foam can into the hole. After the holes are drilled, then shoot the foam into each hole for about 5 seconds or until you have foam either coming back out at you or coming out the other holes that you drilled. All the holes should have foam either going into them or coming out of them. This will contaminate their food source and they will take the fipronil back in the colony and spread it around to the other termites.
It typically takes several weeks for this process to be effective. That is because you are using slow kill products. If you were to kill the termites too quickly, then they would not have a chance to bring the poison back to the colony and share it with the other termites. If you don't kill off the entire colony, you will not end the infestation. Therefore, you must kill off subterranean termites very slowly. So, I would give this at least 12 weeks before I would decide that the process didn't work. Hiring a professional to trench your house is pretty much going to take about the same amount of time to kill off the colony.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to use granules to treat subterranean termites: ruclips.net/video/H7rW_TSBHJ4/видео.html
Video on how to trench to treat subterranean termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
FiPro: www.solutionsstores.com/fipro-foaming-aerosol
Termidor Foam: www.domyown.com/termidor-foam-p-3528.html
@@GuysPestSolutions Thank you for the detailed explanation. I really appreciate it!
I have a couple more questions:
-Since the swarm happened inside the house, and I see wings, or dead king/queens in existing sticky traps I had around a 5meter radius (maybe more) of the bottom floor of the house, is there a high chance they have started another colony somewhere else as well? If so, should I use the foam throughout the whole floor?
Or is there a good chance they wouldn't be able to survive if they were still indoors without a source of soil?
-Is there a chance it could be formosans? If the king/queen is dead and dried up, do they stay the same color or could they turn black like the subterranean ones?
-Do termites usually come out of only a couple exit holes, or can there be a lot? There were a few holes they probably only used as an exit since those have not been covered yet. The holes that had little dirt plugs that I wiped off have some activity since I see the termites have plugged them again the day after. There are more than 20 holes within 2 feet around the right top frame of the window. A couple of the holes are a decent size around half a centimeter. I definitely didn't see these last year, and only seen them recently, so maybe they've been around a couple years since this is the first time I've seen a swarm.
@@KpopPower I believe you said that the swarmers were all black. If that is the case, then these cannot be Formosan termites, even though they are known to exist in many parts of Virginia. Termites do not change color. Formosan termites are the only species of subterranean termites that are capable of colonizing in your home. Therefore, I think there is virtually a zero chance that these swarmers can start a colony in your home. The only reason they made the exit holes inside the house is because they didn't understand that they were going inside instead of outside. They have a very short lifespan, if they do not find soft dirt to establish a new colony. That means they will die very quickly when they are inside the house. Now, if you are seeing exit holes in the floor or if you are seeing damage in the floor, then you should certainly treat that the same way as you would the walls, except that you can just shoot the foam into the exit holes or damaged areas, if you need to save the aesthetics of the flooring. I do not recall if you mentioned the type of foundation you have, but if you have a crawl space, then you should go under there and look for mud tubes that are coming up from the ground. If you see mud tubes that are not coming up from the ground, then treat them with the fipronil foam. If you do have mud tubes that are coming up from the ground, then please get back to me because you need to do a little bit more work. The number of exit holes will depend on the extent of the infestation. So you could have just a few of them or you could have a whole bunch of them. The species of termites that you most likely have are very slow eaters, so a lot of exit holes would suggest that you have had this infestation going on for quite some time. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions My house is on a slab foundation. I found a couple places near the affected side of the house where there may have been remnants of mud tubes, both of which were right behind some ant hills which I killed off around a month or two ago (some boiling water was used directly on the ant hills). I didn't notice the mud tubes before because of the ant hills on top of them, and after I destroyed the ant hills I thought it was just caked dirt. Since I didn't see other mud tubes, it was why I was wondering if these might have been formosans or drywood, so thank you for the confirmation of the black swarmers being subterranean.
Oddly, the termites have still not rebuilt the mudtubes which makes me think they either found another way through the concrete possibly within cracks in the foundation, or gave up and moved to either a different part of the house or neighborhood.
Do termites usually rebuild previously disturbed mud tubes, or rather make separate new ones?
The condo association will probably be getting a pest company to do liquid treatments along the perimeter of the house, and I'll be getting some interior treatments done as well. Hopefully it'll keep my house free of these termites.
@@KpopPower If the mud tubes are no longer being built, then there was a good chance that the colony is dead. Most of the time, termites do not limit themselves to one food source. Often times they attack more than one building at a time. So, if a building owner near you treated for termites, they may have killed off the same colony that was attacking your condo. When I am seeing mud tubes that are not active, then what I recommend is to just keep an eye out for damage and other signs have been infestation. Go around the outside of the condo every couple of months and justice check for mud tubes. I guess it is possible that termites may start rebuilding the inactive tubes at some point, but they will most likely just build new ones. Just remove the old tubes altogether. Also look for signs of an infestation inside the condo. This could be things like sagging or discolored paint, tiny holes in the walls or woodwork, termites swarmers, and mud tubes. If you see anything at all that is suspicious, then it is a good idea to have a professional check it out. Most pest control companies do not charge for termite inspections. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Any advice on getting rid of carpenter ants? I’m in texas and they have popped up in kitchen and front doors! My mom is giving up but I’m trying to find a solution!?
I am so sorry that you are having this problem. I have a video on carpenter ants and I will give you the link. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Carpenter ant video: ruclips.net/video/Te9BUCaIQZY/видео.html
Hello, Guy! You answered this question for me in the past on another video, but I can’t find the post. What is the best product for treating framing and new construction? What would be the process of application as it coincides with the building process (framing, drywall, subfloors, voids, etc)? The goal would be to protect against termites as well as ants and roaches. Thank you!
I most likely told you to apply Bora-Care to all the wood during construction. If it's wood, then treat it. Mix the Bora-Care one to one with water. Any wood that is treated with Bora-Care will be permanently termite proof. As for ants and roaches, I would wait for the Bora-Care to dry and then I would spray all surfaces inside the walls with Nibor-D before the insulation or drywall goes up. After the Nibor-D dries, then you can also puff some boric acid dust on the bottom of the wall void. This will stop roaches from breeding in the walls and ants will not be able to travel through the walls either. Spray the Nibor-D on all the electrical wiring as well. Mix the Nibor-D 7.5 cups per gallon of water. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Nibor-D: www.domyown.com/nibord-insecticide-p-2410.html
Bora-Care: www.domyown.com/boracare-p-100.html
Video on how to use Bora-Care: ruclips.net/video/Rmr_aEodyhg/видео.html
@@GuysPestSolutions Thank you so much, Guy, for that thorough explanation! One more follow up question. How long could you store, or back-stock the Nibor- D and the Bora-Care? Do they have a shelf life?
@@Unknown2030U These products last forever, but you want to keep them dry or they may clump up. This is particularly true with boric acid. If that happens, just crush it into a powder again. Humidity can cause them to clump up too. So, it's best to store them in a climatically controlled environment, like inside the house and not the garage. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
My camp has all 3 how do I treat them ? I live in the northern panhandle of West Virginia Ohio county
The only species know to exist where you are would be subterranean termites. Are you sure that you have Formosan and drywood termites? That would be new information. You can send photos of termites with red heads to guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. I would be happy to have a look.
There are two options for treating subterranean termites yourself. The easiest way is to use termite granules. It costs less than $60 to do and it only takes about an hour. The application is so easy that a child can do it. The other option is to trench around the entire building, including the driveway. It takes about a day for most people to trench around an average sized building and it only costs about $100 to do the job. Trenching lasts for 5 to 10 years, but the granules should be applied every year as a preventive measure. I have videos on how to do both options and I will place links below.
For the granules to work you need to have dirt around most of the house and that dirt needs to be porous enough to allow water to seep into the ground fairly quickly. To find out if the dirt around your house is porous enough, just dig a small hole next to the house that is about 4 inches deep, 8 inches long, and just the width of the shovel. Fill the hole with water and watch to see how fast it drains down into the ground. If it seeps into the ground fairly quickly, then the granules should work just fine. However, if it just kind of sits there, then the granules would not be a good choice, and you should consider trenching. Make sure that you buy the correct granules. You need the ones that have imidacloprid as the active ingredient. A lot of the Home Depot and Lowes stores no longer sell the correct granules, but you can get them from Amazon. I will give you a link to them.
You can give any subterranean termite treatment a bit of a boost by doing a spot treatment. If at all possible, spot treating for subterranean termites should not be the only approach to eliminate an infestation. An additional exterior treatment should also be done with either granules or trenching, whenever possible. Spot treating alone may totally eliminate the infestation with no other treatments, but it's not a sure thing.
To spot treat subterranean termites, you need to buy a fipronil foam. I will provide links for two products that you can choose from. I like the FiPro the best because it's a little less expensive and I like the applicator tip better, but the Termidor Foam also works very well. The FiPro is not available everywhere. If you can get one of these foams, then drill holes in all damaged areas, that are 4 inches apart, and drilled about halfway through the wood. If you are seeing exit holes in the wall, then there is most likely a stud behind the exit hole. Get a stud finder and locate the stud where it meets the ceiling and drive a small nail into the stud a couple of inches below the ceiling. Attach a weighted string to the nail and that will show you where the stud is. Then drill the holes 4 inches apart along the entire length of the stud, about 3 inches deep. Do the same thing for woodwork, except only drill the holes halfway through the wood. If you think that there is a 2 x 4 behind the woodwork, then drill a 3-inch-deep hole every 8 inches. The holes only need to be wide enough to get the applicator tip of the foam can into the hole. After the holes are drilled, then shoot the foam into each hole for about 5 seconds or until you have foam either coming back out at you or coming out the other holes that you drilled. All the holes should have foam either going into them or coming out of them. This will contaminate their food source and they will take the fipronil back in the colony and spread it around to the other termites.
Most of the time, subterranean termites are going to be building mud tubes somewhere. You will most likely find these mud tubes going up the exterior or interior of your foundation and you may find them along joists and even in the attic sometimes. If you have a slab home, then you may find them going up the outside of the house on the slab and even the side of the house. If you can find the mud tubes, then you can treat them as well. Just scrape off about a 2-inch section of each mud tube down to the bare surface. Then, shoot that foam into each side of the mud tube and also apply a little of it on the surface where you removed it. The termites will rebuild the mud tubes and bring the foam back to the colony to spread around to the other termites.
Also, if you can find the mud tubes, this is a very good way to determine when the infestation is gone. If you scrape off that 2-inch section of a mud tube, you can see if there are any live termites in the tube. Again, the termites will rebuild the tube and go about their business. Do this every two weeks after you finish all your treatments. Apply the foam to the mud tube every time you do it. At the point you are no longer seeing live termites and they stop rebuilding the mud tube, then your infestation has been eradicated.
After you use one of these methods, you may want to consider installing monitoring stations around the house. This is not necessary, but it is very easy to do, and you will know immediately if you have termites in the area. If one of the stations goes off, then you can treat the termites right at the station, before they try to attack your house. This way, you are protected by either the granules or the trenching, and you have the peace of mind knowing that there are no termites in the area. You can make these stations yourself out of used water bottles for about 50 cents each. I have a video on how to do that and I will give you a link to it. These stations have a little orange dot on the top of them. When the dock disappears you either have termites or the station has malfunctioned. Either way, you can check to see if there are active termites, and if there are, then you can treat them right there. Now, let's face it, we are making these things out of used water bottles, so it is possible that one of orange indicators can move to the side and disappear, even though there are no termites. That's not really a big deal though because these things are very fast and easy to make and install. So, just keep a few on hand should you need to replace one. After they are installed, just walk around the house every couple of months to see if there are orange dots missing. It couldn't be easier.
It typically takes several weeks for any termite treatment to be effective. That is because you are using slow kill products. If you were to kill the termites too quickly, then they would not have a chance to bring the poison back to the colony and share it with the other termites. If you don't kill off the entire colony, you will not end the infestation. Therefore, you must kill off subterranean termites very slowly. So, I would give this at least 12 weeks before I would decide that something went wrong, and the process didn't work. Hiring a professional to trench your house is pretty much going to take about the same amount of time to kill off the colony.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to apply termite granules: ruclips.net/video/H7rW_TSBHJ4/видео.html
Video on how to trench for subterranean termites the right way: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Video and how to make termite monitoring stations: ruclips.net/video/gye27aXHRsY/видео.html
Termite granules: www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUIJYM?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_k0_1_7&=&crid=1UJA4PE31UWZW&=&sprefix=termite
FiPro: www.solutionsstores.com/fipro-foaming-aerosol
Termidor Foam: www.domyown.com/termidor-foam-p-3528.html
Hi, Guy. I bought my first home late last year and found out later that there were termites in the trees on the property. For context, I live in Central Florida and have somewhere around 8 mature oaks on the property. I discovered them around 3 of the trees that are bunched together after picking up fallen limbs and saw tons of white, wriggling dream-killers feeding all under. A local pest company sold me on the bait stations to protect the house (though after watching your videos I’m not quite so sold), but they’re telling me that the trees are a goner and that there’s no effective treatment. I’m willing to accept that those three will need to be cut down, as small limbs keep falling off with every passing storm, but if I have them removed, is there any way to protect the other trees nearby? The inspector told me there’s nothing to do about it but to “let nature have them” and focus on protecting the house and garage. I’ve heard things about tree injections, but the inspector didn’t sound too confident. It doesn’t sound like many people deal with tree infestations, but if you have any more knowledge on that, I sure would appreciate it. You’ve already put out a ton of great information on here, so thank you sincerely for helping people like me feel a bit less powerless and overwhelmed by these things.
There's only one species of termites in Florida that will eat live wood. That particular species are Formosan termites. So, either these termites are Formosan or the trees were already dying and the termites were just eating the dead wood. Considering that there is more than one tree involved, I suspect that you do have an infestation of Formosan termites. This should be very concerning for you because this particular species are very aggressive eaters and they can destroy your house within a matter of months. The bait stations that were installed will do little or nothing to stop them if they attack your house. That is because, even if the termites find the bait stations, this particular species does not limit itself to just one food source, as you have already discovered. So, not only will they attack the bait stations, but they will also attack your house as well. The problem with the bait stations is that they can take up to two years to be effective. If the termite's attack your house during that period of time, your home will be destroyed long before the termite colony is wiped out by the bait. I will talk to you about the trees in just a bit, but the first thing you need to do is an effective treatment for the house in order to prevent the termites from attacking the structure. Presumably, the pest control that you hired did it inspection of the house. Please let me know if the pest control found an infestation in the house itself, but it sounds like that is not the case. Nevertheless, I recommend doing your own inspection. I cannot tell you how many times the professionals have missed infestations because they did the inspection incorrectly. You need to walk around the entire house and look for mud tubes coming up from the ground. Then, you need to go into the attic and look to see if there are any mud tubes up there. You may also find mud tubes on the outside of the house in the eaves. If you do not find any mud tubes, then you are probably okay. If that is the case, then you should treat the entire house with termite granules. I will give you a link to my video on how to do that. Make sure that you purchase the correct granules. A lot of the home Depot and Lowe's stores do not sell them anymore. They do sell granules, but they are not the correct ones. Therefore, I recommend that you purchase them from Amazon, and they cost about $50. You should also install monitoring stations. You can purchase these commercially for about $15 each, or you can make them yourself for about 50 cents each. I will give you a link to my video on how to make them and I will give you a link to the ones you can buy commercially. You should place these no further part than 8 ft around the entire perimeter of the home. Locate them about three or four feet from the side of the house. After they are installed, just walk around the house every month to see if they have been triggered. There's a little dot on the top of the stations that will disappear if you have termites. This will alert you that termites are very close to your home and maybe attacking. If one of these things triggers, then do not waste your time with bait, because Formosan termites are not going to give you that sort of a luxury of time. If one of these things triggers, then you should trench around your entire house immediately. I will also give you a link on how to do that as well.
Now, let's talk about those trees. You most certainly can treat the trees. The trees are going to need to be removed after the infestation is gone, but under no circumstances should you remove the trees before the termite colony is dead. If you do, then you are removing their food source and they will be more likely to attack your home. So for now, you just want to go on letting them eat the trees, and use those trees to poison the termite colony. To do this drill holes that are about 12 inches apart around the base of the trees that are on a downward angle, so that the drill bit is aiming under and to the center of the trees. You want to use a drill bit that is at least 12 inches long and at least 1/2 inch wide. The longer the better. Also drill holes right into the tree, a couple of inches above the dirt. You want them about 6 inches apart around the entire tree. Drill these holes in a downward angle toward the center of the trees. After the holes are all drilled, then mix Taurus SC at 0.8 oz per gallon and fill up the holes with it. You can mix it in a bucket and use a funnel to get it into the holes. You can also drill some holes down into the ground at a 90 degree angle, that are about 6 inches apart, and fill them up with the Taurus SC as well. There is a good chance that the termites will contact the Taurus SC and bring it back to the colony and share it with the other termites. This will kill the entire colony. If the colony is dead, then the termites will not be alive to attack you house. After the colony is dead, then remove the trees.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to apply termite granules: ruclips.net/video/H7rW_TSBHJ4/видео.html
Video on how to make monitoring stations: ruclips.net/video/gye27aXHRsY/видео.html
Video on how to trench for subterranean termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Termite granules: www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUIJYM?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_k0_1_9&=&crid=3494NHXGQRXLI&=&sprefix=termite+g
Taurus SC: www.solutionsstores.com/taurus-sc-termiticide
Commercially available monitoring stations: www.solutionsstores.com/red-eye-termite-monitor
HELP !! Hi Guy I need some good advice as to how to deal with the cleanup of rat urine and feces inside of my storage unit. I don't know where to to begin in trying to contain this contamination so I can go through the items and I don't want to stir up any of the virus that the dust or anything . any suggestion would be so appreciated thank you
Hopefully, you already got rid of the infestation. Please let me know if you didn't, so I can help you with that. To clean up the rat droppings, you just need to vacuum them up. You want to wear a good respirator while you doing this. Next, use an enzyme cleaner and soak all the surfaces with it really well with either a spray bottle or pump up garden sprayer. Let it soak in for a while and then scrub the area where it was applied with a plastic bristle scrub brush. Sometimes you can also scrub with one of those 3M green scrub pads or even a sponge. It depends on the surface. You may need to do this more than once to get rid of the odor. That's pretty much it. I think any enzyme cleaner would be fine. I will give you a link to the kind of product I am talking about. Wash your clothes and take a shower when you are finished. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Enzyme cleaner: www.amazon.com/Tornador-Enzyme-Multi-Purpose-Cleaner/dp/B0881Z8K6Q/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=enzyme%2Bfor%2Bcleaning&qid=1681927806&sr=8-2&th=1
I cant see our termites, but do find droppings piled up occsisionally, search as I might, I cannot see any holes in the ceiling to determine where they came from. How would I need to treat for this???
Thank you for being here. I apprecite your expertise and kind heart to provide help for others! I can't afford termite professional treatment, and really need ti figure this out.🙏🏼💌
This sounds like drywood termites. They make very tiny holes to push out the frass. Please send me a close up photo of the pile of droppings and I will let you know if it's frass. Send them to guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. I am very backed up with questions right now, but I will have a look and get back to you. Be well Melody.
Thanks! Was trying to ID a swarmer
You are very welcome. I'm glad I was able to help. Thank you so much for the tip. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
I recently bought a house in NC thats been abandoned for a decade. Found some wood on the side of the house that im fairly sure is termite damage and pulls off in chunks but ive found no termites. Do termite colonies ever just die out on their own? Its possible they were poisoned years ago but id think if so it would have been fixed. Just seems odd fo me its SO bad but there is nothing inside any of the wood when i pull chunks out
Yes. It is possible that the colony died. There are a number of ways this can happen, such as predators, disease, and climate, but the most probable cause is that a neighbor was getting attacked by the same colony and they treated it. When you treat for termites, you typically wipe out the entire colony, so if that colony is attacking your neighbors, they get a free termite treatment. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Hi , I m from india , thanks fr sharing ur valuable knowledge with us which was very helpful, plz make video on dry wood termite n suggest chemical to treat it, as I found very drywood termite very difficult to kill as it remains inside the wood n the chemical won't penentrate inside wood( the wood r the long vertical logs used fr the roof which we can't takedown n put again which is quite frustrating n time consuming work n costly too. Can we apply borax on the wood , borax which is used to treat bamboo , our house in konkon( sindhudurga district) region of maharashtra, we lived in mumbai n in once in year visit our village home .plz hlp
I do have a video on how to treat drywood termites yourself and I will give you a link to it. You should know though that the only sure way to get rid of them is to fumigate. You should also know that the gas they use to fumigate has absolutely no residual action whatsoever, so you can get reinfested the moment the tent comes down. If you have drywood termites, then your neighbors have them as well. Since drywood termites swarm every year, it is almost a certainty that you will be reinfested within a year after the fumigation is done. The only way to prevent this is to do a preventive treatment on your house every 60 to 90 days. I have a video on how to do that and I will place a link below. If you absolutely cannot afford to fumigate your house, then you can try spot treating it yourself. It is virtually impossible to find all the termite galleries, but it is way better than doing nothing. Regardless of how you treat it, you should begin the preventive treatment immediately, so that you do not get additional termites paying you a visit.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to prevent drywood termites: ruclips.net/video/neNsmVbj8Pc/видео.html
Video on how to treat drywood termites yourself: ruclips.net/video/U7ck7zhS0Xo/видео.html
Getting close to renovating a basement bathroom - but I have a hunch that there was a previous issue with carpenter ants and/or dry wood termites (which might be unwise for me to guess just yet)
We are dealing with a lot of land erosion and live on a slope (driveway comes downhill) so I am certain we have too much water surrounding our house - giving insects and rodents constant access to moisture :-/
I am attempting to educate myself with your *amazing* channel and vast amount of knowledge.
In the summer, we definitely saw flying insects near our dated-deck - but I never took a picture or identified the species/determined if it was carpenter ant-swarmers.
I have seen knockouts - but I am having a hard time locating frass (in a bulk amount)
It seems as if something *big* is happening under our foundation, because the house makes cracking noises and settles a ton during each season.
The rain-gutters system at all 4-corners of the house have caused tremendous damage by not working properly.
The previous owner had chopped 3 big trees down around the property as well (within 10-20ft from the house) and some of those stumps are rotting ofcourse - which is not a good thing to leave behind 😬)
There are a ton of holes in the Georgia-clay soil around and under the wooden deck… but there’s also mud-dauber nests underneath the deck
We’ve also had a mice intrusion + moles in our front yard
It’s *A LOT* so don’t worry about replying to all of this - but listing it out while watching your videos is helping me diagnose what may be occurring.
Don't worry. I would be more than happy to help you. There is a lot to unpack here and RUclips limits the size of my responses. So, it would be better if you email me at guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. Just copy and past your RUclips comments into the email and I will address all of the issues with you one at a time to make sure that you have all the information you need. Please tell my where in the state you live. I spent 18 years in Georgia, just north of Atlanta, so I am somewhat familiar with the state. Your location in the state matters because of species.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Is it common for drywood termites to come and go? Meaning they could eat for awhile and then leave.
No. They will usually continue eating and expanding the gallery. They may eat their way further in though. They will send swarmers out to start new galleries. I have never heard of them abandoning a gallery, but I have heard of them getting killed off by a predator, such as carpenter ants.
Hi Guy I am so glad I found your video. I was trying to identify the termites in my house they just appeared in the kitchen. I thought they were black ants but according to your video they are the black termites with wings. They are only in the kitchen behind the fridge. After seeing them I started using the insecticide that i use to spray around my house outside. They just appeared last week but i have been using the insecticide since i saw them. I have been monitoring the house to see if they are any where else and it seems they were only behind the fridge. There is hole where the supply line for the water dispenser goes down in the basement no evidence there in the basement. I live in Ga and as I write this I don't see any behind the fridge or crawling they never did fly they just appeared on the floor. should my next step be treating the outside and continuing to spray with the Ignite SC. I have been at my wits end trying to find a soultion and just happen to see yours. Your video is so easy to understand and follow. Look forward to more as i am diy homeowner. Please let me know what you suggest and again Thank You.
Thank you for that information. It sounds like you did a good job identifying the problem. However, you cannot treat this with Ignite SC because it contains bifenthrin. That is a fast kill pesticide that is not appropriate for any species of termites. So, what you basically did by doing an isolated treatment like that, is you killed the ones that are there, but you are not going to kill of the colony because it is underground and not in your house. What you need to do is either trench around the house and use Taurus SC, or you may be able to get away with just sprinkling termite granules around the house and watering them in with a garden hose. In both cases, you must treat the perimeter of the house, and around patios, sidewalks, driveways, and that sort of thing.
For the granules to work you need to have dirt around most of the house and that dirt needs to be porous enough to allow water to seep into the ground fairly quickly. To find out if the dirt around your house is porous enough, just dig a small hole next to the house that is about 4 inches deep, 8 inches long, and just the width of the shovel. Fill the hole with water and watch to see how fast it drains down into the ground. If it seeps into the ground fairly quickly, then the granules should work just fine. However, if it just kind of sits there, then the granules would not be a good choice, and you should consider trenching. If it turns out that you need to trench, then please watch my video on how to do that correctly. Trenching is a lot more work, but it only costs about $100 to do an average size home, and it lasts 5 to 10 years. Most people can trench an entire house in one day, but you can take up to a month to get it done, and you can literally do just 10 feet at a time.
Make sure that you buy the correct granules. You need the ones that have imidacloprid as the active ingredient. A lot of the Home Depot and Lowes stores no longer sell the correct granules, but you can get them from Amazon. I will give you a link to them.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Termite granules: www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUIJYM?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_k1_1_6&=&crid=157C3RV0MY0AK&=&sprefix=termit
Video on how to apply termite granules: ruclips.net/video/H7rW_TSBHJ4/видео.html
Video on how to trench for subterranean termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
You are such kind hearted person to take the time to give information on how to treat the termites. I have already ordered the product you recommended and I will keep you posted on my progress. Since they are only in the kitchen I will but the Taurus to spray in the house. You truly are a blessing. Thank you.
You are very welcome. Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well my friend.
I am in Texas. My commercial propety is connected. To other properties like a strip mall and it’s surrounded by concrete, so I cannot dig. The next door neighbor has a huge termite problem and has spread to my property. What is a good way to get rid of them?
I am all about do it yourself, but there are times when you just need to call in the Calvary. In your case, I would call a pest control company. This will most likely require specialized equipment to do high pressure rodding. I am so sorry. Be well my friend.
Good afternoon Guy:
I live in Mexico City and suffered a drywood termite infestation in the subfloor rooms of my home. The termites penetrated through a door balcony and in several years they consumed some subfloor studs.
Is there a way to contact you by email in order to explain my case in detail and share some fotos, videos and ideas?
Some of the problems I've faced to find a good solution are:
1) Difficulties to perform inspection in the subfloor. Eventhough I tried to use an endoscopic camera
2) No convenient to make and repair multiple holes in the finished laminated floor above de subfloor
3) Different solutions and prices from pest control companies, some of them seem not very reliable.
4) Product availability in Mexico (i.e. couldnt find bora care)
5) Toxicity knowledge (i.e. Not sure if Termidor 25 ce could be sprayed in the subfloor rooms)
I really appreciatte very much all the knowledge you share in your videos.
I am so sorry that you are having this problem. You can email me at guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. I would be happy to go over everything with you and explain exactly what is going on. Please explain the problem one more time in the email. Be well my friend.
Hi Guy, I have a problem, the termite killer you recommended "BioAdvanced Termite Killer Granules, Granules" it says "Not for sale in NY, CT, MD & VT" Where can I order the other product that I can do a trench and fill? Termidor, was it?
Which of those states are you in? I can get it shipped to some of them. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions I am in New York.
I'm so sorry that I'm only getting to answer this right now. For some reason, RUclips did not send me your comment until this morning. They do that sometimes and I have had them hold comments for as long as 3 years already. If ever you ask me a question, and you do not get an answer within a few days, then please email me at guyspestsolutions@gmail.com.
I know that they are not supposed to do it, but Amazon will usually ship to NY, even though they say they won't. It's a big company and often the workers don't think about it. They just ship it. So, give them a try. The worst that happens is they don't ship it. The other option is to get them in NJ. They have no restrictions at all. Be well my friend.
Termite granules: www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUIJYM?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_k0_1_12&=&crid=2SQGUP2219TGO&sprefix=termite%2Bgran&th=1
We have orangish swarmers on the inside of our kitchen windows. The extension service told us they are Formosan from one dried up old body. Our regular guy thought they were normal subterranean. A different termite inspector (not from our regular company) told us they are dry wood termites from seeing the wings and because we have no tunnels, but we have no frass either. So which do we have and what should we do? We had termidor ten years ago and are due for another round, though I’m not confident in our old company since they were just talking about spraying termidor and not digging new trenches. Though we still have a termite damage bond through them while all the other termite companies here no longer offer termite damage repair bonds. Ugh.
The swarmers are on the inside, underneath and outside the windows. Mostly just wings. I think they came from elsewhere and are setting up a colony in my wall at this moment. They could have swarmed out of the wall but there is no signs of them other than the swarmers. I do have lathe and plaster walls though with brick on the outside though. But there is no termite sign in the crawl space under the windows.
I am so sorry that you are having this problem. One thing that we know for sure is that these guys must be either Formosan or drywood termites, because of the color. The swarmers from these two species look very similar and it can easily confuse the best of us. The key here though is that you are seeing a lot of wings, but not seeing the swarmers. That begs the question, where did the swarmers go? We know that Formosan termites do not colonize in the wood. New colonies must always be started in the ground. Since we have missing bodies, we can rule out Formosan termites. This means that you most likely have drywood termites.
It is important to understand how drywood termites work. They enter through cracks and crevices around windows, doors, the eaves, pipe penetrations, and so forth. Most of the time, they enter through several locations. That is because a swarm of them attacked your house at the same time. If there was a crack or a crevice, then they probably found it. After they establish their galleries, which will be inside the wood, it will take four to seven years for them to be able to swarm. Now that they are in your house, the swarmers will use holes that are in your studs to travel through the walls. Those holes in the studs were created by the electricians to run the electrical wiring. Not only are these holes going through the studs, but holes were drilled into the attic for the light switches and to run some of the wiring for the outlets. So, the termites now have easy access throughout the attic and the walls. If you have a basement or crawl space, they have access to that as well. Most of the time, you will have no idea that they are in the walls, because the frass is inside the wall. To make matters worse, if you have drywood termites, then your neighbors have them too. That means you have been getting swarmed for as long as they have existed in the neighborhood. Most likely, we're talking about years, so it's a safe bet that you have these guys in many locations in your home.
I always hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you have drywood termites, the only way to get rid of them is to fumigate. Prices for this can vary wildly in this industry, so I recommend that you watch my video on how to hire a pest controller without getting ripped off. That video can save you a lot of money. You should also know that the gas they use to fumigate has absolutely no residual action whatsoever, so you can get reinfested the moment the tent comes down. Like I said before, if you have drywood termites, then your neighbors have them as well. Since drywood termites swarm every year, it is almost a certainty that you will be reinfested within a year after the fumigation is done. The only way to prevent this is to do a preventive treatment on your house every 60 to 90 days. Most pest controllers will not do this, so it is something that you generally need to do yourself. I have a video on how to do that and I will place a link below. If you absolutely cannot afford to fumigate your house, then you can try spot treating it yourself. It is virtually impossible to find all the termite galleries, but it is way better than doing nothing. Regardless of how you treat it, you should begin the preventive treatment immediately, so that you do not get additional termites paying you a visit.
As for the subterranean termite prevention, I would not recommend trenching your house again. Trenching is the best way to eliminate an existing infestation, but it should not be done as a preventive measure. I recommend that you fire the pest controller, and keep your money in your wallet. Most of the time, you can simply treat your house with termite granules every year for about $50, and less than an hour of your time.
For the granules to work you need to have dirt around most of the house and that dirt needs to be porous enough to allow water to seep into the ground fairly quickly. To find out if the dirt around your house is porous enough, just dig a small hole next to the house that is about 4 inches deep, 8 inches long, and just the width of the shovel. Fill the hole with water and watch to see how fast it drains down into the ground. If it seeps into the ground fairly quickly, then the granules should work just fine. However, if it just kind of sits there, then the granules would not be a good choice, and you should consider using monitoring stations.
Please make sure that you buy the correct granules. There are two kinds of granules now and one of them does not work. They are both manufactured by Bayer, but they really screwed up on one of these products. Make sure that you get the granules that use imidacloprid as the active ingredient. The correct granules are no longer available at a lot of the Home Depot and Lowes stores. However, they are still available on Amazon and I will give you a link to them. Be well my friend.
Since you do not have an active infestation of subterranean termites, you may want to also consider using monitoring stations around your home. I use both the granules and the monitoring stations. I will give you a link to my video on how to make them for under 50 cents each. I put them around my entire house for less than $25. These things are super cool. They are very fast to make out of water bottles and feature an orange dot on the top. When the dot disappears, you have termites. Now, these do malfunction now and then and the dot will disappear because the thing got ran over by a riding mower or something like that. So, always pull it out of the ground if the dot disappears to make sure that you have termites. If you do, then just put the station back in the ground. If the station just malfunctioned, then replace it with a fresh one. Just keep a few on hand.
I know that I just gave you a lot of videos to watch, but if you watch them all, then you are going to save a boatload of money.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to hire a pest controller without getting ripped off: ruclips.net/video/y-a8XOqVrlE/видео.html
Video on how to prevent drywood termites: ruclips.net/video/neNsmVbj8Pc/видео.html
Video on how to spot treat drywood termites: ruclips.net/video/U7ck7zhS0Xo/видео.html
Video on how to apply termite granules: ruclips.net/video/H7rW_TSBHJ4/видео.html
Video on how to make monitoring stations: ruclips.net/video/gye27aXHRsY/видео.html
Termite granules: www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUIJYM?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_k1_1_6&=&crid=157C3RV0MY0AK&=&sprefix=termit
@@GuysPestSolutions thank you for all of your knowledge and help. You are doing so many people a great service. After examining a body and several wings under an old microscope I am pretty sure they are formosans. The wings have the vein shape of the Formosans and the head and body are more similar to formosan swarmers (or to Cuban subterraneans, the body ends in more of a rounded shape than the ovoid of the formosans) than dry wood swarmers. The head is more bulbous like a formosan or Cuban, not squarish like a dry wood. What would you recommend if they are formosans? My regular pest guy wants to drill and foam the wall with termidor or equivalent (the wall is almost entirely windows and kitchen cabinets, not a lot of access to the wall) and spray in the attic at the top of the wall with termidor and maybe spraying the rest of the attic also, along with treating the outside as we have done every ten years for twenty years. I am nervous having termidor in the house. Our house is 100 years old and not sealed and I am housebound so whatever is in the attic I will be breathing. My husband and I are not up to doing our own pest control. Whatever we do will have to be done by a professional with our oversight. BTW we are in north Florida if this helps in your assessment at all. I was thinking of letting him treat the wall with the foam, treat the top of the affected are with spray termidor and then have the rest of the attic sprayed with boracare. Also have the old insulation taken out of our crawl space and having that sprayed with boaracare at a later date. What do you think? Thanks so much for reading all of this and for your comments.
If you are absolutely certain that these guys are Formosan termites, then you have a serious problem. The appropriate treatment for these guys would be to trench around the entire house and treat with Termidor. Always ask what pesticide they plan to use when trenching. Some companies will apply our repellent pesticide which is not what you want. The only two types of non-repellent pesticides that you want to use would be either fipronil or imidacloprid.
The entire treatment that the pest controller is proposing for the inside of the house is inappropriate. Most of the termites will be killed by trenching. However, Formosan termites do you have the ability to build what we call "cartons" and your walls. These cartons give them the ability to remain in your house, without returning to the ground. Therefore, the termites that reside in these cartons can go on eating your house, even after the outside colony is dead. The correct way to handle this is to locate the cartons, remove the drywall, and then remove the cartons. If the infestation is fairly new, then there may be no cartons, but the house needs to be inspected for them. The best way to do this is with a moisture meter. Sadly, most pest control companies do not know how to do this, which explains why they are offering you the wrong treatment plan. I know that you want to farm this out, but you would still be wise to watch my video on how to treat Formosan termites. That video will provide a lot of information about this species, and it will show you how a moisture meter is used to find cartons. There are other ways to look for cartons as well, but an inspection does need to be done. Any company that is not going to look for cartons, does not know what they are doing. It's pretty much that simple. My recommendation is to get several estimates. You need to move quickly though because these guys are very fast eaters, and they can do a lot of damage, in a very short period of time.
Guy
Video on how to treat Formosan termites: ruclips.net/video/xDtGUWxMrRw/видео.html
Wife came home and discovered flying bugs yesterday. I believe they are termites. Can you help us identify and let us know which of your videos to watch on how to save our home? They made pinholes in the drywall to come out and fly around. They are black with four legs and wings. Did not see any mud tubes on our stucco exterior. Can share a photo.
Thank you for your videos, huge help!
These guys do sound like Eastern subterranean termites. If you like, you can send photos to guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. Please watch my video on how to properly photograph a bug. The photos need to be taken correctly for me to make a positive identification. If they are Eastern subs you have two choices for treatment. You can use termite granules or you can trench. The granules are cheap and easy to use, but for the granules to work you need to have dirt around most of the house and that dirt needs to be porous enough to allow water to seep into the ground fairly quickly. To find out if the dirt around your house is porous enough, just dig a small hole next to the house that is about 4 inches deep, 8 inches long, and just the width of the shovel. Fill the hole with water and watch to see how fast it drains down into the ground. If it seeps into the ground fairly quickly, then the granules should work just fine. However, if it just kind of sits there, then the granules would not be a good choice, and you should consider trenching. If it turns out that you need to trench, then please watch my video on how to do that correctly. Trenching is a lot more work, but it only costs about $100 to do an average size home, and it lasts 5 to 10 years. Most people can trench an entire house in one day, but you can take up to a month to get it done, and you can literally do just 10 feet at a time.
Make sure that you buy the correct granules. You need the ones that have imidacloprid as the active ingredient. A lot of the Home Depot and Lowes stores no longer sell the correct granules, but you can get them from Amazon. I will give you a link to them.
Even if the granules will work in your case, you should still watch the video on trenching because it explains a lot about how subterranean termites work and that information will be very helpful to you.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Termite granules: www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUIJYM?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_k1_1_6&=&crid=157C3RV0MY0AK&=&sprefix=termit
Video on how to apply termite granules: ruclips.net/video/H7rW_TSBHJ4/видео.html
Video on how to trench for subterranean termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Video on how to properly photograph a bug: ruclips.net/video/I8qd63hX6y8/видео.html
I have 2 questions for you.
1) We have subterranean termites in our vegetable garden. We've used termite baits you buy from Lowes, but they haven't been working. I also applied beneficial nematodes, but it seems to no avail as well. Are boric acid traps effective? An exterminator is too expensive, and we really want to deal with the problem with as few pesticides as possible.
2) Will the termites find their way to our house? Our garden is probably only about 100 feet or so away from the house. I worry that they will make it up this way. My husband says that they won't bother our house because there's no wet, dead wood. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this assumption. Can you clear this up for me?
I am so sorry that you're having this problem. Boric acid is not an effective way to kill termites. As you have discovered, those termite stakes that you get from Lowe's or Home Depot do not work either. That is because the pesticide they put in them does not actually kill termites. It just stops them from reproducing. Termite workers can live up to 2 years, so do the math. The fact is that there is no natural way to get rid of termites. The only options you have with termites is to either use a pesticide or let them eat all they want to. You should not worry about using pesticides though because they are perfectly safe. If you would like to learn more about why this is, please watch my video on the subject. I think you will find it to be real eye opener. Pesticides got a bad name because of the products that we used prior to the mid 1990s. We are in the 21st century now, and so we now have 21st century pesticides. These materials stay where you put them and they are safe enough for children to play on after they dry.
You did not tell me where you live, but if you have termites in your garden, then you should know that the only species of termites that will eat live food are Formosan termites. So, you either live in an area where Formosan termites are problem, or the termites are not eating the plants in your garden, but rather some dead wood that is being used as a border or something for your garden.
I do not wish to get in the middle of any family disagreements, but the truth is that the termites do not care if the wood is wet in your house. Your husband is probably thinking about carpenter ants that will usually only start tunneling through wet wood. Termites do like wet wood better than dry wood, but they have no problem eating dry wood either. Your husband is correct that most species of termites prefer dead wood, but Formosan termites are an exception and will eat live wood. Also, you should know that the wood in your house is all dead, and that is why all species of termites are more than happy to dine on it. Therefore, I think having termites within 100 feet of your house would definitely be cause for concern. In fact, there is a good chance that you may already be getting attacked by termites in your home. I think you would be wise to do an inspection to see if you can find any mud tubes. You will normally see them coming up from the ground around the perimeter of the house, but you may also see them in the crawl space, and sometimes even in the attic. If these guys are Formosan termites, then you may see them in the eaves as well.
You already watched my video on how to identify termites species. I recommend that you try to obtain a specimen from the garden that has a red head and compare to the photos in the video. After you know the species, then I can tell you how to treat it. I'm afraid you were going to need to use a pesticide though. If the termites are not attacking your house yet, then you need to do a preventive treatment. I can help you with all of this.
I hope that helps. Be well Tina.
Video explaining the truth about using pesticides: ruclips.net/video/i7nLO6Js_3Q/видео.html
Can you please advice. Last year I used a bottle called Dominion 2l and I trench/applied under the house. But yesterday a small hole in my sheetrock near my window a/c I saw about 30 swammers, I made several holes and sprayed some permithrin and then some of that Dominion 2l. These buggers are driving me crazy. Should I spray in the attic and or drill hole at another window. Or remove the sheetrock and spray and then redo my room again. I feel defeated by this termites
Let me begin by saying that you watched the right video. You need to figure out the species first before you treat. If you have drywood termites or Formosan termites, then they get treated differently than most other termites. If you trenched under the house with Dominion 2L, that's fine, but it will not stop most subterranean termite infestations. You need to trench properly around the outside of entire home. I will give you a link to my video on how to do that. Before you trench though, make sure that you identify the species. It is important to treat for the right species. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
How to trench for subterranean termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
@@GuysPestSolutions thank you, yeah I have 2 types. The subterranean termites I got rid of underneath the house. It's these new ones all black flying termites. Your video pointed out which ones are which. I checked the attic no activity, which leads me to believe there coming in from or near the windows. It's this Texas weather that's bringing them in early.
@@rayvillalobos5730 If the flying termites are all black, then they are almost certainly subterranean termites. Drywood and Formosan termite swarmers are a red or orange color. The reason they are coming out of that hole in the drywall is because you never got rid of them in the first place. If I understand you correctly, you trenched under the house and not on the outside of the house. If this is correct, then what you did is most likely not going to kill off the colony. You must trench around the exterior of the building. That is because the colony is located underground, outside of the footprint of the house. The most effective way to treat this is to trench around the entire house as I explain in my video. That would be my recommendation. If you would like to confirm this, then call a pest control company and ask for a free termite inspection. You don't need to hire them. Just let them inspect and ask them to list the specific species on the estimate. I would almost bet the ranch that they are going to tell you that these are subterranean termites and they will suggest either trenching, or the Sentricon system. I can tell you that trenching is the better way to go, but you can do it yourself. If they tell you that you do have drywood or Formosan termites, then please get back to me and I can explain how to deal with them. Just based on what you have told me though, I'm thinking this is a common species of subterranean termites. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
I am in Southern California in the red area. I found Subs in my house, walls and up into the attic. I did the Taurus SC trench treatment and then the foam drilling through the drywall into the studs. I treated the side of the house where the damage was found. About 60 days later I was cleaning a room and when I pulled the bed from the wall found like a thousand dead termites that must have crawled out and died.
Did you put the foam into the studs? And several places in the same stud?
drilled through the drywall into the studs about 10" off the floor and treated the studs best I could without actually seeing the studs.. trenched at the outside, raised foundation.@@flipperc6042
Have you ever seen a row house community in Philadelphia.
There's very nearly NO access to the dirt/ground. Its almost ALL concrete.
That said:
How do you treat a north Philly basement for termites?
In those situations, you generally need to drill the concrete and inject a termiticide into the ground under pressure. This is usually referred to as "rodding." The equipment is expensive, so this is something best left to the pros. Prices can vary a lot in this industry, so you may want to watch my video on how to hire a pest controller without getting ripped off. It may save you a lot of money. I am all about do it yourself, but sometimes you need to call the Calvary. Be well my friend.
Video on how to hire a pest controller without getting ripped off: ruclips.net/video/y-a8XOqVrlE/видео.html
Are there conehead swarmers?
Yes. Conehead termites do swarm. Usually in the spring and summer. They are subterranean, so they colonize in the ground and not your home. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
I thought something was wrong with the garage doors. A three-car garage. On top- a Guest House. Why the garage doors does not open and close, it turned out that the two central columns were eaten by termites. And the Guest House had lots of unexplainable cracks. The guest house was slowly collapsing. This happened in Long Island of NY.
I am so sorry to hear that. In Long Island, the species of termites you have there are very slow eaters, so this infestation must have been going on for quite some time. Unfortunately, New York has the most restrictive laws in the country when it comes to purchasing pesticides. The only options you have are to either hire a professional or have the Taurus SC shipped to New Jersey and pick it up there. If you know somebody that lives in New Jersey, then it's pretty easy. If you do not know anybody, then you always have the option to rent a mailbox at a UPS store or someplace like that. They will accept packages for you. If you can obtain the Taurus SC, then watch my video on how to trench for termites. It's not that hard to do. If you decide to hire a pest controller, then please have a look at my video on how to hire a pest controller without getting ripped off. That video can save you a lot of money. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to trench for termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Video on how to hire a pest controller without getting ripped off: ruclips.net/video/y-a8XOqVrlE/видео.html
I found cone head termites in Robert Lee TX a couple weeks ago.
Are you absolutely certain that these are conehead termites? If you are correct, then this is a new development. The only place I have heard of them being spotted so far are a couple of places in Florida. I full well expect that they will spread to other areas, but I would have expected them much closer to the Gulf. I would love it if you could send photos of specimens to guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. I would particularly like to see one that has a red head. It is unclear if anybody has reported conehead termites in Texas before, so you may be the first one. If you take photos, please get as close as you can to the specimen, without losing focus. The clearer and more in focus the photo is, the easier it is to identify. Thank you so much. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions absolutely.
@@danakill22 Okay. Thanks for letting me know. Be well Dana.
Valdar, I am with cone!
@@dandevito5521 😂😢
I saw a mud tube in a basement on time but it was hanging from the finished ceiling of the basement about 10 to 20 inches long , it that a certain kind or do they all do that?
Subs most likely. Maybe Formosan. Definitely not drywood.
@@judethree4405 thanks for your help.
Make sure they are not mud dauber nests.
@pete no it wasn't them , this one I saw was only attached at the top to the ceiling and hung vertically down more than a foot like a string would , it was strange, I've never seen anything like it.
Jude Three is correct. He got it exactly right. I thought he might be a pest controller. Termites will build those hanging tubes down from the ceiling. I don't know why they do that, but it is super scary. If you have them in the ceiling, then it usually means one of two things. Either you have had an infestation of a common variety of termites for a long time, or you have Formosan termites. Check for mud tubes around the building. If you find one, then break it open and obtain a specimen with a red head. Compare it to the photos in the video and see if it is Formosan. If it is, then you have a big problem and you need to get on it fast. Let me know if that is the case. If it is not Formosan, then trench the house and that will take care of it. You still need to trench for Formosan termites too, but you also need to do other things as well. So please let me know.
Be well my friend.
Thank you for this video. Looks like I might have dry wood termites. I am in the red zone
I am so sorry to hear that. It is important to understand how drywood termites work. They enter through cracks and crevices around windows, doors, the eaves, pipe penetrations, and so forth. Most of the time, they enter through several locations. That is because a swarm of them attacked your house at the same time. If there was a crack or a crevice, then they probably found it. After they established their galleries, which will be inside the wood, it will take four to seven years for them to be able to swarm. Now that they are in your house, the swarmers will use holes that are in your studs to travel through the walls. Those holes in the studs were created by the electricians to run the electrical wiring. Not only are these holes going through the studs, but holes were drilled into the attic for the light switches and to run some of the wiring for the outlets. So, the termites now have easy access throughout the attic and the walls. If you have a basement or crawl space, they have access to that as well. Most of the time, you will have no idea that they are in the walls, because the frass is inside the wall. To make matters worse, if you have drywood termites, then your neighbors have them too. That means you have been getting swarmed for as long as they have existed in the neighborhood. Most likely, we're talking about years, so it's a safe bet that you have these guys in many locations in your home.
I always hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you have drywood termites, the only sure way to get rid of them is to fumigate. Prices for this can vary wildly in this industry, so I recommend that you watch my video on how to hire a pest controller without getting ripped off. That video can save you a lot of money. You should also know that the gas they use to fumigate has absolutely no residual action whatsoever, so you can get reinfested the moment the tent comes down. Like I said before, if you have drywood termites, then your neighbors have them as well. Since drywood termites swarm every year, it is almost a certainty that you will be reinfested within a year after the fumigation is done. The only way to prevent this is to do a preventive treatment on your house every 60 to 90 days. Most pest controllers will not do this, so it is something that you generally need to do yourself. I have a video on how to do that and I will place a link below. If you absolutely cannot afford to fumigate your house, then you can try spot treating it yourself. It is virtually impossible to find all the termite galleries, but it is way better than doing nothing. Regardless of how you treat it, you should begin the preventive treatment immediately, so that you do not get additional termites paying you a visit.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to hire a pest controller without getting ripped off: ruclips.net/video/y-a8XOqVrlE/видео.html
Video on how to prevent drywood termites (You don't need to treat the yard. Just the house): ruclips.net/video/Yozv3s-Qwlw/видео.html
Video on how to spot treat drywood termites: ruclips.net/video/U7ck7zhS0Xo/видео.html
Hello Guy!
I started to watch your videos.
I never lived on a termite area before so I am having trouble to identify which one is the type invading my home.
I live in north Houston zip 77044
There are a few termites at home inside, in the floor, the shower no wings black head brownish body but the head is not like a cone is lime square.
Could you help me?
The pest control company I used for regular lest control told me the following.
Those are "mother's termites" because they show in spring and if I have that few I don't need to worry but truly I don't beleive them and I don't like the idea of having a termite problem and let it seat until it is more dangerous or expensive while I like to do it myself.
Do you have a contact number?
I have pictures and videos of the termites.
Thank you so much Guy
I’m so sorry that you are having this problem and I'm sorry for the delay in responding. I am on vacation at the moment, and I am on a cruise, so I don't always have internet and often I am doing vacation stuff. My wife and I have not had a vacation in over 13 years, so it was time. I will be home on June 11, so I can answer any additional questions you may have at that time.
You have four species of termites in Houston that are of concern. The pest controller is partially correct. These sound like reproductives and they are comprised of queens and kings looking to start a new colony. The pest controller is incorrect about it not being something to be concerned about. In fact, you should be very concerned. If these guys have a brown body, then that eliminates the species that is the easiest to deal with. Termite reproductives can be difficult to identify, especially if they do not have the wings on them. If you send photos to guyspestsolutions@gmail.com, I would be happy to have a look, but no promises that I can ID it for you. Please watch my video on how to properly photograph a bug. The photo needs to be taken correctly for me to have any chance at all of getting it right. If you can photograph some wings as well, that would be very helpful. Please remember that I cannot look at the photos until after I return from my vacation.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to properly photograph a bug: ruclips.net/video/I8qd63hX6y8/видео.html
I an in Arkansas. I have found holes in my ceiling and i am getting bitten A LOT by something also. I saw a mass of black bugs on my ceiling last noght that flew away when i sprayed them. Single struggling mom terrified of how much damage has been done and whether i can fet rid of them myself. Help please and thanks so much for all the info
Do you suppose you could send me a photo of one of these things? The photo needs to be taken properly, so please watch my video on how to photograph bugs. I will give you a link. You can send photos to guyspestsolutions@gmail.com. When you email, please remind me of the problem and give me your RUclips name. Be well my friend.
Video on how to photograph bugs: ruclips.net/video/I8qd63hX6y8/видео.html
Hi. I watched this entire video. But my situation is confusing. I thought termites only be on wood. Tonight i saw 2 termites on the kitchen floor. I wasn't sure if it was a terminate but i used Google lens to identify it before watching this video. So i guess its the eaastern sub one. Then after I came back from the kitchen I saw 4 on my bed. I don't understand why they were on my bed. I don't even have a real bed yet. I just moved to this apartment and I have an air mattress. So i don't know why would termites be in my home on the floor and air mattress and not on any wood? I do have a balcony in my bedroom. But wouldn't they be more around the window if they came from outside? But i don't know anything about termites. I can't call the office until Monday. Me and my daughter are freaking out because I don't know why they just keep coming out of nowhere and on the beds all of a sudden. I want to go to a hotel. This is just one bug that im so unfamiliar with. My friend said they're like ants and are attracted to sweet stuff but my sheets were just put on my bed and were clean. I really want to know how to get rid of these things. Thank you for these videos. Im going to watch your other one too
I can certainly understand why this would be a very scary situation for you. I'm guessing that you did correctly identify the pest. It is currently swarming season for termites. Most likely what is going on is that the building you are in has a termite infestation. The termites you see are most likely exiting from exit holes somewhere in the apartment. These termites are reproductives that are looking to start new colonies. They are not attracted to sweets or any other type of food that you may have around. They are simply trying to find another place to establish colony, but the problem is that they do not live very long after they are exposed to the air. So, they will die fairly quickly after leaving the colony. It is not unusual to find them in a variety of places, and I think that would include your bed as well. The good news is that these guys do not bite or sting, so I would not be terribly concerned about them. This is not something that you can treat as a tenant. You need to bring this to the landlord's attention because termites need to be treated as a building problem and not an apartment problem. While swarming season can last a couple of months, usually the termites that are flying around your apartment will only be coming out for a few days in most cases. So, even if the landlord does nothing to treat the problem, this is something that you only need to deal with for a short period of time every year. Again, this pest presents no hazards to humans, other than destroying the building. If left untreated, the building will eventually become structurally unsafe. So, if the landlord ignores the problem, then you may want to think about moving after the lease expires.
I hope that helps. Be well Gabrielle.
@@GuysPestSolutions Incredible response. First time watching your video and extremely impressed. You are wonderful and knowledgable to us in the pest field learning.
@@katyw7248 Thank you so much for those kind words. Very much appreciated. Be well Katy.
I will say, I lived in Middle Tennessee for 20+ years. The termites were horrible! Don’t know what kind they were. I think they might’ve been dry wood due to seeing a lot of flyers and wings on them.
The only species of termites you have in Tennessee are subterranean and they are fairly easy to get rid of. Let me know if you still have the problem and I will tell you how to solve it. Be well my friend.
How can I submit questions about subterranean termites? I suppose this is it. Do I need a professional to get rid of them now that I see them on my eating my wood floors? Is see them under 2 of my tiles coming up from a crock through my concrete foundation.
I always tell people that the first thing they need to do is to identify the species. It appears as if you already watched that video, so if you live outside the red and orange areas on the map, then you can easily treat this yourself by either trenching or using termite granules. In both cases, you can do it for under $100. I will give you links to those videos. Please let me know if these are Formosan termites because my advice will be different.
You can give any subterranean treatment a boost by spot treating as well. To spot treat subterranean termites, you need to buy a fipronil foam. I will provide link for the product. If there are holes or damaged areas in the floor tiles, just shoot the foam into the holes or damaged areas until it is coming back out at you. The idea is that you want to treat as much of the damaged areas possible. This will poison their food source, and they will bring that poisoned food back to the colony and share it with the other termites.
Most of the time, subterranean termites are going to be building mud tubes somewhere. You will most likely find these mud tubes going up the exterior or interior of your foundation and you may find them along joists and even in the attic sometimes. If you have a slab home, then you may find them going up the outside of the house on the slab and even the side of the house. If you can find the mud tubes, then you can treat them as well. Just scrape off about a 2-inch section of each mud tube down to the bare surface. Then, shoot that foam into each side of the mud tube and also apply a little of it on the surface where you removed it. The termites will rebuild the mud tubes and bring the foam back to the colony to spread around to the other termites.
Also, if you can find the mud tubes, this is a very good way to determine when the infestation is gone. If you scrape off that 2-inch section of a mud tube, you can see if there are any live termites in the tube. Again, the termites will rebuild the tube and go about their business. Do this every two weeks after you finish all your treatments. Apply the foam to the mud tube every time you do it. At the point you are no longer seeing live termites and they stop rebuilding the mud tube, then your infestation has been eradicated.
It typically takes several weeks for this process to be effective. That is because you are using slow kill products. If you were to kill the termites too quickly, then they would not have a chance to bring the poison back to the colony and share it with the other termites. If you don't kill off the entire colony, you will not end the infestation. Therefore, you must kill off subterranean termites very slowly. So, I would give this at least 12 weeks before I would decide that the process didn't work. Hiring a professional to trench your house is pretty much going to take about the same amount of time to kill off the colony.
If you decide that this is something you don't want to do yourself, and you want to hire a pro. Then please watch my video on how to hire a pest controller without getting ripped off. Prices can vary wildly in this industry, and this video can save you a lot of money.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Termidor Foam: www.domyown.com/termidor-foam-p-3528.html
Video on how to treat termites with granules: ruclips.net/video/H7rW_TSBHJ4/видео.html
Video on how to trench to treat subterranean termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Video on how to hire a pest controller without getting ripped off: ruclips.net/video/y-a8XOqVrlE/видео.html
I live in a suburb about 20 miles north of Philadelphia PA, clearly outside of the formosan map shown. That being said and from information from you and other sources i can say i definitely have a formosan infestation. A few years ago i installed central air and left an unpatched hole in the bathroom ceiling. About 6 months ago there was a pile of gray granules with dark red strange looking "ants" on the floor just below this hole. This pile is still growing. In an adjacent room there is a wall peeling from moisture. I thought it a strange place for a leak since it's on the first floor near no plumbing. Now I'm scared to death of this infestation. I'm on a very limited (actually zero, living off my savings but that's a whole other story) income so i must do this on my own. I am more than capable of any demolition/reconstruction needed, that doesn't scare me. I'm watching your videos and appreciate any insight you can give me. I have 78oz of Navigator SC to get started. Thanks, Mike.
The first thing you should know is that ants do not eat wood. Carpenter ants tunnel through wood and they can sometimes look red. They may also be something like Pharaoh ants or maybe even European fire ants. I would rule out termites because termites are more of a cream color. What you may be witnessing is an ant colony in the ceiling, either in the wood or in the ceiling void. Ants will remove dead bodies, so they may just be discarding them out that opening. This may be a completely different problem than the peeling paint in the other room. That peeling paint could be termites, carpenter ants, or it could just be the result of a roof leak. My recommendation would be to look for evidence of termites. Check around the entire house for mud tubes. You would most likely find them outside, somewhere around the perimeter the house, coming up from the ground. However, you may also find them under the house, in the crawl space, or even in the eaves sometimes. If you cannot find mud tubes, then there's a good chance that you may not have termites at all. You could try removing a small section where the paint is peeling to see what is behind that wall. If you find dampness back there, but no termite activity in the studs, or the drywall, then you have your answer. There's a leak somewhere. If you do find termites, then the solution would be to trench around your home. I have a video on how to do that, and I'll give you a link to it. The navigator SC would be fine to use for that. Before you start digging a trench though, I think it would be wise to make sure that you have termites. With regard to the ants, only carpenter ants cause damage to wood, so if you have ants that are damaging wood, then you need to treat for them. I have a video on how to do that. Let me know if they turn out to be a different species of ants and I will tell you how to treat them.
Please get back to me and let me know what you find out. Be well my friend.
Video on how to trench for termites: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Video on carpenter ants: ruclips.net/video/Te9BUCaIQZY/видео.html
@@GuysPestSolutions thank you so much. The wall needs repair so it's coming out either way. The house is unoccupied so I only get there once a week. I'm going to get a better look at the offender next week. House is on a slab. Again, thanks.
@@billmellater You are very welcome. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions your right, looks like Carpenter ants or the like. Took me a while to get back to my house but 7 days ago it looked like The fras pile hadn't grown so I cleaned it up and when i returned 2 days ago I no longer see any activity. I can stick my head up in the hole and see no damage or any signs for that matter. When I pound on the peeling wall I don't hear any fras falling so I suspect a leak is the cause. There is a small area on my backyard wall where I can't get to at the moment but from what I can see there are no tunnels. I have the Navigator SC but haven't treated yet. My question is, are they gone or just migrating through the house?
If you are not seeing mud tubes anywhere, then these guys probably are Carpenter ants. If you didn't treat for them, then it would be unusual for them to move on to another area of the house, but that doesn't mean they won't. Carpenter ants typically tunnel through wood that is wet and soft. So, if you have any moisture issues, those would be areas of the house to look for them. With carpenter ants, you typically see dead bodies laying around, particularly near the walls. You may also see them climbing on the sides of the house. If you are seeing any activity like that, then you may want to treat for them. If you are not seeing any carpenter ants, then I'm not sure what to tell you. There are other types of wood destroying pests that do create frass as well, such as powder post beetles. With those guys, you typically see a lot of tiny holes in the wood. So, it's hard for me to say exactly what's going on without looking at it. Another option you have is to call the pest controller and ask for a free inspection. Most pest control companies are happy to do a free inspection for you. Of course, they're going to want to sell you the job, but you do not need to hire them. If you can get the species identified, then I can definitely tell you how to take care of it.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Do termites mess with sheetrock ?
Termites eat cellulose. Wood contains cellulose, and that is why they eat it. Well, drywall also contains cellulose, so they will eat that too. I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
@@GuysPestSolutions thanks a bunch.
@@WhiteOak09 You are very welcome. Be well my friend.
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I’m living in New Jersey I found a freaking termites inside the floor oh men I don’t know how to deal with 😢
I am so sorry that you're having this problem, but the good news is that you live in New Jersey. That is good news because the only species of termites that you have there are very easy to treat. You always want to go after these guys by treating the perimeter of your house. You can do this by either using termite granules or by trenching. Termite granules work about 95% of the time, but certain conditions must be met for them to work.
For the granules to work you need to have dirt around most of the house and that dirt needs to be porous enough to allow water to seep into the ground fairly quickly. To find out if the dirt around your house is porous enough, just dig a small hole next to the house that is about 4 inches deep, 8 inches long, and just the width of the shovel. Fill the hole with water and watch to see how fast it drains down into the ground. If it seeps into the ground fairly quickly, then the granules should work just fine. However, if it just kind of sits there, then the granules would not be a good choice, and you should consider trenching. If it turns out that you need to trench, then please watch my video on how to do that correctly. Trenching is a lot more work, but it only costs about $100 to do an average size home, and it lasts 5 to 10 years. Most people can trench an entire house in one day, but you can take up to a month to get it done, and you can literally do just 10 feet at a time.
Make sure that you buy the correct granules. You need the ones that have imidacloprid as the active ingredient. A lot of the Home Depot and Lowes stores no longer sell the correct granules, but you can get them from Amazon. I will give you a link to them.
You can also give the granules or the trenching a bit of a boost by spot treating. You need to buy a fipronil foam. I will provide links for two products that you can choose from. I like the FiPro the best because it's a little less expensive and I like the applicator tip better, but the Termidor Foam also works very well. If you are seeing damage in the floors, then just shoot the foam into the damaged areas or into any holes that you see, for about 5 seconds or until it is coming back out at you.
Most of the time, subterranean termites are going to be building mud tubes somewhere. You will most likely find these mud tubes going up the exterior or interior of your foundation and you may find them along joists and even in the attic sometimes. If you have a slab home, then you may find them going up the outside of the house on the slab and even the side of the house. If you can find the mud tubes, then you can treat them as well. Just scrape off about a 2-inch section of each mud tube down to the bare surface. Then, shoot that foam into each side of the mud tube and also apply a little of it on the surface where you removed it. The termites will rebuild the mud tubes and bring the foam back to the colony to spread around to the other termites.
Also, if you can find the mud tubes, this is a very good way to determine when the infestation is gone. If you scrape off that 2-inch section of a mud tube, you can see if there are any live termites in the tube. Again, the termites will rebuild the tube and go about their business. Do this every two weeks after you finish all your treatments. Apply the foam to the mud tube every time you do it. At the point you are no longer seeing live termites and they stop rebuilding the mud tube, then your infestation has been eradicated.
It typically takes several weeks for this process to be effective. That is because you are using slow kill products. If you were to kill the termites too quickly, then they would not have a chance to bring the poison back to the colony and share it with the other termites. If you don't kill off the entire colony, you will not end the infestation. Therefore, you must kill off subterranean termites very slowly. So, I would give this at least 12 weeks before I would decide that the process didn't work. Hiring a professional to trench your house is pretty much going to take about the same amount of time to kill off the colony.
I hope that helps. Be well my friend.
Video on how to trench for subterranean termites the right way: ruclips.net/video/Fy7YHi_7Z8g/видео.html
Video on how to use termite granules: ruclips.net/video/H7rW_TSBHJ4/видео.html
Termite granules: www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUIJYM?ref=nb_sb_ss_w_as-reorder-t1_k1_1_7&=&crid=1RD60DB7WR7PV&=&sprefix=termite
FiPro: www.solutionsstores.com/fipro-foaming-aerosol
Termidor Foam: www.domyown.com/termidor-foam-p-3528.html
@@GuysPestSolutions ufff what a relief 😃
Gracias gentleman love your videos 👏👏👏👏thank you so mucho for taking you valuable time to helping people who work hard to preserve in good condition theirs investment GOD BLESS YOU
@@gch8155 You are very welcome. Be well my friend.
The swarmers looked like the eastern subterranean
You are most likely correct. Good job. Be well my friend.
2000 species ...... I'm done..
The good news is that on about 40 of them are in the US and only about three of them are of concern. So, not so bad for the US. Go somewhere like Australia and hang onto your hat. Be well my friend.