Jack

It looks like they're using the same type of eradication program they started using in Florida before we left 6 years ago. They say it's actually better then the barrier method which was in use in Florida when we first built our house there some 25 years ago.

Let me know where they're located. I may pay them a visit.

Of course, you can plaster the area with highly toxic chemicals, but they will kill everything, not just termites. Also I do not relish spraying poison all around where I live. I think the first step is to ensure that there is little or no suitable food for them, and that it is hard to get at. Certainly some wood seems to be pretty termite proof - in my old Thai house we have 40 year old floor boards and never touched by them.

Personally, I like the borax or boric acid idea as less toxic to non-target organisms and more natural. And cheaper. Unfortunately, you cannot buy it from a thai shop - it is a restricted chemical. If anyone can get it, please let me know. It is also very good for ants (that's my problem) the only things attacked by termites in my house are paper and chipboard furniture.

Hi,
Go green solutions:
1) dig in manure into the ground around the house, termite don't like rich soil, but good for your flower bed.
2) ants and termite don't get on well, so some ants is good. Encourage some natural termite enemies.
3) for new house, fill in as much sand as possible under your concrete, termite can't dig their tunnels through sand.
4) consider creating termite feeding field with corn cobs, instead of your house.
5) don't forget ant caps on your piers.

Any chemical solution last around 5 years, then you need to retreat your property. Unfortunately with heavy rain, chemical will sip and wash away much quicker.

OK so I looked up some old threads here on UM and decided to try the "cheap Charlie" version. I went to Home Mart and bought a bottle of Chaindrite Stedfast 4sc for 700B and got a guy to spray under the house for 500B. However, I understand that this is probably not a very good treatment and that it must be regulary repeated so I am going to find out what it will cost to put a layer of concrete on the ground.I guess I will need min. 5 cm and the area is 150m2. Has anyone done this?

A friend of mine in the us has his own termite control company.I said to him I was having trouble with A house in Bangkok.He said the termites in asia are really bad.He didn't give me A solution except tear down the house and
build a new one.

Al

A layer of concrete may not solve your problem either unless you apply a flexible sealant around everything that comes through that concrete. As the new concrete sets up it will shrink a bit and leave a small gap around pipes or old concrete footings, columns, pilings etc. Termites can get through an opening as small as a human hair. I lived in Florida for many years and our termite problem was not as bad as that here in Thailand and still it was a constant battle.

Termite is usually in a concrete wall and comes from soil under the house. How can we permanently stop them attacking on our house. I have read all posts and this question comes in my mind. Do we really need a termite control company? why we are not so able to protect our house from this when it is under construction??

Donna, i am not sure if you are in Australia as per your profile location or Pakistan as per your IP address, but in answer to your question..

Yes the ground beneath the house can be treated during construction. However as this is a chemical treatment it will eventually stop working. The normal method in Thailand is to run a plastic pipe & nozzle network in the enclosed space under the flooring. This can be accessed by an authorised practitioner from outside the house to periodically chemically treat the ground below the house.
Yes, it should be done by a professional. Chemicals that kill termites are dangerous in unskilled hands..

Termites will go straight through concrete so don't waste your money, ant caps are for a line of vision only they do not stop termites, when under your house you shine a torch along the edge of the ant caps looking for termite tunnels going over the cap edge, the purpose of ant caps is to make finding them easier. In Aus another method is a one metre deep trench around the entire perimeter of your house, the trench is then filled with crushed granite, maximum aggregate size 10mm and less, as they bore through the tunnel collapses on itself, granite though not sand, in Aust 1 metre is enough, in Asia not sure, there is also fine stainless steel mesh, expensive and where it meets other surfaces and at joins always creates a weak point .

If your house has crawl space then set up 20mm pipes with drip holes at every point of contact with the ground and in continuous runs a series of drip holes on a slope, fill with poison regularly with a funnel, take the pipe through the external wall add a 90 deg bend with a 100mm riser with a screw fitting pvc plug. The old fashioned method is arsenic powder, find as many termite tunnels as possible and at one time apply arsenic powder, termites groom each other so it spreads through the colony, you must kill the queen though to wipe out the colony, apparently the CSIRO in Aus had or has a queen that is over 80 years old, they also claimed they tunneled through a glass milk bottle.

When I built my house the only timber is Mai Dang door jambs and Teak doors, everything else is concrete, steel or smart board, the only thing termites will eat is the paper on the gypsum and the furniture, when I poured the slab on ground I mixed Chaindrite or Shelldrite 70% with diesel 30%, used a watering can and applied it heavily on the ground, it stunk, I then lay plastic as a dampcouse to keep the smell down a little while working and to prevent rising damp, hopefully the termites will consider that 'mai alloy' and eat my neighbors house instead.

coxo wrote: When I built my house the only timber is Mai Dang door jambs and Teak doors, everything else is concrete, steel or smart board, the only thing termites will eat is the paper on the gypsum and the furniture, .......... hopefully the termites will consider that 'mai alloy' and eat my neighbors house instead.

After the problems had referred to earlier in this thread, I demolished 50% of the house, and have rebuilt as per coxo above.

The termites did chew through some gyprock plaster, but in pursuit of something tastier I suspect.

............ apparently the CSIRO in Aus had or has a queen that is over 80 years old...........

I understand she is actually English. :-"

As I posted before: Boric Acid

Another low-tech and forever solution would be to lay two plys of 6 mil plastic during construction. A standard practice in the States. You can also lay it in crawl spaces then soak the perimeter around the plastic with a boric acid and water solution. *poof!* No more termite OR ant problem.

Those other ideas are temporary at best and hella expensive and/or aggravating over time.

I built my home two years ago over more than a couple very large active colonies. Zero ant or termite problems (and my steps are solid wood built without concrete supports). A few scouts get in at the door corner or the stove vent, but a sponge soaked in sugar water and boric acid solution left on or under the counter and some ant chalk takes care of them.

coxo wrote:Termites will go straight through concrete so don't waste your money,

http://www.termite-control.com/termite- ... -termites/

Florida has a significant termite problem similar to LOS. Typical building codes called for chemical treatment of the ground under the house then a plastic sheet is applied after the plumbing lines are laid in. A concrete slab is then poured on the plastic sheet. A series of bait cups is also installed afound the perimeter of the structure. Nothing is 100% when it comes to termites although I'VE never heard of the critters boring through concrete. However, having said that they can pass through a crac k as small as a human hair. Therefore, the codes also call for sealing all pipes/electrical lines etc passing through the slab with some kind of flexible caulking.
Most northern countries avoid most of the problem by virtue of the colder climate which control the little critters.
We installed a series of 1/2" pvc lines with spray heads under the ground floor. Every year we have a service pump in insecticide.
BTW termite ait is available here in LOS which will help eliminate colonoies on the property.

Oops I incorrectly stated the plastic sheet is applied after the plumbing lines are laid. That should read the plastic sheet is laid and then the plumbing lines go in on top of the plastic. Once again nothing will provide 100% protection when it comes to termites. Annual monitoring by trained professionals is essential to keeping one step ahead of this pest.

Would inserting hard plastic sheets vertically into the soil one meter deep around the house be any good?

I don't think so because colonies could exist deeper. It would also be difficult to seal the joints between the sheets. Termite companie in Florida typically pump in the chemical barrier to a depth of 7-8 feet below the soil line.

Additionally it will not prevent any colonies from directly under the structure from continuing their "work".

JR wrote:Would inserting hard plastic sheets vertically into the soil one meter deep around the house be any good?

Soak the soil with boric acid and water solution (heavy on the boric acid so it remains at a high concentration). Then mix boric acid with thinner, wood gloss, or wood stain and apply it to all wood surfaces you can reach.

Put plastic sheets vertically in the ground..?

termites have been known to dig tunnels 40' deep in search of water...

Plastering soil with toxic chemicals is not good for the environment; you may kill the termites but you also kill everything else. Some of these chemicals also slowly vaporise and may end up inside your house. Also, it is a never ending job (good for the termite control companies). First and foremost is using termite resistant materials and good barrier control when building. i have a few termites in my house, but no big problem because although wood, it is nearly all termite resistant hardwoods; recently had the floor up (due to rotten beams caused by frequent flooding in the foundations) and no termite damage, only rotten wood. But have attacked stored paper and modern furniture. Structure - not touched.

Old house, if termites in the wood you have a big problem. good materials, barriers, keep dry and should have little problem. As KD says, borax a good low toxicity chemical to use; can paint solution on wood, use to make baits and very cheap and safe.

KD has just posted some about Borax (Boric acid, similar use).

The problem with using boric acid is that it's water soluble and will become useless anytime it gets wet. I suspect it will become useless after the first rainy season unless protected from the elements and any moisture.
As I said in an earlier post there is no 1 product that will offer total protection forever.