Remedies

Many house owners do not realize that there might be a serious threat to their property. This threat is termites.

Termites preferably eat cellulose materials but can also make damage to some other materials. The problem is that termite attack is usually hidden and house owners can notice termite presence when the number of colonies is huge.

Anyway, no matter how many termites there are in the house, you will still have to fight with them. There are many different remedies which have different levels of effectiveness and specific features.

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• Home remedies against termites
• Remedies which can be applied in the house
• Remedies which can be applied outside of the house
• Natural remedies
• Useful articles
• Final decision

Home remedies against termites

There are different methods and remedies which can be applied against termites and they can be divided into different groups. Here everything depends on where you are planning to apply the remedy, the type of termites which you are fighting with, how the remedy works, where you are planning to apply it, etc.

When you find termite presence, it is usually advised to call a professional pest control service which knows everything about termites and you do not have to worry about insect elimination because the company will do everything for you.

But if you still decide to destroy all termite colonies by yourself, there are some remedies which can be easily found in the store and you do not have to have any special knowledge or training in order to apply the remedy.

This is important because remedies which professional companies use are usually very effective, but expensive and cannot be applied without special knowledge.

Furthermore, this type of remedies is to be sold to companies which have special license.

If you are looking for an effective home remedy, you can have a look through this list:

• termite control baits;
• termite barriers;
• termite traps and liquids;
• insecticides;
• “green” remedies.

In order to find out which remedy (or combination of remedies) you need to use, you have to realize what type of termites you are fighting with, what is the size and the place of the infected area.

Learn more about drywood termites: signs of their activity; best methods of treatment: spot treatment and DIY methods; how to get rid of them in furniture?

Remedies which can be applied in the house

There are several ways how you can fight termites in the house, everything depends on termite presence. This means that you need to identify whether you need to protect your property from future infestation or deal with them because insects are already inside.

This is really important because termiticides can be repellent or non-repellent. Of course, if you are planning to protect your house from future invasions, it is much better to use repellent remedies.

Non-repellents are effective when you need to eliminate present termite colonies because when termite do not notice the treatment, that makes killing process more effective.

A perfect example of house remedies is the usage of termite traps and liquid spraying. Termite traps are basically used as a spot treatment. Spot treatment can be effective when the number of colonies is relatively small or nests are easy-to-be-reached. It is also a good idea to use termite traps in order to identify termite presence.

Termite traps are very cheap and can be easily bought in the store or you can always make your own one.

Here carton traps are very popular. The problem is that though this kind of traps is totally safe for humans, it does not show its high effectiveness. Termite traps will not eliminate the whole colony.

Furthermore, you will have to check traps regularly and get rid of them every time when you find termites inside (for example, burn them).

Drilling holes is another method which can be used against termites. This method can be rather effective, but here everything depends on the type of termiticide which you will use later. The principle of this method is rather simple. When you drill holes in the infected area, you inject termiticide into the hole.

When termites contact the treated wood, they get infected and die after some time. One of the biggest disadvantages of this method is that you actually damage the area.

You can also use different sprays in order to protect (or treat) larger area. The effectiveness, again, will depend on the type of termiticide which you will be using. Sprays help to cover large areas but depending on the poison type it may damage the surface; that is why it is important to know whether the remedy can destroy paint, polish, etc. or not.

When you are trying to choose the right termiticide in the store, you have to pay your attention to the effectiveness of remedy and to the fact whether it is safe for humans and environment or not. Fortunately, the majority of termiticides from the store are safe to humans.

This is all because for you there is no need to have a special license in order to buy this product. The major part of this type of remedies contains Boric acid. Boric acid is believed as a very effective remedy against termites; that is why so many termiticides contain it. If you find Bora-care or Borax, you can easily apply them as well.

Learn more about subterranean termites: signs of their activity; best methods of treatment and DIY methods. Eastern subterranean termites and their tunnels and tubes with photo.

Remedies which can be applied outside of the house

The majority of remedies which are supposed to be used outside of the house basically mean house protection from termite infestations. Here, for example, you can use different physical barriers. There are different shields which can be bought in the store, or, you can always make your own barrier.

Here you can dig a trench and fill it in with sand, for example. The biggest disadvantage of building physical barriers is that these barriers are difficult-to be installed because they need time and effort.

Of course, it is much easier to build these barriers at the construction level.

Another effective and very popular method today is installation of different termite baits. These baits usually have several parts and work at the same principle.

The first stage signalizes you that you have termites, the second stake kills termites. Some termite baits have repellent liquids inside which make termites avoid the area.

Attention! When you install a barrier with repellent liquid, you have to be sure that you do not have termites inside of the protected area, otherwise termites will be “locked”.

There are many different termite bait systems which can be found in the store. Usually they do not need any special knowledge for the installation. You will just have to read the instructions.

It is a usual thing when termites attack the tree in the backyard, fence, firewood, etc. It is very likely that over some time termites will invade your house that is why it is very important to create a barrier around your house for better protection.

It is also important to start the treatment of the wood. Here it is a good idea to use liquid remedies (for example, the ones which main component is permethrin). Liquid remedies are easy-to-be-applied because they just have to be sprayed around the infected wood. When you are choosing termiticide, you need to pay attention to its toxicity because it has to be safe to the environment.

Here you can learn more information about effective termite control remedies: Borate, Fipronil, Chlorpyrifos, Chlordane, Timbor, Termidor, Terminator, Phantom, Lorsban, Biflex, Terro and Raid.

Natural remedies

Eco-friendly natural (“green”) remedies are usually easy-to-be-found and have low toxicity (which means that they are safe to humans, pets and plants). The problem is that the majority of these remedies do not show high effectiveness against termites.

For example, orange oil. Orange oil can be applied as a spot treatment and is not able to eliminate the whole colony though termites die when they reach treated place.

On the other hand, heat or cold treatment as a home remedy against termites is effective, but takes a lot effort. If you decide, to kill termite with the light and heat outside of the house, you will spend a lot of time while taking out infected furniture.

Furthermore, this type of treatment cannot be used for big infected objects. And, of course, it will not protect the area from future infestations.

Taking into account all possible home remedies, today Borax is believed to be the most effective natural home remedy against termites. Moreover, it is easy-to-be-applied and can be easily found in the store.

Check out the products of such giants as Bayer – Termite Killer Concentrate and Granules; and Spectracide – Termite Killer concentrate, sprayer, foam and Baiting stakes.

Useful articles

If you interested in more information of termites we recommend you to read the following articles:

• All types of termites. Are they harmful to humans? Can they bite you? And what is the difference between drywood and subterranean ones?
• What does swarmers of different species look like: drywood, subterranean, formosan?
• Signs of infestation outside and in the house: in walls or furniture.
• What does termite holes look like? What is droppings and is it toxic to humans? Do termites make noises?
• Posible termite damage, how does it look like? Examples of damage in walls and wood floors.
• All about flying termites: how do they look like, swarming season and what to do if there are swarmers in your house?
• How do they do nests and mounds? How to find it in your garden or inside the house?
• Termite life cycle – from egg to larvae. And social hierarchy: workers, soldiers, queen.
• Did you know that termites can infest living trees, for example a palm or a pine tree. They also like to live in stumps.
• You can prevent the infestation by using barriers, such as: HomeGuard, Physical systems, Safeguard, Stainless steel mesh, Kordon.

Final decision

There is a wide range of different home remedies which can be applied against termites. These remedies can be easily found in the sore and there is no need to have any special knowledge or training for their usage.

In order to identify the remedy which you need to buy, you have to realize what type of termites you are fighting with, how huge the infected area is, where the infected area is, etc.

For example, if you have infected wood outside of the house, it is a good idea to use repellent liquid sprays around the wood. This type of remedies is very useful because it will kill termites inside of the infected wood and will not let them go out of the infected area.

This is also very important because termites may decide to move to your house. If you are fighting termites inside of the house, it is much better to use a combination of different remedies. The ones which have Boric acid are the most effective ones.

Depending on the infected area you can use traps, sprays, foams, spot treatment remedies, etc. It is also very important to protect the house from future infestations; that is why it is a good idea to use different barriers, traps (to make termite presence visible) and repellents.

Also you can poison termites with powders and home remedies.

Some home remedies may be very effective against termites, but still do not give 100% warranty and sometimes professional pest control service might be needed. Pest control companies usually have big experience in termite killing and have access to highly effective chemicals which exterminate termites.