Pest Control Specialist

If you own residential or commercial property in a warm to hot country, them I am certain that you have heard of the risk of termite damage. However, do you know which signs of termite damage to look out for? Do you know how quickly you can go from not having a problem to having a large infestation? And do you know how long it will take a major infestation of some termites, notably the Formosan termites, to make your property dangerous?

If you do not know the answer to these questions, then you have two choices, either to learn quickly or hire in an expert. In regions of termite activity, it is suggested that every property is screened at least once a year. There are about fifty species of termites in the USA, so it is not an easy job to identify which species you have.

Having said that, subterranean termites are the worst and the Formosan subterranean termites are the most awful of that bad bunch. They can live in colonies of between several hundred and several million and if a million Formosans decide to dine on your house, then you will have to react very quickly indeed.

Of course, you do not want to lose your own house to a termite infestation, but neither do your neighbours, so you have a moral obligation to destroy any termite colonies on your property. So, why should you suspect that you have a termite issue?

As termites eat wood, amongst other things, the best thing to do is search for wood damage around your house. The basement is a good place to begin. Do not be concerned about what type of timber, check it all, since there are termites that like dry wood, termites that like damp wood and termites that will eat anything.

If you suspect that a piece of timber has or is being eaten, use a screwdriver gently to try to break it open. if you see white insects that resemble ants, you have termites. Sometimes, flying termites swarm too., but so do ants.

Termites are white because they rarely see the sun, they do not like light, so they build so-called galleries to walk through. These galleries can be through a length of timber or they might use chewed wood to build galleries leading to where they want to go. For, example pencil-like galleries may hang off the underside of your floorboards to the ground or be attached to concrete walls.

These tube-like galleries can be abandoned or active. Snap a few and see. If they are brittle they have been abandoned, but that does not mean that the termites have departed.

Sometimes, the tubes are made of soil and this is a very bad sign, because it means you have subterranean termites, probably under your house. If you knock these galleries off the walls, they will leave marks called etchings, which will be a sign of termite activity until the house is knocked down, for anyone who recognizes them.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is at present concerned with Termidor termite treatment – a termite killer. If you are interested in this or if you are wondering: What Does A Termite Look Like?. Please go to our web site now for further details.

Owen Jones Pest Control engineering, environment, gardening, home repair, house, Insects, Landscaping, other, outdoors, Pest Control, real estate, structural engineering, termites, uncategorised

Infrared technology has been utilized for decades to search for humans and other animals. It even has applications in various fields of science and technology, but until quite recently, no one had had the idea of using infrared to locate termites and other insects. When, you hear about it, it makes sense, because a huge number of animals working and living together will create heat, even if they are termites.

However, now that the link between infrared and termite detection has been made and there are devices on the market, specialized pest controllers have welcomed the new technology with open arms and adopted it into their armoury of weapons against termites that occupy our homes. Nowadays, thousands of forward-thinking pest control businesses can offer termite location by means of infrared cameras.

Now, these infrared cameras are not cheap, but as with all other kinds of new technology, the price is dropping as there is more and more demand. This will have a big effect on the price of a termite survey, because formerly, people had to go digging holes all over the place to find the nest. You see the real problem is that the most harmful termites are subterranean, ie, their nests are underground.

It was always very tricky to find and annihilate the nest and nearly all the harm caused to timber in the USA is made by these subterranean species of termites. The latest estimation I can find for termite damage and deterrence in the USA is $11 billion – but that was in 1999. More than ten years ago!

Previous to these infrared termite location cameras coming on the market, the method of finding termite galleries, was to tap a joist and listen to determine if it was a little bit hollow. Then, the expert would break the timber open to see whether he was right. Discovering termite galleries or walkways by this means was unavoidably damaging and so not the best.

Additionally, disturbing termite workers in this manner, causes them to signal a retreat and they all go back to the nest. This can reduce the effectiveness of further detection and consequent spraying. The termite pest control industry was looking for a way around this predicament for a long time.

Then along came the infrared termite detection camera. So, these days, a termite exterminator does not even have to interrupt much, he can creep quietly around the property inserting the lens of the video camera into nooks and crannies and see what is going on. The camera lens is on a stem which allows it to be pushed into galleries in timber and earth to make following them back to the nest simpler.

The infrared termite location camera has taken the battle against the termite up to a new level. It has also lowered the amount of damage that an examination for termites leads to and it should bring the cost of a survey down too. The only thing that an infrared termite location camera cannot help you with is the cost of eradicating the termites if you actually do have an infestation.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently concerned with Termidor termite treatment – a termite killer. If you are interested in this or if you are wondering: What Does A Termite Look Like?. Please go to our web site now for further details.

Owen Jones Pest Control engineering, environment, gardening, home repair, house, Insects, Landscaping, other, outdoors, Pest Control, real estate, structural engineering, termites, uncategorised

If you have termites, or if you suspect that you do, you will need to get a termite inspector or pest control company to visit and make an inspection for you. This could be fraught with dangers of scam inspectors and phony pest control firms, if it were not for the The National Pest Management Association.

The National Pest Management Association is the nationwide governing body for pest control professionals in the United States. Whoever you call out to give you a pest control report, survey or quotation, has to be a member of The National Pest Management Association or give them a wide berth.

When someone comes to do a survey for you, ask to see his NPMA ID card and ring them up to make sure that they really are registered. If they are not, do not use the company and once they have left your property, ring the police and report them as potential con men.

Pest controllers who are truly registered with the The National Pest Management Association will use an NPMA-33 Termite Inspection Form to present their report. These forms are issued by the NPMA to their members.

There can be facsimilies of the NPMA-33 Termite Inspection Form floating around fraud rings and the Internet, so you cannot use sight of an NPMA-33 Termite Inspection Form as proof of bona fide pest controllers.

The NPMA-33 will keep all the details of the termite inspection and will provide copies of the inspection for you, the NPMA and the pest control company. The inspection sheet will also have a unique reference number so that the survey can be easily found again.

The NPMA-33 Termite Inspection Form is a very precious document as it can be utilized as evidence during the sale of a building. It can be requested by the buyer or the estate agents or the vendor can offer one voluntarily. The NPMA-33 is testimony that the house has been checked and given the all-clear or that it had termites and that they have been eradicated.

The NPMA-33 Termite Inspection Form is very simple and easy to understand, so should not be mystery of technological gobbledygook to whomever commissioned it.

The first part of the document specifies the property that was surveyed and the name and registration number of the company that carried out the survey. The registration number does not refer to their NPMA membership number, but to their state license to function as a pest control firm.

The second part of the form gives particulars of the commissioner of the survey and the actual person who carried out the survey along with his or her license number to operate as a pest control inspector. The next section deals with any problems uncovered and how to rectify them.

There should be no portion or even space or field left blank on the The NPMA-33 Termite Inspection Form. When it has been finished, copies should be sent to interested people and agreements about remedial work made. It is a question of mutual agreement whether the corrective work is carried out by the vendor or the buyer.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is at present concerned with types of termites. If you are interested in this or if you are wondering: What Does A Termite Look Like?. Please go to our web site now for further details.

Owen Jones Pest Control engineering, environment, gardening, home repair, house, Insects, Landscaping, other, outdoors, Pest Control, real estate, structural engineering, termites, uncategorised

If you have an issue with termites or even if you just that think that you may have, you will have to learn about the appearance of termites and how they behave, unless, of course, you decide to call an expert in, which is obviously the easiest course. A common description of termites is that they look like little white ants.

In spite of the fact that most termites are white, not all of them are. They are also not white ants and closer inspection of a termite will reveal that it only very superficially is similar to an ant in appearance.

In behavioural patterns, there is a closer similarity to ants, as work is divided along gender lines, as in ants. Termites are also completely unrelated to ants. They are not even distant relatives. In fact, it has lately been realized that termites are more directly related to cockroaches.

Ants, bees and wasps belong to the Order of Hymenoptera, whereas termites have been reclassified into a Super Order called Dictyoptera. It has been proposed that termites be reclassified as Family Termitidae in the Order of Blattodea (where cockroaches are).

Termites do loosely look like ants, it is true, but where they resemble ants a lot more is in their behaviour. Just like ants, the workers go out and retrieve food for those members of the colony that do not often (or ever) leave the nest.

However, whereas ants will tunnel to get somewhere, as termites will as well, if travelling means being exposed to daylight or predators, ants will risk it, whereas termites will construct enclosed walk-ways or galleries to get there. This is also the duty of the workers, who, just as with ants, are exclusively female and blind.

If there is a threat to the nest, then the soldiers are summoned. They have exaggerated mandibles or jaws. Sometimes these mandibles are so big that the soldier termites cannot feed themselves and have to be fed by others. Then there are the winged termites which fly off to establish new nests.

At the top of the hierarchy is the queen. She usually has a very distended abdomen, which can be the size of a human fist, although all other body parts, head, legs etc, remain the normal size.

Workers and nest-bound termites are invariably white to cream in colour, because they never see the sun, whereas flying termites are brown. In Thailand they are a reddish brown with three pairs of large white wings. They be inclined to swarm during or just after rainfall and they leave cracks in the ground in bursts of fifty to a hundred.

They look like streamers. Thais eat these termites, called ‘maleng maw’ – they are fatty and full of protein. When they have mated, they fall to the ground, shed their wings. Then they search for the nearest crack in the soil to start the cycle all over again.

Termites do a huge amount of damage in warm countries, but they are still absorbing creatures and it is just thought of as bad luck if your house is chosen by them, unless you take sufficient steps to take care of your property.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is at present concerned with pictures of termites. If you are interested in this or if you are wondering: What Does A Termite Look Like?. Please go to our web site now for further details.

Owen Jones Pest Control engineering, environment, gardening, home repair, house, Insects, Landscaping, other, outdoors, Pest Control, real estate, structural engineering, termites, uncategorised

Have you recently found out that you have a dangerous termite infestation? Have you recently been told that you will need to use gas on them because it is the fastest method of termite control and you do not have any time to lose? If so, toxic gas probably is the only answer.

However no one would blame you for being a bit concerned about having your house filled with poisonous gas. It does not sound a very beneficial environment to have to live, eat and sleep in afterwards, does it? The good news is that there is little reason for anxiety, especially if you use a reputable company with a history of using gas on termites.

Vikane is one of the most frequently used gases for the fumigation of termites. It is usually used with a practice called tenting. Tenting means quite literally putting a tent over the whole structure concerned, say your home.

The tent is then sealed as much as feasible, the Vikane gas is pumped in and fans are utilized to make sure that it is dispersed throughout your house, including your attic and basement. The gas is left to do its lethal work for a day within the sealed up tent and within your house.

On the second day, the tent is taken off and the house is ventilated using the fans again. Delicate instruments are used to determine the levels of gas in all rooms of your home and when the pest controller is certain that the levels of gas have fallen to where your house is safe for human habitation, you will be permitted to move back in. That will usually be on the third day.

Vikane does not leave a sticky residue, so it will not leave a film on your furnishings which you will have to clean off later. When the house has been properly aired, all the gas will have gone, although there may still be a few harmless pockets left behind rafters and joists in the attic and basement.

Tenting your house may give you grounds to think that the gas must be dangerous for surrounding wildlife or your neighbours, but this is not the motive for tenting. The tent is erected in order to hold the gas against the outside of the exterior walls of your house as well, so that it is treated from inside and out, although it does help stop wasting gas also.

This tenting system of fumigation with Vikane is a very effective method of getting rid of an infestation of termites from a building. In fact, it is so effective that your contractor should issue you with a guarantee, although you may have to have the process repeated every year or two in order to maintain the warranty.

Vikane is aimed solely at termites, so it will not kill any other eco-system that has established itself within your house. It will not kill spiders, ants, bed bugs or cockroaches. More’s the pity, I can hear you saying.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is at present concerned with pictures of termites. If you are interested in this or if you are wondering: What Does A Termite Look Like?. Please go to our web site now for more details.

Owen Jones Pest Control engineering, environment, gardening, home repair, house, Insects, Landscaping, other, outdoors, Pest Control, real estate, structural engineering, termites, uncategorised

It does not matter what the circumstances are, the news of termite damage is never favourable, even if you caught it before any severe damage occurred and even if you have already repaired it. This is because it proves that your house is in danger of another attack.

This is very bad news indeed if you are trying to sell your home, because the estate agent’s examination of your property will expose the truth and that will scare a lot of potential buyers. When termites are found by the estate agent and the vendor did not even know, it is normal practice for the vendor to offer to exterminate the termites and repair the damage.

However, this is frequently not sufficient to save either the sale of the property or its original selling price. You may have to take a hefty reduction in the selling price. This is because the pest controllers can give a report that the termites have been eradicated and the estate agent can give a report that the visible damage has been repaired, but who is going to give such a report on the overall structure of the house?

Structural damage is not always visible to the naked eye and some termites are even subterranean. Some termites will even eat concrete! If there is structural damage, the costs can easily run into tens of thousands of dollars.

Forty or fifty thousand is not an exaggeration. Therefore, the only way to assuage a prospective purchaser, or indeed, yourself, that your house is structurally sound, is to call in a structural engineer.

Do not worry yet, that does not inevitably have to cost a lot. It depends on what the engineer finds and what he has to uncover to satisfy himself that the structure is sound. You can help lessen the costs by clearing out some or all of your rooms and making certain that appliances can be moved if necessary.

If you have an attic or and a basement, now is a very good time for a clean-out. The garage too. Completely empty the attic, basement and garage so that the engineer can see what is going on and make certain that there is ample strong lighting for him to see by. If he has to bring in personnel to do all this essential work for you, your bill will go up considerably.

Likewise, if he says that the footings have to be uncovered, offer to do the excavating yourself. Better still, have some friends and family on hand to do it there and then if possible so that he does not have to come back again. They charge by the hour and by the visit and you pay for travelling time.

Lastly, whether you are buying, selling or staying, get depositions and warranties for all the work carried out and keep those reports with the other vital papers relating to your home.

A potential purchaser will definitely be more impressed by these depositions and guarantees and so will your insurance company. Just remember that, you would not like to live where there is serious termite damage and neither does anyone else.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is at present concerned with Termidor termite treatment – a termite killer. If you are interested in this or if you are wondering: What Does A Termite Look Like?. Please go to our web site now for further details.

Owen Jones Pest Control engineering, environment, gardening, home repair, house, Insects, Landscaping, other, outdoors, Pest Control, real estate, structural engineering, termites, uncategorised

Do you have a termite concern? If you have, you should get on to it right away, because the ultimate future of a house infested with termites is a demolished house. Termites can be eliminated, there is no question about that, but the technique you choose is significant. One of the means that some professionals use is termite tenting.

If you and your termite exterminator decide to use this method, the professional will put up a huge tent around your house to contain the noxious gas that he uses to kill the termites within your house. The house has to be tented to enclose the gas in and around your house and to stop it from dispersing, because it is injurious to human health as well.

Some say that termite tenting is old-fashioned and just too hazardous, others say that it is the only certain way of killing all the termites in a house. Some people say that it is very expensive, others say, so is a house. At the end of the day, the choice is yours, obviously, but please be aware that there are other alternatives of eradicating termites these days, although not all are as fast-working as termite tenting.

In fact, termite tenting may be the only method open to you, if your house is about to fall down, because you will be able to get on with the renovation work that much more quickly. Other professionals do not agree, saying that if you use a slow-acting poison, you can still work alongside the dying population of termites. You would be best advised to get a couple of quotes for the work and a couple of opinions.

If you go for termite tenting, you will have to pack up all your food and clothing in air-tight plastic bags, which the contractor can normally provide. Then, they will make a large loose-fitting tent around your house. Next, they will release a poisonous gas into your house and have it circulated into every nook and cranny by means of fans.

This gas is detrimental to humans, so you will have to move out for two or even three days and people will be warned by signs to keep away from your house while it is being fumigated.

The termite tent will be taken down on the second day and the clean-up process will commence. Now the powerful fans will be used to drive the gas from your house and sensitive instruments will be used to check when it is safe for you to come back. That often takes another twenty-four hours to be certain.

Although the gas is toxic, it does not form a film on surfaces, so when the house is deemed clear, it really is safe. Many people worry that it is not. This fear is groundless, which is borne out by the fact that you are warned to have your house inspected for termites in your annual house maintenance routine because they can come back and you will not want another termite tenting treatment.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is at present concerned with Termidor termite treatment – a termite killer. If you are interested in this or if you are wondering: What Does A Termite Look Like?. Please go to our web site now for more details.

Owen Jones Pest Control engineering, environment, gardening, home repair, house, Insects, Landscaping, other, outdoors, Pest Control, real estate, structural engineering, termites, uncategorised