OH NO! I don't know, but I feel your pain. :(

Thanks Prarie, I found out by accident carpeter ants like to eat termites.(I found the ants carrying dead termites) I'm not optimistic enough to think the carpenter ants will actually wipe out the termites but I was flad to see dead termites....*sigh* PJ

I think any of the 'majors' should do fine. I don't know about the smaller guys.

Don't feel too bad. There are 2 kinds of people - people who have termites, and people that will. They are all over.

Maybe you could catch that armadillo and turn him loose in your walls ------------- or ------------- maybe not. ; - )
J.D.

Get thee a couple of critters, known to eat ants or termites, as the case may be.

Beware of ants in any newly installed cabinetry. They seem to hatch out of particle board, after the cabinets are installed. They also seem to keep coming, although I now have them somewhat under control.

You did see "The Hellstrom Chronicles" didn't you? All too feasible.

Rick,I was two when Helstrom Chronicals came out so I didn't get a chance to see it. I did read about it on the internet. It's probably not far from the truth.
Actually anteaters eat termites. They have huge claws and are aggressive tho. Darn. PJ

Well, there's usually drawbacks to everything, when trying to control Mother Nature's critters. Especially the human animals.

Last spring I found some termites in one spot along my foundation so called ABC Pest and Lawn. They did a free inspection and I had a choice of what I wanted to do. I could just treat the one spot (that way I'm not putting poison out all over) or treat the entire foundation. It cost me $400 to treat just the one area (they also injected a foam around the downstairs plumbing to prevent infestation from under the foundation), but it is $75 every three months for them to come out and inspect the bait stations that they leave when they do the initial treatment. Other companies will charge an arm and a leg and tell you that you need to drill into your foundation, inject the chemicals outside and inside. They weren't pushy and promote organic lawn care, but to treat termites, there really isn't a perfect organic answer, so they use fipronil (sp?) foam that they inject into the soil where they trench. It stays put and kills the termites. I included a link to their website below for more information.

Here is a link that might be useful: ABC Pest and Lawn

Thanks Denisew!!! I knew this happening was a possibility. There are termites EVERYWHERE in TX. I was hoping they'd skip my home. There was water damage at one time under the bathroom they are attacking. I'm planning on tearing out and replacing the water damaged wood. I think I have another spot in the kitchen with the same problem. I figure if I take out the water damaged areas,treat those areas and under any bath traps we should be good to go. PJ

You should consider treating the source, as most of the time, you will find them somewhere nearby, in the yard.

I once found them in the back corner of the yard, in a tree there. Not that far from the tree to the house.

Ants are under all of the concrete, on your property, including your foundation, so getting rid of them is not really possible, about all you can do is control. The concrete itself keeps you from getting at them.

That's the plan Rick! PJ

I found evidence of Termites. After research.... I purchased a product named Dominion 2L... I have a brick home. I drilled 5/8 inch holes in the mortar joints, every 6-8 inches apart all the way around the house, Aprox 1-2 Ft above the ground level. I mixed (shaking often) this product at its rec. mixture, in a garden sprayer. And sprayed about 40 gallons through these holes, In the space behind the brick and down into the foundation blocks, hopefully down into the ground around the footer. I plan to dig a small trench around the outside of the foundation and soak that with at least the same amount of mixed chemical. I would appreciate any comments about this product and or my method of using it...Thanks for any help !!

I highly recommend a product called Termidor. Any reputable company will be able to apply it properly. My termite guy told me it would kill any insect that crawled through it. (They put a gel barrier all around the foundation of your house, about a foot down.) It cost me $300 to have the application done and I haven't had any problems since. No need for more applications, inspections, etc. Though they did throw in free annual inspections for three years. I'm coming up on five years and still no problems. The manufacturer recommends a reapplication after 7 years, but my termite guy said the field studies are still showing prevention results from a 20 year old application.

My mom did the bait traps in the yard and had holes drilled into the foundation so they could spray a foam poison down there and they kept coming back anyway. :-(

thanks Maden!!! PJ

PJ: I hope you got these pest problems under control. I didn't know ABC was up in Dallas too. They're a good company.

Did you get the wood ripped out. Hopefully, they were just localized and populations recently had soared because of all of last year's rain.

Termites are scary.

Last weekend we found some bugs in the house and I thought they were termites, but it turned out to be winged ants. We called ABC Pest and Lawn to come out to treat the area since we used them for our previous treatment and have a contract with them. They use Termidor. While I was still thinking they were termites, I went outside to look for a tube on the house and found one that ran right up beind where the gutter comes down on the side of our house. It was up about 3 feet! This was a different spot than the area we had treated last year. I checked the nearby termite station and fireants were in there, so termites were present there too since fireants like to eat termites. We had the guy come out from ABC Pest and Lawn and he checked the tube but could not find a spot where they were actually getting into the house - THANK GOODNESS! He also found one of the ants and confirmed it was an ant and not termites. So, they will be back out to treat that area for termites when it dries up (it had rained yesterday morning so it was too wet) next week and I will put bait out for the ants.

I had also found where some ants were getting into the
weep holes between the bricks on the other side of our house and he suggested that along with the bait that I also use an aspirator (one of those bulb/snot suckers we used for our babies) to suck up some DE and shoot it into each of the weep holes and do a lot of it into the one where the ants are getting into the house. Then he suggested using steel or copper wool to stuff into those holes to discourage the ants from getting in again. It will still allow the house to "breathe", but keeps bugs out.

This has happened several times in the past few months where really old posts get dredged up by SPAMMERS. I've been reporting them to Gardenweb.

thanx Bobbie! PJ

orangr oil as a drench is effective,but only if you know where the mound is. spinosad bait is very effective and will be taken to the queen,she eats it and dies. dry conditions are required tho.

Carpenter ants and termites are wood-spoiling insects. Carpenter ants are basically found in wet woods. You can take suggestion from IPM Integrated Pest Management Company. A few months ago I needed help to recover termites and carpenter ant attacks badly. In that time I took a suggestion from many pest controller companies but I took help from IPM Integrated Pest Management. This company provides the best quality service.