Termites Treatment
- , by Trudy Chuoke Trudy Chuoke
After a recent customer conversation, I realized I haven't discussed termites in quite some time. Just hearing the word can make you uneasy, no one wants to think about termites because they do so much damage to the structure, and your bank account. Professionals will charge upwards to the thousands of dollars. I want to show you how to handle termites before the situation gets expensive.
My customer was selling her home, and the inspector had been to the house and said she had termites in the wood fence. Well, if you live in San Antonio and your fence touches the ground, you probably have termites there. Unless you are smart and put in a concrete pad for the fence to sit on and use metal posts instead of 4 x 4 lumber. But that’s a whole different article. What I want to share today is how to treat termites yourself.
Ortho Home Defense Termite and Destructive Bug Killer kills subterranean termites for up to 5 years in undisturbed ground. It comes in a concentrated 16-oz container and should run about $30.00. I know that sounds expensive, but it is well worth it considering the cost of an exterminator. I explained to my customer she would need to treat the area using the trenching method: (1) Dig along your fence line, 4 inches deep and 6 inches wide. (2) Mix one pint of Ortho concentrate with water to make 5 gallons of solution per 12.5 linear feet—you will likely need several pints for a whole fence. (3) Pour half the solution evenly into the trench. (4) Backfill the trench with soil. (5) Pour the remaining solution on top. (6) Move along the fence, repeating the steps.
You can also use Ortho around the foundation of the house. The mix is a little bit different. Use 1 Tbs of Ortho per gallon. One gallon treats 167 sq. ft. Spray a 3- to 10-ft. band of soil around the house, next to the foundation. Then spray up the foundation of the house to a height of 2 to 3 feet. This product can also be used to kill carpenter bees. Treatment should be made in the evening when insects are at rest. Aim spray at the nest opening in the ground, bushes, and in cracks and crevices that may harbor nests. Saturate the nest opening and try to contact as many insects as possible.
This product can treat all destructive bugs. If you have carpenter ants and beetles (borers), they can all be treated with Ortho. If you see active termites in the home, you can kill them with either Terro Carpenter Ant and Termite Killer or Revenge Carpenter Ant and Termite Killer. The spray comes with an attached straw to get into crevices. It has a knockdown effect, which means it will instantly kill termites. If you suspect an infestation, drill holes in the area and spray a 10-second blast into them. Drill holes every 8 to 10 inches. This will kill the workers. But you will also need to treat the outside area. Look for tunnels on the outside of the house around water areas. If you have rotten soft wood around the house and see activity. Treat for termites first. Then you can fix any rotted wood with Minwax Wood Hardener and Filler. Contact me if you have any questions about these products.
Now to the email....
Question: We have two open rain barrels that we collect water for the plants around the patio. With the spring rains we get, we can water for at least a couple of months. But we get so many mosquitoes. Do you have any suggestions for handling that? We also use this water to fill the bird baths and wouldn’t want to harm our sweet birds who come to bathe.
Answer: Use Mosquito Dunks. One dunk kills mosquito larvae for 30 days and treats 100 sq. feet of water. The surface film targets all mosquito larvae but is safe for animals, so birds will not be harmed when using this water in bird baths.
Question: Trudy, my dad has a favorite leather recliner. Where his head touches the chair, it has discolored. Is there something I can clean with that will not damage the leather?
Answer: Use Howard’s Leather Cleaner. It will clean the recliner. Then use Leather Salve also by Howard’s. It will restore the leather. The chair will look great.