Replies

1. 
   PlaneWood | Apr 17, 2002 07:09pm | #1

   See if you can capture a few of the buggers on a piece of clear tape.  Take them to a retail chemical company and see if they can identify them and recommend a line of treatment.  Termites are quite common in the SF area.  I would seek another company to do the treatment. 

   Drywood termites sometimes have to be treated by enclosing the entire house with a plastic bag and gassing the things.  Can be a nightmare if the infestation is bad.

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy
   PlaneWood

2. 
   forestgirl | Apr 17, 2002 08:02pm | #2

   Oh, my sympathy goes out to you!  I had drywood termites in a small home I owned many, many years ago.  Then "tent" treatment is what I used.  Although this is a chemical approach, they use a gas that is in extremely small concentration (parts per billion if I remember correctly).  Once the treatment is done, and the tent is off, there is no residue.  It kills only the critters within the tent enclosure, doesn't linger or leak to surrounding areas. 

   I'm not sure you can "spot" treat for these guys.  If you do end up using the tent approach, shop around for prices.  I called maybe 8 different companies, and prices ranged (for a very, very small place) from $800 to $2000 (upper end represented by Sears, of course).  This was in the early 1980's.  I chose a private, one-owner exterminator guy, who had been in business for 20+ years and was very knowledgeable and professional.

   FYI, I don't normally go around using pesticides to solve problems (I have nothing but Safer's soap in my garden shed), but I went for the tent. 

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   StanleyNiemiec | Apr 17, 2002 08:42pm | #3

   I would be very careful regarding the use of fumigants.  Yes they are extremely effective but they are also extremely toxic.  Methyl bromide is one such chemical often used and it quite effectively will sterilize anything it has contact with.  It is great stuff but it is also an OZONE depleter (as in ozone layer).

   The concept of drywood termites is not entirely accurate.  A level of dampness must be present and there is a limit to the distance that the termites will build structures to transport water.  It will be necessary to remediate the underlying conditions that are ultimately integral to the current infestation.  Fumigation is a one time treatment that provides no residual protection against re-infestation.  If you are to prevent re-infestation, you are either going to have to apply so more permanent termite toxic compound or modify the conditions that allow them to colonize your home.

   I would suggest you contact the Forest Products Department at the University of California (either at the Richmond or Berkley campuses) and see if you cannot obtain more detailed information regarding these little buggers.   The literature they may provide might have more detailed information regarding effective remediation procedures that are more permanent, more cost effective and potentially less environmentally hazardous.  You might also see if the Forest Products Lab's (USDA - Forest Service) home page does not lead you to information as well.  Sorry I don't have the web address on-hand but a search should get your there.

1. 
   forestgirl | Apr 18, 2002 05:28am | #4

   As I stated in my earlier post, I don't generally use fumigants/pesticides (or even herbicides, for that matter).  However, years ago when I was in the same situation that 'hedgehog' is in now, I opted for the guaranteed cure, as my little home was dissolving before my very eyes. 

   My impression at the time was that the drywood termites were called that because they don't come into contact with the house via mounds of dirt the way "ordinary" termites do.  The way it was explained to me, I just happened to be unlucky enough to own the place they chose to settle in.  While there may have been some factor in the house that made it more attractive than others in the neighborhood, I never discovered what that might have been, and they never came back.

   My impression is that the "tent" technique is one that is pretty sparsely used.  In situations where the termites are coming from under the house (via hills) or places where the house incorrectly contacts the ground, there are other ways of dealing with them.  Certainly, the companies involved would much prefer not using the gas/tent approach if they can, if for no other reason than the liability exposure involved.  Perhaps someone out there knows of another sure-fire way to get rid of the drywood variety.

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)