Termite/pest control question

[Sam1]

The house we're moving into was under a contract for termite/pest control and I was thinking this may be something easily handled by ourselves instead (we dislike monthly payments on services).

 

Question I had was, those termite spikes were about $50 for 15 at home depot.  Are the ones we get in the store similar to the ones used by commercial service companies? 

 

Am not sure what they are actually paying for the service, but am expecting it to be a decent amount since the house is in the middle of nowhere, and if we can do the spike thing once or twice a year ourselves, it would be preferred.

 

Any info on that is greatly appreciated, as I don't know the first thing about pest control.. Literally nothing other than bugs exist and humans use chemicals to kill them.

[glock55]

don't know about the do it yourself approach but we use cooks pest control. they put the spikes around the house and check them once a quarter. the cost is 200.00 a year. also get the damage guarantee. never had a problem in 24 years with them.

[peejman]

The average consumer can't get the high powered chemicals the pros use. But when used properly the OTC stuff works fine. I've had termite swarms around the house (no infestation) and the "bug be gone" liquid killed them or ran them off. I use it once per year now.

[dlm37015]

when i built my house 35 years ago i poured abouy a gallon of clordeen around it. no pest problems

[CCzarnik]

Termidor. Same stuff the pros use. Can easily get online, good for ants and termites. <br /><br />Active ingredient is fipronil, same stuff in frontline that goes on dogs, so not stuff I'd worry about too much. <br /><br />Lot of debate on the bait cans and whether they work. Perimeter treatment is the way to go. <br /><br />First post, btw.

[Sam1]

Thank you sir

[monkeylizard]

+1 to the termidor. If you want to DIY, do the perimeter treatment around your house. Dig up the top few inches of dirt around the house's outer perimter and apply as described on the label. The advantage to having a contract is that you get damage coverage from most of them. IF you have a problem with termites later, they pay for it. If you look in your crawl space every year and check each wall for termite tubes, and if you're the kind of guy that keeps up with his home maintenance, chances are that you'd find them before they did any major damage. I had them at a prior house eating on the paper on the drywall in one small area, then I noticed they had eaten up about 4 feet of baseboard. I treated...they died...I fixed the damage. It's possible they ate on the studs in that wall too, but it wasn't worth tearing out drywall to find out.

 

On the other hand, I have a neighbor now (different house than my termite problem) who had them years ago and treated for them and repaired the visible damage. Similar situation to mine before. When we both flooded in 2010 and he got the sheetrock out, the studs in that wall below his big heavy bay window looked like swiss cheese...

 

I now have mine professionally treated and inspected and under contract.

[Sam1]

if you don't mind me asking, how much do you pay per year on it?

[monkeylizard]

Not sure. I haven't seen the bill this year (should come any time now) and I don't recall what it was a year ago. I use Terminix.

Edited April 5, 2013 by monkeylizard

[Sam1]

don't know about the do it yourself approach but we use cooks pest control. they put the spikes around the house and check them once a quarter. the cost is 200.00 a year. also get the damage guarantee. never had a problem in 24 years with them.

 

 

Gave them a call and the guy came out today, is $260/year (only $22 more than Arrow) and the guy showed us how they had done an OK job, but they were skimping out and spread far apart, then one section didn't have anything.

 

The biggest reason we signed with Cook's was because they actually answered the phone and showed up.  Called Arrow three times to get paperwork this week and got nothing, I am thinking they were expecting us to just sign over on the contract since their system was in place.  Too bad