Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Subterranian Termites

I have been busy.
Screened enclosure, kitchen cabinet install, built on site kitchen counter, decking in attic, floor repair, window repair, fence repair, turn a hole into a closet.
While these were interesting projects, moving the washer and dryer hookup at my house is the most interesting.
It involves adding plumbing to the shed

I removed an inside wall panel and found that my 1 1/2 year old shed is a playground and restaurant for a gazillion subterranian termites

I did some recent research Because Pebbles (sorry, old picture) had been having a pretty consistant flea problem since the doggie door went in (more time lying in the sand outside) and found that Boric Acid is one of the best treatments going for fleas, ants, roaches and termites. There is lots of info on the web but a couple of things I found.
Boric acid (orthoboric acid) is the active ingredient in most roach powders ( $8 per 1 lb bottle). I bought mine for $27 for 15 lbs at The Chemistry Store.
I read about a company that sprays a boric acid solution on the open studwork of new construction and guarantees it for 5 years.
Anyway my plan is to clean off all of the "tubes" going up the slab to the wood, put a line of powder around the perimeter, make a 5% solution of boric acid and water and spray it inside all of the infested walls and preventativly in other places with a garden sprayer. Then in a couple of weeks, I'll open some of those walls and see what activity there is. I'll let you know how it goes.
The solution is sold by some suppliers in a 2% or 4% solution. I think it was about $27 for 500ml.
The 5% solution can be made by throughly mixing 3/4 cup of BA with 1 gal of water. If my math is right I can make 42 gal with my 15lbs.
It is also sold as a floor mopping solution for fleas, roaches and ants.
There are some safety precautions which you should definitely research yourself, but it is not considered hazardous waste and it is used in some eyewashes.
Stay tumed. I'm in a writing mood More soon.

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1 Comments:

At 10:02 AM, Blogger Mike Handley, Handyman said...

So far it's going well. I sprayed and repeated a few days later. I'm keeping a close eye on the slab for termite tubes, nothing yet. I also sprayed a nice tasty piece of soft pine and laid it on the ground next to the shed. Usually it would have termites in a few days. Nothing yet.

 

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