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meirman
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 8:23 am
Post subject: termite trenching |
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"How to Apply
For termite trenching application : Add 3.2 fl. oz. to 1 gallon of
===> So what do you think termite trenching is?
water for each 2 1/2”linear feet using a sprinkling can.
For all other pests: Use one tablespoon per gallon of water sprayed
over 167 sq. ft. using an Ortho Dial 'N Spray or a tank sprayer."
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
now in Baltimore 20 years
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raymond o'hara
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 9:02 am
Post subject: Re: termite trenching |
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"meirman" <meirman@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:64dum0la1s62aoi3fftkkvjohdb1ftfoqp@4ax.com...
| Quote: | "How to Apply
For termite trenching application : Add 3.2 fl. oz. to 1 gallon of
===> So what do you think termite trenching is?
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Dig a trench near the infested area, apply the poison there. |
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Michael DeBusk
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 1:54 pm
Post subject: Re: termite trenching |
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On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 22:23:57 -0400, meirman <meirman@invalid.com> wrote:
| Quote: | ===> So what do you think termite trenching is?
|
Termites often live in the ground around the house. Trenching them
involves digging a shallow trench, about six inches or so wide, all
around the house, right up against the wall, and filling it with your
termite-killing chemicals. The trench is then filled in with soil.
Incidentally, if you have termites, you may want to reconsider
treating the house yourself... especially if it's on a slab rather than
a basement. I think it's better to let a pro do it because if *they*
screw up *they* have to fix it. My dad had a pro treat the house when I
was young, and they poisoned our artesian well. If Dad had treated the
house, he probably would have poisoned the well too, but chances are
good he wouldn't have known it until we all came down with the rather
dramatically ugly symptoms of organophosphate poisoning... and then he
would have had to pay to decontaminate the well, rather than having the
exterminator's insurance company do it.
Besides, your homeowner's insurance may even require a professional.
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet?
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Phil C.
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 4:54 pm
Post subject: Re: termite trenching |
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On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 07:54:21 GMT, Michael DeBusk
<m_debusk@despammed.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Incidentally, if you have termites, you may want to reconsider
treating the house yourself... especially if it's on a slab rather than
a basement. I think it's better to let a pro do it because if *they*
screw up *they* have to fix it. My dad had a pro treat the house when I
was young, and they poisoned our artesian well. If Dad had treated the
house, he probably would have poisoned the well too, but chances are
good he wouldn't have known it until we all came down with the rather
dramatically ugly symptoms of organophosphate poisoning... and then he
would have had to pay to decontaminate the well, rather than having the
exterminator's insurance company do it.
|
Purely from idle curiosity, how does an artesian well get
contaminated/decontaminated by? My idea of such a well is a sealed
pipe under pressure from aquifers at higher levels than the well-head.
So poisons in the surrounding soil would be unable to penetrate. My
artesian well could only be affected by contaminated water entering
the system several miles away. I assume they're different where you
live?
--
Phil C. |
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Michael DeBusk
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Oct 16, 2004 12:15 pm
Post subject: Re: termite trenching |
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On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 11:54:15 +0100, Phil C <philstoxicwaste@fsmail.net> wrote:
| Quote: | Purely from idle curiosity, how does an artesian well get
contaminated/decontaminated by?
|
As best I can remember, the poison migrated along the outside of the
pipe that went down to the source.
They decontaminated it by forcibly blowing it out with some sort of
compressed air rig. It got rid of the toxin, but the water has been
sandy ever since.
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet? |
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meirman
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:08 pm
Post subject: OT Re: termite trenching |
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In alt.english.usage on Fri, 15 Oct 2004 07:54:21 GMT Michael DeBusk
<m_debusk@despammed.com> posted:
| Quote: | On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 22:23:57 -0400, meirman <meirman@invalid.com> wrote:
===> So what do you think termite trenching is?
Termites often live in the ground around the house. Trenching them
involves digging a shallow trench, about six inches or so wide, all
around the house, right up against the wall, and filling it with your
termite-killing chemicals. The trench is then filled in with soil.
Incidentally, if you have termites, you may want to reconsider
treating the house yourself... especially if it's on a slab rather than
a basement. I think it's better to let a pro do it because if *they*
|
Thanks for the very good advice. Actually, the part I quoted was just
a matter of curiosity. The only termites I have are in my wood fence,
pretty far from the house.
And I do have a basement with cinder block walls and a cement floor.
OTOH, I've had termites in parts of my fence for probably 15 years and
I'm wondering now if they are headed for my house? There was a
termite inspection before I bought it, but half the basement is
finished. Should I be paying more attention to the other half?
Although a mouse walked into the house though a doorway, I don't think
a termite would do that. How do they get in? There is a perforated,
corrugated plastic pipe that circles the foundation below floor level
to catch water and then goes under the floor to the sump in the
basement. It's usually dry, but there is always some water in the
sump. Could they enter that way? They'd have to crawl up the
corrugated plastic sump wall, then walk across the cement floor to a
wooden "wardrobe" I use for storage or to the box of scrap wood, or
farther is the framing for the wall that divides the basement.
I have a hole in the ground near the front door. It got covered up by
me accidentally, but it's reopened today, a day or two later. Any
easy way to tell what animal is using it?
| Quote: | screw up *they* have to fix it. My dad had a pro treat the house when I
was young, and they poisoned our artesian well. If Dad had treated the
house, he probably would have poisoned the well too, but chances are
|
Some of the instructions, of this product or a competitor or both,
mention wells. There are no wells here, and I wouldn't spray anything.
When I first found the termite tunnels in my pickets, I talked to the
wife of a local exterminator. (Her busband and grown sons were out
exterminating, but she had a baby in her arms and a little kid next to
her. She's probably handles the phone calls to the business.) She
told me it wasn't worth using poison for a fence, and I should just
cut off the bottom of the pickets so they don't touch the ground, or
the grass when the grass grows as tall as it will. But in this
particular case, the two rails for one section are broken, and I want
the two pickets on either side of the break to reach to the ground and
support the rails like fence posts. And I found a product that sounds
like it will keep the termites out, Ortho-Klor, Termite and Carpenter
Ant something or other. The required precautions with regard to the
environment are not that burdensome. But they want users to wear
rubber gloves and iirc a mask and long pants and sleeves,
I'll let the pickets dry thoroughly before putting them out. I don't
know if any of the ingredients would redissolve in the rain, but I'm
not that close to any water. To preserve a fence post, they say to
pour a gallon! of the mixture into the ground around the post.
| Quote: | good he wouldn't have known it until we all came down with the rather
dramatically ugly symptoms of organophosphate poisoning... and then he
would have had to pay to decontaminate the well, rather than having the
exterminator's insurance company do it.
Besides, your homeowner's insurance may even require a professional.
|
My fence posts are 25 years old and doing fine (except the ones that
get little son have a little rot as deep as a half inches to 2 inches.
I think the fence rails are cedar, and again, where they don't get
enough sun, they are being eaten a bit by moss. Plus there was one
kid who stomped on some and broke them. But matching rails are sold
at Lowes.
But I'm running out of pickets that match, and can't find more. The
original fence company discontinued them, and one other only sells 4
inch wide, instead of 2 inch. I can't just trim them because these
are peeled pickets, round on one side and flat on the other, with a
standard Gothic top, curved almost to a point, but with a short
horizontal cut at the top.
So I thought I would soak the bottom four inches of each newly added
picket in Ortho-Klor, from Ortho.  And maybe paint the bottom 4
inches of the pickets that are already on the fence, in the area where
they get termites.
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
now in Baltimore 20 years |
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Michael DeBusk
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2004 12:14 am
Post subject: Re: OT Re: termite trenching |
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On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 04:08:11 -0400, meirman <meirman@invalid.com> wrote:
| Quote: | OTOH, I've had termites in parts of my fence for probably 15 years
and I'm wondering now if they are headed for my house?
|
My dad suspects that the termites he had came from his neighbor's
woodpile. So, yes, your fence-termites could eventually end up as your
house-termites. Sooner or later they'll swarm; they may have already.
You may have termites now and not know it.
| Quote: | Although a mouse walked into the house though a doorway, I don't
think a termite would do that. How do they get in?
|
They can fly on occasion. Some also build mud-tunnels up the side of
the bloc foundation to reach the tasty wood of your house.
| Quote: | There is a perforated, corrugated plastic pipe that circles the
foundation below floor level to catch water and then goes under the
floor to the sump in the basement. It's usually dry, but there is
always some water in the sump. Could they enter that way?
|
I suppose they could, but I don't know that they would. It seems a
little bit too complex a route for such a creature.
| Quote: | I have a hole in the ground near the front door. It got covered up
by me accidentally, but it's reopened today, a day or two later.
Any easy way to tell what animal is using it?
|
I imagine there are folks who could look at it and know. If it were I,
I'd probably rent a small cam-corder and put it on a motion sensor.
| Quote: | Some of the instructions, of this product or a competitor or both,
mention wells. There are no wells here, and I wouldn't spray
anything.
|
With trenching, you don't spray anyway. You dilute the poinson and pour
it into the trench.
| Quote: | She told me it wasn't worth using poison for a fence, and I should
just cut off the bottom of the pickets so they don't touch the
ground, or the grass when the grass grows as tall as it will.
|
The problem with that is, if they can't eat the fence, they'll find the
closest thing they CAN eat, and that's probably your house.
| Quote: | Ortho-Klor, Termite and Carpenter Ant something or other. The
required precautions with regard to the environment are not that
burdensome. But they want users to wear rubber gloves and iirc a
mask and long pants and sleeves,
|
It's a cholinesterase inhibitor. Nasty stuff at high doses. If you've
ever seen the movie, "The Rock", you will remember Nick Cage's line:
"It's one of those things we wish we could disinvent." The stuff he's
talking about is also a cholinesterase inhibitor. It's also used in
chemical warfare; it's called a "nerve agent" then.
Wear rubber gloves, long pants and sleeves, a mask, and eye goggles.
Wear large plastic bags over your shoes. I'd recommend taping down the
cuffs of your pants and sleeves too. Stay upwind of it. Undress
outdoors when you're done (maybe wear a bathing suit under your
clothes) and put the clothes in a plastic bag, and take them directly
to the washing machine for immediate washing. Take a LONG (at least 20
minutes) warm shower immediately after starting your laundry.
If, over the following day or two, you feel weak or nauseated or notice
any tremors, or start any aspect of SLUDGEing:
Salivation (drooling)
Lacrimation (watery eyes)
Urination (unusual increase or decrease in flow)
Diarrhea
Gastric distress (usually cramps)
Emesis (vomiting)
....get yourself to an ER and tell them what you used, that it's a
cholinesterase inhibitor. Tell them you showered already. They may want
to shower you again; that won't hurt. They'll probably treat your
symptoms and observe you for a while. If it's bad, they may give you
atropine, but unless you huff the stuff you probably won't get there.
| Quote: | I'll let the pickets dry thoroughly before putting them out. I don't
know if any of the ingredients would redissolve in the rain, but I'm
not that close to any water. To preserve a fence post, they say to
pour a gallon! of the mixture into the ground around the post.
|
Yeah, it isn't just the wood you have to treat; you have to treat the
ground. That's where they live.
| Quote: | My fence posts are 25 years old and doing fine (except the ones that
get little son have a little rot as deep as a half inches to 2 inches.
|
Treated lumber is a good investment.
| Quote: | I think the fence rails are cedar, and again, where they don't get
enough sun, they are being eaten a bit by moss. Plus there was one
kid who stomped on some and broke them. But matching rails are sold
at Lowes.
|
Cedar is more expensive, but worth it for many reasons besides termite
resistance. :)
| Quote: | But I'm running out of pickets that match, and can't find more.
|
Ouch. You'll have to replace the whole fence or make the pickets
yourself (or have them made for you).
| Quote: | So I thought I would soak the bottom four inches of each newly added
picket in Ortho-Klor, from Ortho. And maybe paint the bottom 4
inches of the pickets that are already on the fence, in the area where
they get termites.
|
Sounds like a plan. I'd consider treating the ground under it, though.
And when you're soaking the pickets, make sure you're doing it outdoors
(but in an area where no dogs or kids can find the bucket). I wouldn't
even use that stuff in a garage unless I could open both ends.
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet? |
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