Monika from Gulfport, Fl writes
We have a five year old home that has evidence of dry wood termites in the attic. Pinholes in the bath where frass got pushed out and a pile of frass in the attic which was visible after insulation was pulled up. We live in Gulfport FL and have been advised to tent our home and fumigate with Vikane. One exterminator recommended applying Boracare to all the exposed wood areas in the attic as a preventative measure and at a cost of $2k. The house is a single level 3000 sq ft house. Is there any documentation on how effective this spot treatment is? We do not know how they entered but assume it may have been when the house was built. My concern is that it's a big cost and there is lots more area in the house that would not be protected as there is no access behind walls. Ali's is one application even enough?
The advantage of doing a tenting treatment is that it will kill all the insects in the home at the time of treatment. Since drywood termites have one colony all in one place, this would eliminate all colonies present without necessarily having to locate all of them. Obviously cost and time can be a concern with this type of treatment. Plus, tenting does not provide any kind of prevention, so a Boracare treatment on raw wood is a great idea for prevention. If you are going to treat yourself, then you would use signs like frass and kickout holes to locate where the live termites are in the structure, and you would spot treat each of those areas. I recommend using a foam termiticide such as FUSE Foam to spot treat live termite activity in the structure. It is not recommend to spot treat only using Boracare. Boracare is a unique product in that it absorbs into the wood and stays present for the life of the wood, so it is really one of the only things you can do for prevention of drywood termites. We have more tips in our Drywood Termite Treatment Guide here.
Answer last updated on: 07/24/2018
