Dominion 2L Termiticide - Questions & Answers

Dominion 2L and all other termiticides have to go into the ground by digging a trench or by drilling holes.  Dominion 2L will not last on wood or concrete, so it does not good to just spray it on these surfaces.  Also, spraying on top of the soil does not work because termites do not walk on top of the ground, they enter a home from under the ground.  Are the boards in the back of your house running parallel to the house?  If so, you can remove two rows and trench and then replace them.  You should dig a trench in the crawl space and place the product in the trench and also trench and treat around the piers.  However, most termites enter the home from the outside perimeter, so you can very likely get termites from the outside if you do not do some sort of treatment outside.

Termidor SC lasts for 10 years or more, but it comes with a hefty price tag that many people can not afford in this economy. We recommend Dominion 2L which last for up to 7 years as a lower cost alternative. Either product will do a great job for you.

Dominion 2L is a great treatment for subterranean termites, but its main purpose is to treat for termites in the ground.  Dominion 2L does not penetrate through wood because it is not made for this purpose.  Since termites eat from the middle of the wood, the only way Dominion 2L would work is if you drilled holes into the display wood structure and injected Dominion 2L exactly where the termites were.  We do sell wood treatment products that will penetrate through the wood by just spraying on the surface, but they will only work on raw, untreated wood.  The wood treatment products would not work on wood that has been painted, stained, or sealed.  Bora-Care is the name of the wood treatment product if you wanted to go that route.

It is a state specific law that prevents us from shipping certain products to New York. Dominion 2L does not appear to be registered for use in New York. We do have a link to New York products that are permissible for us to ship.

It is important to throughly mix the Dominion 2L into the water. You should fill the bucket with 1/3 of the water needed, add appropriate amount of Dominion 2L, stir well, add another 1/3 of water needed and stir, add the rest of the water and stir.

Dominion 2L is not labeled for fleas or ticks. For flea and tick infestations consider using our Outdoor/indoor flea kit which contains the insecticide Onslaught and the Insect Growth Regulator Martins IGR. The combination of a good long lasting insecticide and an insect growth regulator is needed to eliminate a flea and tick infestation.

You will need 0.1 to 0.2 fl. oz. (3 to 6 mL) of Dominion 2L per foot of shrub height so you will need to use 1.2 oz of product per 6 ft hedge. The amount of water that is used will vary depending on soil conditions and volumes that are easy for applicators to use. The minimum amount of water that should be used is 1 pint per foot of shrub height but you may use 1 quart -1 gallon of water per foot of height as well. Denser soils such as clay do not accept water as readily, so the lower volume of water is suggested.  Since sandy soils can accept more water, using the higher volume of water is preferred. After the soil drench has been applied you should water it in with at east 1/2 inch of water. Note: Water simply acts as a carrier and it is important that even distribution of the product is achieved. Thus, more water may be used if the applicator feels runoff will not occur and proper penetration of the root zone is achieved. Insecticides applied to the soil are taken up by the roots and translocated throughout the tree or shrub. Root/soil drenches offer the advantage of requiring no special equipment to apply (other than a bucket or watering can). However, surface layers of organic matter, such as mulch or leaf litter, can bind the insecticide and reduce uptake. Before applying drenches, it is important to remove or pull back any mulch or dead leaves so the insecticide solution is poured directly on the mineral soil. It is also important to keep the soil around the tree or shrub moist for the next 7-10 days after applications to encourage uptake.

Whether you are treating for termites or for ants, you should apply .6 ounces, just a tad over 1/2 ounce of Dominion per gallon of water.

It all depends on how far away the well or cistern is away from the property.  Here is the verbiage off of the instruction label for Dominion:

TREATMENT AROUND WELLS OR CISTERNS: Do not contaminate wells or cisterns.
Structures With Wells/Cisterns Inside Foundations: Structures that contain wells or cisterns within the foundation of a structure can only be treated using the following techniques:
1. Do not apply within 5 feet of any well or cistern by rodding and/or trenching or by the backfill method. Treat soil between 5 and 10 feet from the well or cistern by the backfill method only. Treatment of soil adjacent to water pipes within 3 feet of grade should only be done by the backfill method.
a) Trench and remove soil to be treated onto heavy plastic sheeting or similar material or into a wheelbarrow.
b) Treat the soil at the rate of 4 gallons of solution per 10 linear feet per foot of depth of the trench, or 1 gallon per 1.0 cubic feet of soil. Mix thoroughly into the soil taking care to contain the liquid and prevent runoff or spillage.
c) After the treated soil has absorbed the solution, replace the soil into the trench.
Structures With Adjacent Wells/Cisterns and/or Other Water Bodies: Applicators must inspect all structures with nearby water sources such as wells, cisterns, surface ponds, streams, and other bodies of water and evaluate, at a minimum, the treatment recommendations listed below prior to making an application.

1. Prior to treatment, if feasible, expose the water pipes) coming from the well to the structure, if the pipes) enter the structure within 3 feet of grade.
2. Prior to treatment applicators are advised to take precautions to limit the risk of applying the termiticide into subsurface drains that could empty into any bodies of water. These precautions include evaluating whether application of the termiticide to the top of the footer may result in contamination of the subsurface drain. Factors such as depth to the drain system and soil type and degree of compaction should be taken into account in determining the depth of treatment.
3. When appropriate (i.e., on the water side of the structure), the treated backfill technique (described above) can also be used to minimize off-site movement of termiticide.

When you are treating around dirt filled concrete stairs or porches, you should trench around the base and perimeter of the stairs or porch first.  Then, you are supposed to drill through the top of the stairs against the foundation or exterior wall of the house as you indicated.  This is to get the product into the dirt that is filled in the concrete stairs or porch.  You should absolutely treat the entire inside of the crawl space as well, but this will not take place of drilling the outside stairs.  You should do both.  This is because you never know where termites are going to try to get into your home and it is always recommended to cover all your bases and do the most complete treatment as possible.

When treating a block foundation, you should drill a hole in each void so there would be 2 holes per block.  The holes should be no more than 18 inches high.  Usually you want to drill on the second row of blocks high from the ground.  In addition to drilling the holes you should also trench and treat the outside foundation wall and the inside foundation wall if you have a crawl space.  After drilling the holes, you are supposed to apply 2 gallons of solution per 10 lineal feet into the blocks.  For filling trenches and drill holes going vertically into slabs, you should apply 4 gallons per 10 lineal feet.  Please let us know if you have any further questions.

If you found the tunnels then you know exactly where the termites are.  The colony is under the slab of the garage and the termites that are in the wall use the tunnel you found to back and forth between the wood they are eating and the colony below the slab.  To properly treat this area you should drill holes through the garage slab so you can get the Dominion directly in the soil where the termite tube is going.  How to do this is explained in our How To Do A Termite Treatment Article, 5th paragraph down explains how to drill that wall in your garage.  You can also drill a hole above the baseboard into the Sheetrock where the termite tunnel is going into the wall and just spray in the void with Dominion.  You do not need to buy a foamer and foaming agent, etc....spraying will be fine.  If you have any further questions please feel free to call us at 866-581-7378.

The answer to this question is also in our How To Do A Termite Treatment Article.  For your garage, porch, patios, or other contiguous slabs against the home, you will need to get the termiticide underneath the concrete against the foundation. To do this you will need a hammer drill with a 1/2" x 18" drill bit. You drill holes throughout the concrete about 3-4 inches away from the wall or foundation, and about every 10"-12" apart. Once the holes are drilled, you fill at the same rate you did the trench, 4 gallons per 10 feet. To fill these I would recommend using the one gallon sprayer on a "pin stream" setting so you can force the liquid down the hole and not splash it everywhere. You can also use a funnel and pour the termiticide down the holes. It is difficult to get 4 gallons per 10 feet in the holes, so it is important that you use a long drill bit, at least 18" long so you can bore out enough dirt to hold the termiticide. Once the holes are filled all you need to do is patch them with a concrete patch filler you can buy at Home Depot or you can use our Trebor plugs that will close the hole with no concrete mess.

Our most popular product is Dominon 2L for termite treatments.  You should treat the entire area before they pour the slab.  This is called a pre-treat.  You should apply the product at a rate of 1 gallon per 10 square feet.  Some of our customers also use a 5 gallon bucket and pour the 5 gallons over 50 square foot sections which will be much faster than using a hand pump sprayer which comes out slowly.  It is very important to apply more around the perimeter edges of the slab, around plumbing pipes that will come through the slab, and along expansion joints if you know where they will be.  Since these are the more likely entry points of termites you want to make sure you treat more heavily around these areas.  You should take general precautions when applying any product which would be to wear gloves, protect your eyes if it is windy, and treat only in the designated area where your slab will be poured. This treatment will protect your home for 7 years, after which you would want to re-apply a termiticide around the perimeter of the house as outlined in our How To Do A Termite Treatment article. 

All of the treatment in the crawl space should be made inside a trench which you will cover back up.  Dominion 2L is a very safe termiticide and does not have fumes so no precautions are needed inside the living space.  We have sold this product for years to thousands of customers that have used this product inside crawl spaces and we have never had a customer that had any issues.

Absolutely.  You do not have to treat the entire house at once.  Many of our customers treat one side of the house one week, and then another the following week, and so on.  Termiticides last for 7 to 10 years in the ground, so if you take a month or so to do a full treatment, it is no big deal.  The most important thing is to overlap and make sure that you do not miss any areas.

It is never too late to treat your home for termites.  You should do an outside perimeter treatment with Dominion which will take care of any termites that may be in your home if they entered from around the outside perimeter.  In addition to treating the exterior of the home, you should spot treat any termites that you know of directly with the product from a 1 gallon hand pump sprayer.  You would pull the carpet back again and spray the termites directly where they are so it is sure to touch the termites.  You should read our How To Do A Termite Treatment article for instructions on how to perform the outside perimeter treatment.

Absolutely. Dominion 2L contains the same active ingredient as the Bonide product that you mentioned and Dominion 2L is labeled to use as systemic insecticide. The directions for this type of use start on page 8 of the Dominion 2L Product Label.

For subterranean termites you should perform a liquid termite treatment in the ground around your home if you have not done so in years past.  When you do this it will protect the structure for a period of 7 years.  You can just spot treat the mulch area that you found, but that still leaves your house exposed.  The proper thing to do is to treat around your home by following these instructions in our How To Do A Termite Treatment article.  It is the only way to truly protect your house.

If it was just a sprinkle, then no.  But if it rained enough to fill the trench and dilute the product quite a bit, then you probably should retreat, or at least add another couple gallons per 10 feet if the trench is open just to be safe.  Normally, the Dominion should be applied only when it is not going to rain for 24 hours.