Termidor SC Termiticide/Insecticide - Questions & Answers

Termidor and Termidor SC are the same product, its just that no one ever says the SC part. SC stands for suspended concentrate. This is the same product the professionals use. The only difference is that licensed professionals can buy this product in larger bottles.  Termidor is made in a larger 78 oz bottle, but it can only be sold to homeowners in the 20 oz bottle.

Termidor Sc and Taurus are essentially the same product they are just made by different manufacturers. They both carry almost the exact same label and there is not any advantage to using one product over the other.

Termidor SC has approximately a 5 year shelf life when kept out of direct sunlight and out of extreme temperatures. However, once placed in the ground around a home, Termidor SC will last almost 10 years or longer.

You will mix 0.80 fl oz of Termidor SC per gallon of water to make a 0.06% concentration. Each bottle of Termidor SC is made with a measuring device right on the bottle that will measure 0.80 fl oz, as this is the concentration that is usually called for in most applications.

Termidor SC can only be applied to the top of the soil when you are using it as a perimeter pest control treatment against ants.  If you are using Termidor SC to treat for active termites, or to protect your home against termites, you must apply the product into a trench.  This is because termites do not walk across the ground like ants do, they live beneath the soil and enter your home below the grade level of the dirt.  Therefore, you must place the Termidor SC into the ground to have a chance at them coming into contact with the product.  Please read our informational article written for homeowners:  "How To Do a Termite Treatment" which will tell you how deep to dig the trench and how to properly apply Termidor around your home. 

Both Termidor 80 WG and Termidor SC when mixed with water, make the same type of solution.  The "WG" in Termidor 80 WG stand for wettable granule.  The "SC" in Termidor SC stands for suspended concentrate.  They are just different formulations of the same product.  The Termidor 80 WG is easier for professional termite control operators to carry in their trucks, and it is easier to mix.  However, Termidor 80 WG cannot be sold to homeowners, it can only be sold to licensed professionals.  Only the Termidor SC in the 20 oz bottle can be sold to homeowners for personal use.

Ants will build nests where ever they can find a suitable area to do so. While it would be unusual to have an entire colony in your attic, it is not unheard of. The good news here is that the ants are visible to you and they are still going outdoors to forage which means they will walk through areas that that you treat outdoors. We recommend you use a product called Termidor SC around the exterior of your home. Termidor is the # 1 choice for ant control around the home. Termidor is a non-repellent insecticide that works with a delayed reaction amd also has a transfer effect. That means that ants cannot tell that the Termidor is there and will walk right over it and then pick the product up on their bodies and inadvertently carry it back to the colony, then through normal social interaction the ants spread the Termidor and wipe out the colony. Termidor only needs to be applied two times per year and is effective for a wide variety of insects including ants, centipedes, roaches, spiders, silverfish, wasps and many other nuisance insects. You will need to apply Termidor SC 1-2 ft up the foundation and 1-2 ft out onto the ground, around door frames, window frames, places where cables, pipes or wires go through the wall and any other crack or crevice where the ants can gain entry into your home.

No, you do not need a license to use Termidor SC. We do carry professional products, but every product on our website can be sold to homeowners as long as you are using it for your own use and property.  You need a license when you are treating other peoples property for profit.

When it comes to termites, you should never wait.  Especially if you are worried about activity.  The dryer the soil the better for Termidor SC.  Termidor SC is made to bond to the soil, and the less moisture in the ground, the easier it is for it to take hold and provide long lasting protection.  The only temperature that effects Termidor SC is when it is below freezing.  Termidor SC should not be applied if the ground is below freezing, or it will not take hold.  The 96 degrees will effect you, but not the Termidor SC.  Drink LOTS of Water!

You should not apply Termidor SC if it is going to rain the same day.  It is best to wait until you have a few days of no rain in the forecast so there is at least 24 - 36 hours time after you treat before it rains.  Termidor SC is made to bond to the soil but it needs time to "set" and bond to hold up against a rain event.

How to Perform A Termite Treatment

Yes, Termidor SC is one of the safest termite control products on the market.  In fact, the active ingredient in Termidor is Fipronil, which is also the same active ingredient in Frontline flea medicine that people place on their pets.  There is actually more fipronil in Frontline then is in Termidor SC after you mix it with water.  You should have no worries about anyone being inside the house or outside for that matter as long as you are applying the product as directed. 

Drywood termites are all contained in a piece of wood.  They do not go back to the ground like subterranean termites.  For Termidor to work on Drywood termites, you have to drill directly into the piece of wood the termites are in and inject Termidor into the wood.  Termidor does not penetrate into wood, so you have to inject it into the center.  It has to touch the termites to work, but the benefit is that it only has to contact a few termites, and then they can pass it on to the rest of the colony.  Either drywoods or subterranean termites can emerge from a ceiling, but only drywood termites kick out little sand like, hard, droppings.  Subterranean termites do not.

Termidor SC is made to bond to the soil and will only last extended periods of time when placed into the ground for termite control.  Also, when you treat in a trench in the ground for termites, you are pouring in 4 gallons per 10 feet.  Termidor SC will only last for 10 years when applied in a trench for termites.  When you use Termidor SC as a spot treatment indoors on wood, it will only last for 6 weeks at the most, because it is not made to bond and last on wood, it is meant for soil treatments.  Although, you can use it indoors for spot treatments in wall voids for termites only, you cannot use Termidor SC as a pest control spray indoors.

Termites that are above the ground in the house when you perform an in ground Termidor treatment will die when they go back down to the ground.  Termites in your walls don't stay there.  Their job is to eat the wood, the colony's food, and then they take it back underground to feed the rest of the colony below the ground where the queen is.  The termites go up and down, up and down, up and down, every day.  So when you perform a liquid termite treatment, the termites that are below the surface that have not made it up into the house yet will take the Termidor on their bodies up into the house and spread it around to all the termites, and vice versa, any termites up in the walls heading down to take what they have eaten down to the queen and other colony members will have to go through the Termidor barrier you installed and they will become infected at that point as well.

Rodding is a technique many companies use to get the Termidor deeper in the ground than the normal 6 inch trench that you should dig.  Many homeowners that decide to treat themselves do not do the rodding part, but if you can rod then of course is better than not doing it at all.  Basically, after you dig your 6 inch deep trench, you would take a "rod", or a piece of rebar, metal, anything that you can make an additional hole in the bottom of the trench every 12 inches apart.  You can hammer or push your "rod" into the soil every 12 inches apart and try to get a couple of feet deeper.  When you pour the 4 gallons per 10 lineal feet into the trench, the rod holes will allow the Termidor to quickly get that much deeper and provide a little extra protection.  Even when this is not done though, Termidor will still provide you with the best form of protection money can buy.

We would recommend using Termidor which is one of the best termiticides on the market and is the treatment of choice with professional companies.  For the activity you have inside, you would drill a hole or tear out a piece of sheetrock and treat directly into the wall voide with some Termidor in a one gallon sprayer.  For the outside treatment, you would apply Termidor around the perimeter of the structure according to the guidelines in our "How To Do A Termite Treatment" article.

Termidor SC is one of our most popular products and is most known for the fact that it is very safe.  Termidor SC, when used for termites or ants, should only be applied right up against the house.  It is not labeled to treat the ground any farther than one foot out from the foundation.  As long as you follow the labels instructions and treat against the foundation of the home, it is perfectly safe for your child to play in your yard and in the grass.

It sounds like you have a detached garage if you can trench around 3 sides applying Termidor SC.  If this is the case, you do not need to do any drilling inside the garage because the slab should be one solid pour, which means the only way termites could enter is from the outside perimeter.  Also, you do not need to drill across the driveway where the door is either because there is nothing there to protect.  There is no wood, just space where the door is.  The only time you would drill across the front is if you had two single garage doors side by side with a center support.  In that situation you would want to drill just a few holes on the inside near the support, and then outside near the support from the driveway to protect that area.   

If your garage is attached to the house, then you would trench around the outside walls just like in the example above, except that you would only be trenching around 2 sides.  The third side would be against the heated space of the house, where the door is to the house.  You would need to drill this wall inside the garage because you would not be able to trench the other side of it.  

We are always here to answer any questions you may have.  Please feel free to call us at 866-581-7378 with any questions.  

Termidor SC is labeled for roaches and can help control them. Termidor SC does not offer a fast knockdown and it may take the roaches several days to die after coming into contact with treated areas. Termidor SC cannot be used in the garage, you must keep all applications outside of the structure. If you would like a product that you can use indoors and outdoors we recommend Talstar P.

Yes, we specialize in selling professional products to homeowners.  Anyone can purchase Termidor SC  as long as you are using it on your own property.  You have to be licensed if you are treating other peoples property for profit.