Termidor SC Termiticide/Insecticide - Questions & Answers

If you are treating for Carpenter Ants, you will spray around the perimeter of the house as you described, 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. If you are treating for termites, you will need to make a 6 inch x 6 inch trench right up against the foundation and pour in 4 gallons of diluted Termidor SC for every 10 ft of trench. We recommend that you read our article How To Do a Termite Treatment to learn how to deal with porches, decks and driveways when performing a termite treatment

Termidor SC should not be used in the screened porch as that is considered an "indoor use" which is prohibited on the product label (unless it is used in wall voids). We recommend that you do stick to using the Suspend SC on the screened porch.

There are no alternative used for Termidor.  Termidor is not labeled for use on pets and should not under any circumstances be used than for any uses on the product label.  It is illegal to use a product other than what is stated on the product label.  Termidor is labeled for termites, ants, and other invading insects and is only allowed to be applied as a perimeter barrier around your home.

If this is the only area, then Termidor would be a great choice.  Termidor does not penetrate through wood, so you cannot just apply it on the wood.  The trick is you have to drill holes into the center of the wood and inject it so it touches the termites.  As long as it only touches a few termites it will work.  You will only use a small amount of the Termidor, which is a concentrate, but the product will last for 5 years on the shelf and is also the best product for treating ants around your home as well.

You can use Termidor SC indoors for carpenter ants in wall voids only. You cannot spray the baseboards or anywhere else in your home. You will need to spray directly into the wall void by drilling small holes in the wall. Other products that work effectively indoors would be Phantom Aerosol or carpenter ant baits like Maxforce Carpenter Ant Bait Gel or Advance Carpenter Ant Bait both of which are sold in our Carpenter Ant Bait Kit #1.

Termidor Sc is labeled for black widow and brown recluse spiders but it is not labeled for scorpions or for tarantulas. Termidor SC does not have an immediate knockdown but instead uses a delayed reaction kill which makes it especially effective for social insects like ants, termites and certain species of wasps. You should note that we are not aware of any product that is labeled for tarantulas.

You can do that if you choose, but it is not as effective as drilling the slab inside the garage.  This is because the garage is a separately poured slab, meaning the termites could come from deep underground and come up to the surface under the garage slab, and enter the wall where your door is going into the house untouched.  You don't have to drill every wall in the garage, just the walls that are not exterior walls, where you have living space on the other side of the garage wall.  So it is a personal choice, but drilling the garage walls is the best way to protect all entry points.

Termidor SC must be diluted according to the product instructions. The smallest container it comes in is the 20 oz bottle. In order to inject the liquid into the beams you will need to drill holes every couple of inches and use a sprayer with a pinpoint stream or a straw attachment to get the application into the holes. Another option would be to use Termidor Foam which comes in a ready to use can with the small attachments to get the foam into the drilled holes.

To apply Termidor in the slabs you want to drill holes 18in deep and 12 in. apart and disperse the 4 gallons mixed solution per 10 feet into those holes. You can use any type of sprayer to inject the solution into the slab. The B&G Accuspary with termite injection tip would be very helpful when injecting the solution into the slabs.

If kept out of heat and sunlight the shelf life of Termidor is 3-5 years.

The shelf life of Termidor Sc is generally 3-5 years. Please make sure to keep the bottle out of extreme heat to ensure the longest shelf life.

The trench around the exterior of the house only needs to be 6 inches deep.  It is not realistic to dig a 5 foot deep trench and no company would do this either.  On the inside of the basement, it would probably be a good idea to drill through the slab of the basement along the wall that is below grade and apply Termidor SC through the slab and/or treat the termites directly in the wall where the activity is.

Termidor SC is labeled for black widow spiders specifically but it cannot be used on play equipment. Termidor SC can only be used on or immediately around the foundation of a structure. We do not recommend using any type of insecticide on the play equipment. We do recommend sealing the holes so that spiders cannot nest there. You can treat the areas around the play equipment with a product such as Talstar P to keep crawling insects from making the play-set their home. Knock down any spider web as soon as you see them to discourage spiders from nesting in unwanted areas.

No. Termidor SC can only be used on or immediately around your home. Termidor SC is not labeled for use in your yard. You may want to consider using an ant bait granule such as Advance 375A or an insecticide granule such as Talstar PL for ants in your yard.

Both Termidor and Bora-Care are good for treating dry wood termites.  They do it in different ways though.  Termidor is considered to be one of the best treatments around, however it is typically meant for subterranean termites and it is poured into the ground.  When using Termidor to treat dry wood termites, you have to drill holes into the wood and get the Termidor directly into the void where the termites are for it to work. Termidor will not penetrate through the wood, you have to get it in the right place.  Also, Termidor SC does not have any long term protection qualities in the wood.  Bora-Care is a wood treatment product and will penetrate through the wood. When applying Bora-Care you do not have to get it directly where the termites are.  You would typically just spray it on the surface of the wood and the Bora-Care will penetrate through the wood and kill the termites inside.  Also, since Bora-Care is a wood treatment product, it will stay in the wood forever and protect it forever.  The down side is that Bora-Care can only be applied to normal raw wood.  It cannot be applied to wood that has been painted, stained, or sealed.  So, if you are exposing the studs or normal wood anywhere on the house or replacing any wood then usually Bora-Care is what you want to use since it will protect the wood long term.  If you have an infestation in wood that is painted and you will not be replacing it, then typically you would drill holes into the wood and use Termidor SC.

When building a structure you should apply Termidor to the entire area under where you are going to pour the slab.  You should apply Termidor at the rate of 1 gallon per 10 square feet.  You should apply slightly more around the perimeter edges and around any plumbing pipes or expansion joints that will be in the slab.

Termidor does not leave a residue and so what you saw was normal.  Unfortunately there is no real sign that you will see to know that it is working other than the fact that you will not have any new termite activity.  If you treated correctly and the termites did come into contact with the Termidor SC, then it will work.  You have to trust that Termidor is the best termite control product for a reason.  Since it does not kill the termites right away and it allows them to take the product back under the slab where the rest of the termites are, it takes up to 90 days to kill all of the termites.  So you should not disturb the area or check to see if there is still activity until after 90 days.

Termidor is not labeled to treat mole crickets and Termidor is not allowed to be used in the yard at all.  For mole crickets we recommend Advion Insect Granules which are specifically labeled for mole crickets.

 Termidor is only labeled for use around residential and commercial structures and should not be used away from a structure.  So we are not able to recommend it as a treatment method.  Most termiticides are only labeled for use around structures.  Termidor does take up to 90 days to kill a termite colony.  It is recommended when having a wood pile to build a structure for it or place it up on blocks or on a metal stand so it does not come into contact with the ground.  That being said, a 6 x 6 inch trench would work, IF it was labeled to be used away from the house.

Termidor is not a wood treatment product and will not penetrate into wood.  It is meant to be applied to soil.  So spraying Termidor on fascia boards or any other surface will not do much.  If you are trying to take care of termites in wood, then you have to drill holes into the wood and inject the Termidor directly.  It has to come into contact with the termites in the wood to be effective.