Preparing Your Home for Termite Treatment

Making Arrangements Away from your Home

Preparing your home for termite treatment is more challenging than it sounds. Some would ask, do I need to leave the house for termite treatment?<span data-preserver-spaces=”true”> Yes. Living with all those chemicals oozing from the walls of your home is not a good idea.

The first step involves ensuring your house is empty. Moving with your family and pets would be best since it’s unhealthy to reside there as the treatment continues.

The termite treatment process takes anywhere from 72 hours, depending on the treatment method and the damage extent. At Gentry & Associates Termite Control, our team of professionals will give you the specifics depending on the termite control method you prefer and the damage extent, including how long the procedure will take.

Time Duration for Fumigant treatment

Now that you already know you can’t live there during the treatment process, it’s a question of how long you’ll have to be away. This depends on a few variables, including the fumigant utilized. For instance, if it’s vikane gas, you’ll have to wait 24 to 48 hours. Nonetheless, the duration varies depending on the fumigant. If Methyl Bromide is used, you’ll have to wait for at least four days.

Despite the inconveniences associated with moving to a new place, we advise you to stay out of the house for the period recommended. Also, it might be a good idea to extend this recommended time by 24 or 48 hours till the fumigant’s smell is gone completely.

Removing or Protecting Food and Other Items

Considering you’ll have to move, and the chemicals that’ll be used are toxic, it only makes sense that you either remove food or protect other items in the house. Here’s how to go about it:

Relocating Food and Medicine

Regardless of the chemicals used for the termite treatment process, it would be best to remove all exposed food or protect them from the chemicals, which will prevalently disperse throughout your home. When the chemicals touch your food, it will not be safe for consumption.

A great way to “protect” them is to place them in a Nylofume bag dedicatedly manufactured to protect foods when fumigating. You can also toss your medicine in here for safekeeping. Again, you can place their food in these bags if you have a pet.

However, some items won’t need to be bagged, like cookies or other foodstuffs in cans, jars, or metal bottles whose seal has yet to be removed. Similarly, you can avoid bagging unopened wine.

When it comes to sealing these bags, do it individually. Fold it at the top and use a piece of tape or tie it at the top. Next, place them inside another similar bag and seal them. Also, it would be best to move them to a safe room where they won’t be exposed to the chemicals. This way, your food will be safe to consume after your home is termite-free!

Storing Clothes, Bedding, and Curtains

The next thing to pack is all your clothes, curtains, and bedding. Evidently, you can’t leave them unpacked since the chemicals might spill on and spoil them. So, the best way is to fold and pack them in a laundry basket with a cover.

Fold them well to avoid having to iron them again. Also, you can look for waterproof bags, and like the food, you can double-pack them for additional protection and to avoid unnecessary inconveniences.

Taking Care of your utilities

The next step is disconnecting all the appliances from their power supply ports. This will help the process go smoothly because there won’t be any electric appliance-related accidents. Something else to check on is the security system. Ensure it is off to allow the crew to enter your home as needed when you are gone.

Turning Off and Unplugging Electrical Appliance

As pointed out, switching off and unplugging your television, heater, fridge, washing machine, oven, and so on is essential. This is vital and helps avoid accidents when working.

Turning off the Gas and Security System

The other thing you have to do is switch off the security system and gas. The gas has to be switched off to avoid any incidents. You have to disable the security system to enable the team working on your home to access it easily without any glitches. Besides, this will ensure they finish faster.

Combining Prevention and Active Solutions

For you to hire professionals to take Care of your home’s termite problem, it must be enormous. Termite infestation is no minor issue, and people should take it more seriously. Preventive measures might be good if you’ve never had this problem. However, if you have this issue, hiring the best services and having your home correctly taken Care of would be best. Here are some of the most efficient ways to solve your termite problem:

Chemical Termite Treatment

Chemical treatment is a technique that comes in handy if your termite problem is severe. If this is the case, and you need help with this menace, please call us at 1-888-838-3764. We will send a team of professionals to check your property and determine the best solution. We offer integrated pest management services, among other related works.

We have access to different termiticides; EPA regulated termite treatments. Depending on the situation in your home, the treatment process can comprise using termiticide on the infested lumber and soil or fumigants.

Termiticides

Let’s start by defining termiticides, liquid pesticides designed to help curb termites in severe infestations. This pesticide is usually applied around and beneath the house’s structure and is formulated to impede the places the termites use to access the house.

Consequently, termites that try to get through the treated soil or structure will be killed or repelled. Nevertheless, there are several issues when creating these barriers, including the fact that most termite entry points are hidden behind walls, floor covering, and other similar obstructions.

Types of Termiticides

Termiticides come in three primary forms, and they are;

Liquid

These termiticides are usually toxic to termites, though this is only if they touch them. Liquid termiticides are applied in soil that surrounds or is beneath your home, where it dissuades or kills the pests.

Spray

You can also use termiticides in spray form. Although, this only shields the wood’s surface. This means that these sprays don’t access the interior section of the wood, where it is most required.

Foam

This termiticide deals with areas that cannot be accessed using spray and liquid termiticides. This can be introduced beneath concrete slabs to shield expansion joints, cracks, and plumbing penetrations.

This form of termiticide is more efficient than its liquid counterpart. What’s more, most professionals rely on this to treat sections beneath your home and inside walls.

Fumigation

The other effective way of termite treatment is by fumigating. This technique eliminates all termites in a given section through a non-invasive procedure that includes pumping a specific gas into a home to eliminate termites. The gas usually has no odor and is not toxic, presenting no risks to animal and human health.

This technique is exceptionally efficient for dry wood termites, typically infesting enclosed spaces like attics. Additionally, it’s ideal for eliminating subterranean termites, usually found in the ground. It is a swift and efficient termite treatment technique, though it’s crucial to check whether the structure is sealed so that the gas doesn’t escape.

When our licensed fumigation crew comes to your home, know that your termite problem is as good as solved. This method takes 5 to 7 days; hence if you have a severe infestation, you should go for structural fumigation.

Once the termites inhale the fumigant, it finishes the oxygen in their bodies and kills them. But as pointed out, you must prepare your home correctly.

To summarize, fumigation is expensive but effective, though if you don’t prepare your home, your pets and family might be at risk.

Advantages of Termiticide Treatment

Termiticide treatment is as efficient as it is risky. For this reason, ensure you prepare your home correctly and that your food and other items that absorb these chemicals are properly packed and sealed. We wouldn’t want you to come back home only to find out that your wine collection isn’t safe for consumption or your clothes are no longer safe to wear. All the same, here are some advantages of termiticide treatment:

Reliability

As termites look for a place to stay, they penetrate a given structure directly. Fortunately, termiticides are spread beneath and around the structure, shielding it from direct infiltration.

Affordability

While a significant amount of termiticides will be needed for termite treatment, it is more affordable than termite baiting.

Soil Penetration

Unlike other termite treatment options, termiticides deeply infiltrate the soil. This guarantees a more extensive portion is covered.

No Need to leave Your Home/Safe for Pets and Wildlife

Gentry & Associates Termite Control has got you covered. We have more than three decades of experience and over eight years of experience using our present brand name. Brett Gentry started this firm, and since then, we’ve been a reputable and trusted service provider for wood repair, termite control, and so much more! We mainly specialize in removing pests that destroy wood, like termites.

We have a team of experienced and, most importantly, licensed professionals, and we are located in California. So, if you have any termite-related problems, pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-838-3764.