Local termite treatments are sometimes called spot treatments. Local treatments can be effective if your property has a few small areas of Drywood Termite infestations as long as those areas are completely accessible to treatment. It’s important to administer local treatments before the infestation spreads throughout the structure and causes significant damage. If you wait too long, fumigation becomes necessary.
Local spot treatment involves drilling small holes into the hollow galleries of infested wood and injecting the wood with a slow-acting termiticide. At Mojoe Termite we use Termidor (fipronil). When termites come in contact with the termiticide, they carry it back to the colony to wipe out the entire colony. One of the challenges of localized termite treatments for Drywood Termites is that there may be multiple Drywood Termite colonies living in one structure.
To get a loan for Real Estate transactions in California, you often need to acquire certification from a licensed termite inspector saying that the structure if free of wood destroying organisms. If Drywood Termites are discovered, tent fumigation is the primary recommendation for certification. Localized termite treatments are considered a secondary recommendation for treating Drywood Termite infestations.
At Mojoe Termite, we only use local treatments for certification under special conditions. For example, if the property is a condo and the other condos in the building are owned by other people that may not want to tent the structure. Another example in which localized treatment may be satisfactory for certification is if the inspector determines that only a small area is recently infested and that area is completely accessible for localized treatment.
It can take a great deal of skill and persistence to locate all the colonies for a successful localized treatment. When it comes to local treatments, don’t just go with the lowest bid. It’s important to work with a company that you trust to do the job right.