Extremely Severe Termite Damage in Wall, NJ

Challenge

Two Cowleys pest control technicians were dispatched to resolve a severe termite infestation of a home in Wall Township. Termite damage happens slowly, but over the course of years, damage continues to accumulate until there is major property damage, up to and including damaging a home’s foundation. With this Wall Township home, the termite damage was as bad as it gets. The homeowner had opened up the walls, and virtually all of the “2 by 4” framing studs in the bottom floor of the house were severely damaged. Major renovation work will need to be done.

Subterranean termites are truly the silent destroyers of homes. A single colony can have millions of termites, spreading across half an acre. In the United States, termite damage is estimated to exceed over five billion dollars annually. Unlike wood-boring insects that damage wood, termites actually eat wood as food to build their colonies. Termite damage is especially insidious because termites eat wood from the inside out turning a piece of wood into a hollow shell. Often we don’t even realize that there is a termite problem until there is already significant damage and a loss of structural integrity. The accompanying picture of termite damage to this Wall Township residence shows what these insects are capable of. The sad part is that termite damage is most often preventable. This is why, even though termite damage poses such a major threat to your home, homeowners insurance does not usually cover this type of property damage. Insurers consider termites to be a preventable maintenance issue.

Solution

We treated the interior perimeter and the exterior of the home with Termidor, a non-repellent termiticide that is carried back to the nest and transferred to other termites to kill the entire colony. Second, for prevention, we will be installing a Sentricon termite colony elimination system around the home’s perimeter. With termite baiting, tiny amounts of insecticide are deployed like edible “smart missiles” to knock out populations of termites foraging in and around the structure. Foraging termites consume the bait and share it with their nest mates, resulting in a gradual decline in termite numbers. A comprehensive baiting program maintains a termite-free condition on the customer’s property through ongoing monitoring and re-baiting as needed. The baits consist of “termite-friendly” food like paper or cardboard, combined with a growth inhibitor that stops them from molting, eventually killing the colony. The bait-toxicant combo must be slow acting in order to maximize distribution among the termite population, which may contain hundreds of thousands of termites. With this one-two combination of a powerful termiticide to kill active termite populations and a Sentricon baiting system, this homeowner will now have the peace of mind that he will not have any future termite issues. Unfortunately, this particular homeowner learned his termite lesson the hard way. He is facing significant construction and renovation expenditures to repair the extensive termite damage — damage that could have been prevented had he taken a proactive approach in termite prevention with a professionally installed Sentricon baiting system.