Landlord spraying for termites inside the house... Is this normal?

[bamboozled]

...Morning, folks. My landlords are having the termite/ant guys come by again to spray for these buggers. That's great. But the last time they came, which was a first time for me, they came in the house and sprayed everywhere...in cupboards, under cabinets and shelving, all along the baseboards. So not only does it go all over my things I am also left breathing and touching that stuff. Is this the normal MO here in Thailand? I can see how the landlords care about protecting their house and less about my stuff and my health. But, of course, I care more about my stuff and my health than their house. I understand their position and they are great and I don't want to rock the boat. Just wondering if I can say, hey, can you please not spray that stuff everywhere all over the place with carte blanche.... Thoughts?

 

Thank you!

[Ralf001]

Landlord has my house done once a year.

 

They drill holes through the floor tiles and inject.... no spraying.

[BritManToo]

Termites eat everything, wood, plastic, plasterboard.

Best to have it all sprayed.

[VocalNeal]

29 minutes ago, bamboozled said:

But, of course, I care more about my stuff and my health than their house.

 

My mother taught me to treat what belongs to others, better than you treat your own.

 

My landlady used to organize the same for my place. Move all your stuff away from the places they spray before they get there. 

 

 

[bamboozled]

Yes, I've actually had an oil painting on canvas eaten from the back. They do eat everything. However, I still don't get this idea to spray all over the inside of a house. After spraying, there are shallow pools of chemicals on the floor and of course the spray is on the furniture and everything in the house. I can't quite see what benefit it gives spraying along closed baseboards. Looks good for the owners, bug guys doing a thorough job, but the bugs are going to come from the inside...I would think.

[bamboozled]

2 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

 

My mother taught me to treat what belongs to others, better than you treat your own.

 

My landlady used to organize the same for my place. Move all your stuff away from the places they spray before they get there. 

 

 

Yes, it's a lot of work though. And still, it makes the house toxic. The fumes will clear but that residue is left all over the place. One of the issues is they spray that stuff like a drunk guy at a urinal. Um, no finesse.

[VocalNeal]

3 minutes ago, bamboozled said:

And still, it makes the house toxic.

 

Toxic to termites. Not necessarily to humans or other mammals. 

 

The beauty of renting is that you can always move if you don't like the place.

[CanadaSam]

Well, first of all, termite proofing should be done before construction, which gives you decades of protection.

 

Secondly, the spraying is quite toxic, and the latest treatments are to inject holes in the floor and put the chemicals in, and then seal the holes, so only termites are affected, not humans.

[bamboozled]

17 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

 

Toxic to termites. Not necessarily to humans or other mammals. 

 

The beauty of renting is that you can always move if you don't like the place.

I'll bet the landlords don't do this in their own house to this extent. Sure, outside and in various dark/dank spots. But wholesale throughout the house doesn't make sense to me. It's living quarters. Not a garage. I just don't see any benefit spraying it all over the floor and walls except to impress the folks paying for the treatment.

 

Certainly, I'm not moving. My question is can I ask them to tone it down a bit so it doesn't get all over my stuff or are they going to look at me cross-eyed?

[JimTripper]

33 minutes ago, bamboozled said:

Yes, it's a lot of work though. And still, it makes the house toxic. The fumes will clear but that residue is left all over the place. One of the issues is they spray that stuff like a drunk guy at a urinal. Um, no finesse.

They are not knowledgeable about toxins here. Take your health in your own hands. Get a hotel somewhere for a few days until the vapor dissipates, then have the place cleaned when you return.

[rwill]

20 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Landlord has my house done once a year.

 

They drill holes through the floor tiles and inject.... no spraying.

That's what I have seen too in some of my friends and relatives places that have been treated.

[Ralf001]

20 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Landlord has my house done once a year.

 

They drill holes through the floor tiles and inject.... no spraying.

 

Also to add.... the missus tells me they spray around the outside edge of the house too.

No spraying inside.

[jippytum]

i had termite infestation in a hlgh floor condo. Management contacted rentokill an international company. They fitted a small feeder box of chemicals inside a unit. Drilled holes and inserted chemicals outdoors ground level. They advlsed against directly spraying the Active termite run indoors. 

[bamboozled]

They def don't have any holes drilled in the walls/floor. Well, they are coming tomorrow. I have prepared the best I can, more so than the first time 3 months ago as I had no idea they would wash down the walls with the stuff. Will be washing the floors on Thursday, for sure. And will try to slow down their spraying tomorrow.

[ChipButty]

Thats good the landlord is doing it for your stop your moaning, while they are there get them to check the roof space, I never thought they eat plasterboard, but they do, 

[bluejets]

21 hours ago, bamboozled said:

My landlords are having the termite/ant guys come by again to spray for these buggers

That will get rid of you...not the termites.

They move under cover and under ground.

One way to stop them is injecting around any wall that abuts with exterior.

 

We have been setting outside traps, 100mm downpipe around 300mm long buried in the ground with "inviting" pieces of pine inside. Top is capped with removable cap so one can inspect from time to time.

When they appear, load baits down inside the tube. They take back to their main nest and kill the queen ant. Apparently queen can live for more than 10 years otherwise.

Baits are in the form of a powder one mixes with water.     https://www.bunnings.com.au/superway-500g-white-ant-termite-bait_p0287717

 

 

 

[Jenkins9039]

23 hours ago, bamboozled said:

But, of course, I care more about my stuff and my health than their house. I understand their position and they are great and I don't want to rock the boat. Just wondering if I can say, hey, can you please not spray that stuff everywhere all over the place with carte blanche.... Thoughts?

Of-course it's normal.

 

Termites can eat through a house in no time.

[Tropicalevo]

22 hours ago, CanadaSam said:

Well, first of all, termite proofing should be done before construction, which gives you decades of protection.

 

Secondly, the spraying is quite toxic, and the latest treatments are to inject holes in the floor and put the chemicals in, and then seal the holes, so only termites are affected, not humans.

Your first sentence is correct - in theory.

I sprayed the land before we started construction - in the dry season. We still soon had termites in the houses. The land where I live is riddled with the little devils. Every villa has termite damage somewhere.

Continual spraying everywhere is the only solution. We do it every month for termites, mosquitoes and other insects. Snakes and rats are on a call out basis. I remove the monitor lizards myself.

 

Spraying does not have to be toxic. It is a matter of costs.

We use a local company that is eco-friendly. They just cost a bit more but safe for pets and humans (young and old). The only smell is from the fogging outside.

www.facebook.com/Ecopest

[SS1]

My landlord has them come too every couple of months. Just tell them where you want them to spray and where not. At my place, usually I tell them to do just the floors, drains and outside the house. 

[Jonsin]

On 12/18/2023 at 11:30 AM, VocalNeal said:

 

My mother taught me to treat what belongs to others, better than you treat your own.

 

My landlady used to organize the same for my place. Move all your stuff away from the places they spray before they get there. 

 

 

 

[Jonsin]

Poison poison poison

you are injesting all the overspray on your dishes whatever

& stay out of home for couple hours

mist in the air

[Bill97]

4 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

Spraying does not have to be toxic. It is a matter of costs.

We use a local company that is eco-friendly. They just cost a bit more but safe for pets and humans (young and old)

Yep we have used a company with non toxic spray with good effects 

[kidneyw]

They used to drill holes and inject.

Also spray around the perimeter of the rooms.

They used to visit once a month.

[Brick Top]

Most of the Termites in Phuket are Sub Terariam , so they are under the property in a nest buried in the soil.

Once you get a termite infestation its difficult to get rid off and they normally come to spray every month.

All quite normal to spray the all the wood and base boards , if you dont then within 6 months termites will eat everything even the gypsum ceilings.

I went to the Philippines once for a month , when I came back home to Phuket Termites had totally destroyed my new 320,000 baht kitchen.

[Chris Daley]

I rented a house once.  It was the typical Thai <deleted>hole owned my morons.  The garden was overgrown and filled with trash we couldn't walk around it.  The house had termites.  We told the landlord and she said ''yeah I know''.  One year later doors were hanging off the frames and there was wood dust on the floors.  We kept the house clean but the dust would appear every day.  The termites were destroying the house.

 

So we didn't renew the contract.

 

Yes get rid of termites as soon as possible.  It is a serious risk to the house and the neighboring houses.

[khunPer]

On 12/18/2023 at 3:58 AM, bamboozled said:

Thoughts?

Yes, they spray inside for both mosquitos and termites. If you have seen what termites can eat inside, you'll understand; and you might not notice before the whole inside of a delicious gourmet wood-structure has be digested like my cupboard...

 

[MJCM]

We lost a whole kitchen because of termites, reason being that the company that installed the kitchen did not use any termite protection on the wood for the kitchen

 

Have a look at this (Brown areas where the Termites hit) (The steel you see is for the Electric Mains entering the house to the Consumer Unit)

 

 

[geisha]

Wow, that’s awful ! I have a few Thai friends who have no furniture and a gas stove outside. Now I know why. 

[Woof999]

Have them round every couple of months. Leave doors and windows open for a couple of hours afterwards. They spray lots outside, plus inside around every skirting board.

 

If I rented out a house here and the tenants refused to let them do the job, I'd turf them out (making it part of the contract). As mentioned many times ^^^ up there, termites can do ridiculous damage very quickly.

 

They don't spray inside kitchen cupboards though (but they do underneath) and I wouldn't let them.

 

Get yourself some of this from Lazada or wherever:

 

 

Any time you see more than an ant or two, put a tiny drop of it along their path. No more than the size of a peppercorn. It works wonders, killing the ants within their nests. I rarely see ants inside any more after a few goes of using it.

 

Also, make sure everyone in the house is super clean re discarded food. Ants find even the tiniest amount of food crazy fast.

[bamboozled]

Thanks all. This is the info I was looking for. So...it's normal to go hog wild with the poisons. I'll just keep my mouth shut and try to keep the dudes from spraying directly on my stuff. And then I'll vacate for a bit.

 

Cheers!