Termite Protection

[surat04]

Are any members using the Exterra termite baiting system to protect their properties? I am currently considering installing this system and would be interested to hear how successful it is and if you are satisfied with the results considering the cost of installation compared to conventional spraying.

[bkkbill]

the exterra termite baiting system does sound like a winner. Let us know when you get some prices.

[surat04]

the exterra termite baiting system does sound like a winner. Let us know when you get some prices.

They have quoted me 33,800 baht for installation and the first years maintenance.

[bkkbill]

Sounds pricey for some holes in the ground. Did they happen to give you a cost for annual maintenance after the first year.

[surat04]

Sounds pricey for some holes in the ground. Did they happen to give you a cost for annual maintenance after the first year.

50% discount after the first year. It is pricey, thats why i was hoping to get some feedback from members who have it installed or know something about it. Coming from the UK i have no knowledge regarding termites, my only experience was last year when they started to eat my 200k baht kitchen units!

[bankruatsteve]

FYI: When my house was under initial construction, I drilled holes in PVC about 4" apart and put around inside perimeter of the footings. Which came to 8 different sections with external fittings. Then, I pump in about 5K baht of chemical once a year. 6 years running and no sign of termites.

[longball53098]

Info: When we built last year we contracted with a insect guy to install black plastic pipes with spray heads fitted. Pipe is installed around the under side of the house floor around the crawl spaces and fastened to the beams. There are at least 12 zones or heads where they attach a hose and using a pump will pump in the chemicals. The contract is for the install and spraying every 6 months for 3 years and included an application the day of install. Price 18k baht On the first 6 month application the guy even sprayed all of our yard area after talking with the wife. Gave him a tip of 100 baht.

We live in Rayong area and there are at least 3 similar companies

[surat04]

My house is on a development of 150 properties, which were built on land that was previously a rubber plantation. The houses have pipes laid under the house for spraying insects but where the pipes actually go and whether they cover all areas i have no way of knowing. Many houses have termite problems, i am assuming they were well established under ground before building started. I have sprayed under the house and around the garden but they still seem to reappear.

[jcon]

QUOTE (bkkbill @ 2010-06-03 15:19:13) Sounds pricey for some holes in the ground. Did they happen to give you a cost for annual maintenance after the first year.

50% discount after the first year. It is pricey, thats why i was hoping to get some feedback from members who have it installed or know something about it. Coming from the UK i have no knowledge regarding termites, my only experience was last year when they started to eat my 200k baht kitchen units!

1. Termites are a bi@tch.

2. The Exterra "system" seems just about as effective as the way other companies do the same thing - drill holes in the ground and flood the soil with whatever chemical they use. Instead of "baiting" the termites, doesn't it make more sense to just go directly for the nest and take it out? ( And then maintain the on-going war against the little buggers, is that part of the contract too?)

3. If the nest is already in the house (or multiple nests, etc. etc.), I would think that they would continue to be in the house regardless of whether or not they were baited from the outside or not (of course I understand that the ''system'' is for them to carry the bait back to their nests, but if you have an infestation already to the point where you can see it, then quite frankly the damage is done. I've been there, done (doing) that. By the time you see the damage, holy crap do some digging and further investigation and you may be shocked at what you find.

Surat04 I feel your pain about the kitchen units. But you're going to have to investigate further the source of the termite infestation in the house. This goes further than the Thai guy coming over with a screwdriver and knocking on the floorboards.

And yes, they will eat everything including your speakers.... (this pic below was in a condo I had rented out to a woman who would not allow the termite man to come in to spray down the condo - for one year!!! - she must have heard the freakin' termites eating when she slept???? Guess not.):

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

2 months into renovation (read: tear down everything and start all over) and 2+ months to go. Cost = pain in my ass. Result = lesson(s) learned.

My house (former, sold) and current townhouse had/have no problems with termites (yet). Cost was 15k for 3 years at the house for the company "Sunny" (same company you see that installs/maintains most of the bathroom soap dispensers around BKK) and 9k for 3 years at the townhouse. (The previous 3-year contracts were 7K for the townhouse and I don't remember for the detached house, maybe 12K). 36K for one year seems very expensive for Thailand, especially for the services provided (a glorified hole in the ground). Sunny comes over and drills 1 meter + holes in the ground all over the place (1st floor) and then pumps giant buckets of poison down there - crude, but effective (I haven't even seen an ant in 6 months - then again, I hate pests). The rest is the guy with the screwdriver and some poison tapping the floorboards as mentioned - if you have lots of built-in furnishings that are not teak or heavily treated wood (and even then, it's a crap-shoot) then it will just be war forever.....

[Pib]

My house is on a development of 150 properties, which were built on land that was previously a rubber plantation. The houses have pipes laid under the house for spraying insects but where the pipes actually go and whether they cover all areas i have no way of knowing. Many houses have termite problems, i am assuming they were well established under ground before building started. I have sprayed under the house and around the garden but they still seem to reappear.

My situation is very similar to yours in that I live in a development of approx 150 houses but here in Bangkok, my house is 2 years old, and was built with pipes in the foundation with two inlets to pour in/pump in termite treatment. My neighbor got his house treated by a contractor who mixed a 250ml bottle of Fipronil with 100 liters of water and pumped it into the neighbor's two inlets. This cost was 7,000 Baht and also includes 4 more visits every 3 months to spray the yard for insects.

After seeing this I did some web research and found that the two chemicals/products called Fipronil and Imidacloprid pretty much rule the world market in Termiticides.

- Imidacloprid, marketed as Premise by Bayer Environmental Sciences, and

- Fipronil, marketed as Termidor by BASF

Seeing how easy the application was, I ended up buying a 250ml bottle of Premise 200 SC for approx 1590 Baht at Global House Hardware Store...I couldn't seem to find an Fipronil anywhere, but that was OK as my web research indicated both termiticides had basically equal termite killing/prevention effectiveness. Depending on what web site you look at, either Imidaclopried or Fipronil should kill your termites and protect your house's foundation for 3 to 7 years with one treatment.

Here is a couple of web links that give you info on Premise 200 SC.

Precision Engineering Ltd. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

http://www.anoble.co...remiseLabel.pdf

I used a 20 liter water cooler jug to mix in 50ml of Premise to get the correct mixture ratio, and then pour it down the pipes with a funnel (no need for a pump...a pump only makes application faster since the contractor had a 100 liter barrel, mixed in the 250ml bottle, and then pumped it into the inlets). I did this five times for a total of 100 liters of termiticide being applied to the system under my house. The application was oderless to practically oderless. End result is I saved myself a lot of money, did a professional application, and I haven't seen any termites. I plan to do this about every 3 years.

Die termites, die!!!!

[bankruatsteve]

I don't really know - but my guess is that you DO need a pump. If you just pour it into whatever system without p;ressure it's bound to just drip out vs. spray out from a pump. ??

[Pib]

I don't really know - but my guess is that you DO need a pump. If you just pour it into whatever system without p;ressure it's bound to just drip out vs. spray out from a pump. ??

No, I think the pump is purely used for speed in a foundation system like this...get the job done quicker. The perforated blue water pipes laid in the gravel under the concrete allows the termiticide to drip/leak out into the gravel/dirt. Even under pressure, a high pressure spray ain't going very far/maybe a few millimeters since gravel/dirt is all around the pipe...then it continues to soak into the gravel/dirt. Plus, the pump they used was not a high pressure one; more like a slump/small fountain pump to drain the 100 liter barrel.

Now, if you were trying to inject termiticide into the ground by poking a metal spray rod in many places around the house/foundation then you would need a high pressure pump to force feed the termiticide into the clay/soil; otherwise it would take forever and day to get a 100 liters of water injected around/under the foundation.