Stopping Termites Spreading In The House

[Artamus]

Not sure exactly where to post this. Some termite discussion on the DIY section, but this has to be a general issue that others have faced.

About two weeks ago we noticed termites inside one of the door frames inside the house. (It's amodern house, mainly concrete). Called in the termite people who sprayed around inside etc. We hadn't realised that the land lady of the house didn't have a maintenance contract against termites (but has now after the panic).

Subsequently, last week we find they have progressed into the store/utility room and have eaten some wooden shelving and camping equipment. I then removed all this equipment cleaned everything and destroyed the shelving. Now, this week they seem to have progressed to the bookshelves and have started to eat some rather expensive books. Today I plan to destroy the bookshelves as well.

So far they seem to be confined to the store/utility room and we've laid down powder and sprayed to stop them moving into the next rooms (they's have to cross concrete floors to do so. My questions are:

1. What's the best way to elimate them and stop them spreading to another room?

2. Do they lay eggs inside wood they attack? (i.e. as they have eaten part of the bookselving, is it OK dismantle it, spay it with insectiside and reuse it?).

3. I assume they are only resident in the store/utility room, and can see no way that they can enter the room from outside (concrete/tile, no water pipes entering room). Is that a safe assumption, or are they always getting in from outside?

4. From reading it would appear there has to be a queen. So I take it she should also be in the same room? There doesn't seem to be enough of them to have a large colony (yet!), and they only just moved into the shelves. Anyone understand their ecology? Does there have to be a queen supplying them somewhere?

Any other ideas for killing/eliminating etc?

Many thanks

[singa-traz]

My termite guy do three type of things:

- spray once a year chemicals below the house (special tubes laid during construction)

- spray every months around and inside the house with some chemicals

- when he find termites, he will feed them with some white powder, which is supposed to kill the "colony"

The wife says the company is expensive, and was looking at other methods which uses less chemicals (herbs?)

During last year, we found some in the power plugs (outside the house), and once inside the house (next to entrance door).

After treatment, they have not come back ... so far.

[Heng]

Get rid of their moisture source. Get rid of any of those trail links (and if you're going to spray maybe just around the pillars if you can access them) where they like to build those trails up to your house.

Had termites in a 40 year old teak house we had, spraying on a large scale was kind of a no go as we'd have to saturate every single square inch of the house. Put down 1600 square feet of concrete all around the house (tradeoff of a nice grass lawn for marble + tile design concrete garden with only potted plants and trees) with drainage to the street. To be doubly sure we cut the single underground water line feeding the house and installed a pvc line running along the perimeter wall before connecting it to the house so we could notice any leaks (again to keep the ground dry).

That actually fixed it. Might have to do with termites needing at least some of their dirt exposed to the surface (not sure, not so knowledgeable about bugs, it was a guess on the part of all involved) to replenish their underground dirt (and hive/colony area) moisture.