We have termites in our kitchen

[bbabythai]

We rent a huge 2 story modern brick exterior house with a 10 yr old kitchen. When moving in I noticed some of the kitchen cupboards smelt of mould.

 

I put one of my late grandfathers paintings above the main cupboards and recently noticed that it had ants in it. I presume that they must be termites?

 

We are in one of these rental agreements where the owner expects us to sort all issues. If we dont get the termites sprayed are they likely to start eating all the kitchen cupboards? How long will this take?

 

We think that we will stay 1 more year in this house before moving to a new area. If I want to spray them what chemicals would I use and does Homepro sell it?

 

thanks

[robblok]

Yes they will eat it all and spreading will go quicky. I have had termites in the kitchen too.. sprayed multiple times.. killed a few they came back. In the end I had to go for plastic cupboards instead of wood ones (hated it). But the termites were just almost impossible to kill. If your cupboards are of hard wood then you have more chance to survive it. They in general only went after the softer wood.

[tonray]

Termites live in the ground. the only effective treatment is soil treatment surrounding the building on a recurring basis. Every 1 to 2 years.

[steven100]

The best way to kill termites with boric acid is to use bait stations.

• Coat or spray wood (or another cellulose material) evenly with boric acid.
• Plant the boric acid bait in the garden near your house or in an open infestation.
• Check on the bait station regularly and replenish it with boric acid as needed.

[topt]

If it really is termites I would get a pest control company to sort it out and I would suggest you do it quickly. You need to kill/remove the main nest and then spray regularly to keep them away.

 

Maybe worth searching on here for topics to do with pest control companies and from memory there is a current thread regarding the chemicals you can use from the main diy places - HomePro etc.

 

 

 

 

[VocalNeal]

I agree with the pest control company. They came here drilled holes in the concrete slab and put about 45 gals of diluted chemical under the slab. Then they sprayed all around the edges. 

If the cabinets belong to the landlord then tell him/her you are going to do it and deduct it from your next rent payment.