I just got my permit for my slab for a metal garage. I was told I can actually do the termite treatment myself. Just purchased a chemical spray and leave the empty bottle with the permit for the inspector to see. I looked online and I see all kinds of different options. The size of the slab is 840 square feet. And of course I'm trying to get out as least expensive as I can. Any experts can lead me to a concentrate that I should be using. Thank you. Also I'm in FL.
Termite treatment for a new slab?
- Thread starter Astross89
- Start date
Not an expert, but I have used Bayer Termite and Carpenter Ant spray with great success. It's about $20 a quart at HD. You could probably do the entire area with 2-3 quarts. The mixing label can be confusing, I used 1oz to a gallon.
rlitman
Well-known member
Ok, but what is the "chemical spray" you are referring to? A barrier treatment requires a flooding of hundreds of gallons of solution. No spraying.
I was just told a termite treatment. And then leave The Empty Bottle by the permit for the inspector to see. I have no idea. I am a little ignorant when it comes to the subject. also my concrete guy said it's just about $120 to get it done professionally. So I doubt there flooding hundreds of gallons of solution. I know it's just $120. But if they said I can do it myself and I already have the chemical. Why not
pcmeiners
Well-known member
Termidor, best stuff around, check Ebay for price. Check if it is legal in
Florida.
Florida.
AZ Pete
Well-known member
+1 for Termidor. AZ accepted some barrier type sprays when our house was built. Normal settling of fill around the slab broke that barrier and we had termites invade. Had the company return and give poor service twice before we discovered Termidor, applied by an independent applicator. The termites take the poison back to the nest where it kills them all.
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bigman68
Well-known member
Solves 2 problems vapor barrier and termite control:
https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/2046883/Data-Sheets/Pango-Wrap-Termite-Vapor-Barrier-Data-Sheet.pdf
Of course not cheap, but you get what you pay for.
https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/2046883/Data-Sheets/Pango-Wrap-Termite-Vapor-Barrier-Data-Sheet.pdf
Of course not cheap, but you get what you pay for.
Milton Shaw
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- Feb 11, 2011
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I mixed termite treatment with my cement mix when I laid my block to help keep them out. I also poured some into each cavity before I filled them with concrete which also had some it it. If you are in a termite area you cannot do too much to keep them out.
kelpaso1
MEMBER EMERITUS
Why does one need termite treatments for a concrete slab and a metal building? They don't eat that stuff
Why does one need termite treatments for a concrete slab and a metal building? They don't eat that stuff
That's my thought. I just needed to pass inspection
ard
Well-known member
nolimits76
Well-known member
Why does one need termite treatments for a concrete slab and a metal building? They don't eat that stuff
That's rather simplistic to say the least. Odds are you will end up with some organic materials in the building that will be susceptible to termite damage.
https://www.whirlwindsteel.com/blog/bid/393031/are-steel-buildings-immune-to-termites
For $100 or less, I'm not sure why it's a real issue. If that $100 causes you grief, maybe the $30k or however much to build the structure is the real issue.
rlitman
Well-known member
aka Larry
Well-known member
Why does one need termite treatments for a concrete slab and a metal building? They don't eat that stuff
Is the inspector worried about a new Terminator breed of metal and concrete eating termites?
FWIW, my buddy just ran into the same issues when getting permits for his all-metal garage on slab. He had to go through three people in the inspections office before he finally was granted a permit w/o termite treatment.
Common sense is not all that common I guess.
JoeMerchant
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- Jan 4, 2024
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I would understand for an enclosed garage where you (or a future owner) will likely store stuff.
I am currently building a $8K metal carport - open to the weather on both ends - on a concrete slab and, since it is a structure in Florida, the pest control lobby has their hand out ensuring business for their people, like so many other things in Florida real estate.
We live in the woods, with woodpecker nests in our trees, and we like them - we don't apply pesticides to the dead trunks they eat for food, we do have the occasional termite swarm in the yard, and we haven't had termite infestations in the 60 year old house for the 10 years we have owned it - although when we had a roof leak there was a recurring problem with carpenter ants for many years after... Vapor barriers and soil treatment weren't a thing in the early 1960s when this place was built.
Even if we and our neighbors all blasted our yards and homes with pesticides every year, the creek 100 yards away and the acres of undeveloped unmaintained forest on the other side of it would still swarm termites into our yard and onto our house.
Better to monitor for and promptly remedy "conditions conducive to infestation" than to bathe yourself and your children in preventative application of poisons, IMO.
But, like OP, I just need to pass permit inspection - so chucking $200 at a pest control company is the easiest way out of that.
lolaetype
Well-known member
I'd guess the concern is what people are likely to add to inside the metal building after it's built. Wood stud walls, for example. Slabs crack overtime and that provides an ingress path for termites.Is the inspector worried about a new Terminator breed of metal and concrete eating termites?
nadogail
Well-known member
Subterranean Termites will find something to eat, they are not picky eaters.Why does one need termite treatments for a concrete slab and a metal building? They don't eat that stuff
nadogail
Well-known member
Chlordane was recommended by the USDA, but it seems it was too effective and is no longer acceptable.
Zeke
Well-known member
Man, I haven't seen any of that in years. But it did work!
Half life on a typical termite treatment was around 30 years. These days with fipronil (the active ingredient in Termidor) you'd be lucky to get 5-7 before you see activity again.
LopezBart
Well-known member
Clordane was too persistent in the environment, and was a probably human carcinogen.
See https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/ToxFAQs/ToxFAQsDetails.aspx?faqid=354&toxid=62
Medical management guidelines here:
You nuke the termites in the backyard, and the folks who buy your house after you're gone and put in a garden ingest the pesticides....
Humans don't deal well with poisons that last decades when applied as directed.
See https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/ToxFAQs/ToxFAQsDetails.aspx?faqid=354&toxid=62
Medical management guidelines here:
You nuke the termites in the backyard, and the folks who buy your house after you're gone and put in a garden ingest the pesticides....
Humans don't deal well with poisons that last decades when applied as directed.
PWC Repair
Well-known member
Just this Thanksgiving, my wife's 94yo grandpa was telling us that's all he ever treated buildings with and never had any termite issues.
the person that told me about the diesel also say, they use to heat old oil and diesel in a trough and use the heated oil to creosol fence post, cut lumber and then let them cook in the oil for couple hours. he was an old country farmer
Why does one need termite treatments for a concrete slab and a metal building? They don't eat that stuff
I thought the same thing. My shop is 30' x 46' concrete slab and all block walls. I had to pay for termite treatment. I figured it may protect the roof trusses. In the end I felt I got my moneys worth because they guy who did the treatments must have flooded the footer trenches with at least 200 gallons of treatment. Then again, it could have been water. Lol. Who knows.