Sub Termite Control In Action Course

2. Understand how a liquid Subterranean Termite treatment
works.
Understand
Perform the preparation required before a liquid
Subterranean Termite treatment is performed.
Perform
Explain how graphing the structure is crucial in calculating the
amount of termitcide needed to complete a termite treatment.
Explain

3. Demonstrate how to mix a termiticide for termite control..
Demonstrate
Describe how to treat different type of construction for termites.
Describe
Identify the 3 different types of slabs commonly used in
construction.
Identify

4. Subterranean Termites are ground dwelling
and must have a connection to the ground
except in extreme cases.
Subterranean termites are attracted to
sources of moisture, such as areas
around plumbing leaks and other
ongoing structural moisture issues.

5. • Many houses are pre-treated for subterranean termites with the same
or similar products to those used for post construction treatments.
• These treatments are effective against the target which is subterranean
termites, but have little to no effect on other types.
• Today we are going to focus on post-construction treatments.

6. • The first step in termite control is performing a good inspection
• You will need a good flashlight because many areas where termites
infest will not be well lighted
• There are too many areas of concern to list in this training but, we
are going to cover a few of the most important

7. • The first area to be inspected is
the perimeter of the structure
• During this phase of your
inspection be looking for things
like conducive conditions.
• Also use this time to identify the
type of construction such as slab,
crawl or basement.

8. • Inspecting the inside of the structure is a little more in-depth.
• There are many areas you need to be thinking about.
• A flashlight will be you most important tool in inspecting these areas
since termite evidence can be in dark or hidden areas.
• Termites evidence can be as simple as a few specs of soil protruding
from a wall.
• Termite evidence can be as obvious as visible wall damage or
swarmers around the floor or window areas.

9. • A good method to use during an inspection
is tapping on baseboards and window sills
to listen for a hollow sound.
• This aids you in finding termite infestations
that aren’t visible to the naked eye.
• When you hear a hollow sound you may
need to look a little closer.
• Make sure not to probe into wood without
the consent of the owner of the structure.

10. • This is a photo of a
Subterranean termite
swarm.
• You will notice that as soon
as the termites mate they
break off their wings,
evidenced by the
scattered wings in the
swarm area.

11. • Look closely at baseboards
and door frames and window
frames.
• These areas are common
areas to find termite damage.
• On the left is a door frame
with Subterranean termites.
• On the right is a baseboard
with subterranean termites.

12. INSPECTION OF ATTICS
• Do not discount inspection of attics.
• Attics can provide harborage for
termites due to all the exposed
wood, common ventilation issues and
the fact that current or previous roof
leaks provide wet or damaged wood
susceptible to termite attack.

13. • Crawl space homes are also very
common in certain areas of the
country.
• These types of homes require a
different type of inspection achieved
by crawling through the crawl space
• You generally will be able to access
these types of homes through a little
door through the foundation
• One of the biggest issues with these
types of homes is gaining access due
to low clearance between the floor
joists and the soil below

15. • Always make sure to inspect
piers.
• Termites commonly build
shelter tubes up these
supports.

16. • Make sure to look up at the floor
joists.
• These areas are susceptible to
termites since they are wood.
• Keep in mind when you see
termites in these areas you need
to find where they originated
from.
• The point of origination will be
from the grade of the crawl space
soil.

17. • Identifying basement homes is
equally as important
• Basement homes will have a much
deeper footer which, greatly effects
the amount of termiticide you will
need to apply

18. • Always look for
conducive conditions
when inspecting the
crawl space.
• Standing water is a
common problem in
crawl spaces due to their
low proximity to the
grade.

19. • Inspecting basements are
similar to inspecting crawl
spaces.
• Make sure to look at the
foundation walls closely when
inspecting basements.

20. • Below is an example of a slab home.
• You can identify it as such because
there are no vents or window wells
• BE AWARE- there are some homes
with enclosed inaccessible crawls
that look like slab homes.
• You will need to look at the elevation
of the main floor of the in relation to
the exterior grade to identify these
structures

21. • During the exterior
inspection you will also
need to identify adjacent
slabs.
• These slabs will later be
drilled vertically as part of
the termite treatment.
Slab around entire perimeter of home

22. FIRST MAKE A GRAPH OF
THE STRUCTURE THAT
INCLUDES LINEAR FEET OF
STRUCTURE
THIS IS BEST
ACCOMPLISHED WITH
GRAPHING PAPER

23. • Other things to include
areas of termite evidence
and conducive conditions
and any termite activity or
damage
ST Termites

24. • Indicate all slabs to be drilled on
your graph for company records
and to show the state inspectors
how the treatment was
accomplished Slab porch
Slab home construction
Slab porch

25. • For today’s training we are going
to use a Termidor SC label.
• Termidor SC is a suspended
concentrate that forms a
suspension when mixed with
water.
• Termidor SC can be tank mixed,
but should not be mixed with
other products or their residues.

26. • Termidor SC is labeled for use at 0.06%, 0.09%, or 0.125% finished
dilution.The 0.06% finished dilution should be used for typical
prevention and/or control situations.Where severe termite or other
wood-infesting pest infestations, problem soils, or problem
construction types exist, it is advisable to use 0.09% or 0.125%

27. • This table shows the mix
rate by desired finished
solution rate of Termidor
SC
• Most common
control/prevention
situations will call for .80
oz per gallon (.06%)

28. • You must have your linear footage prior
to mixing your Termidor SC
• You calculation worksheet for Termidor
SC is below for most crawl space and
slab homes (1 foot depth to footer).
• Linear Footage/10 foot stretches =
_______________ x 4 gallons per 10 foot
stretch = ___________________ (Total
finished solution needed).

29. • Let’s say you have 200 linear feet with a one foot of depth from
the grade to the footer
• Your calculation would be 200/10 = 20 x 4 = 80 gallons of
finished solution
• That is 200 linear feet / 10 foot stretches x 4 gallons per 10 feet

30. • First get your linear feet of the treatment area added
together.
• The calculation for this type of treatment is as follows:
• Linear footage divided by 10 = ________ x 2 =
__________
• The treatment rate is two gallons per 10 linear feet in
these areas.

31. • Treating hollow block voids involves
drilling every 12 inches using a hammer
drill with a masonry bit.
• These holes must be drilled below the sill
plate and as close to the footing as possible
• Make sure to cover the holes with termite
plugs and use mortar mix to cover over
them.

32. • Drill every other mortar joint when
treating brick homes.
• A good rule of thumb is to drill
about 3 bricks up from the exterior
grade

33. • Basement homes generally
have a footer over 4 feet.
• Termidor SC is applied at a
rate of 4 gallons per linear
foot per 1 foot depth of
footer up to 4 feet in depth

34. BASEMENT HOMES
• Assuming this home has 200 linear
feet the calculation is as follows:
• Take the 200 liner feet and divide
by 10 which = 20
• The rate of Termidor will be 16
gallons per 10 linear feet (4 gallons
per 10 linear per foot of depth up
to four feet

35. • Take 20 and times it by 16 =
320 gallons
• This is the amount of
finished Termidor SC at
.06% required to complete
the perimeter Termidor SC
treatment

37. • In a vehicle mounted spray tank
Termidor SC can be mixed in its in its
diluted form for a subterranean termite
foundation treatment.

38. • First make sure you are wearing all required PPE. This is found on the
product label.
• Second get a measuring cup to measure the Termidor SC Concentrate to be
mixed with water.
• Third measure the amount of concentrate needed to be mixed with your
water to achieve the finished solution percentage needed based on your
inspection and linear footage

39. • In our example we need 80 gallons of .06% finished solution
• That means we need 80 gallons of water mixed with 64 oz of
Termidor SC
• The formula for this is 80 gallons of water x .80 (oz of concentrate
per gallon for .06 finished solution) = 64 oz Termidor SC
concentrate.

40. • Mix water in the tank:
• 1. Fill tank 1/4 to 1/3 full with water. NOTE: Filling hose must be
equipped with an anti-backflow device or water flow must include
an air gap to protect against back-siphoning.
• 2. Start pump to begin bypass agitation and place end of treating
tool in tank to allow circulation through hose.

41. • Finally add the concentrate to
the rig with the circulating water
• You are now ready to apply
Termidor SC to your termite
trench

43. DIG THE TRENCH
YOU WILL NEED A PICKAXE TO DIGYOUR TRENCH

44. • Your trench will need to be six
inches deep and six inches wide for
a termite treatment with Termidor
SC

45. • Make sure to treat in 1 foot stretches to your calibrated rate to
achieve 4 gallons per 10 linear feet of 1 foot footer depth
• You can calibrate your equipment by getting an empty gallon
jug and using a stopwatch to see the amount of time it takes to
fill with your termite wand

46. • Also treat removed soil as part of the treatment or you risk the
termites moving through the top layer of the replaced soil
• The soil will be replaced in the trench as you treat it

47. • You MUST always be aware of the depth of your footer when
calculating finished solution required
• This is most often accomplished by looking at the type of
construction to see how the grade relates to the footer such as an
accessible basement or crawl space
• Another common way to judge this is looking at the slope of the
land especially if he contour changes as you walk around the
structure

48. • In sloping soil, the
trench must be stepped
every 1 foot to ensure
adequate distribution
and prevent the
Termidor SC from
running out of the trench

49. • There is a difference when calculating the finished termiticide
solution need when your footer is deeper than 1 foot.
• Let’s assume we have a 200 liner foot home in our example.
• Lets also assume it’s a crawl home on a sloping grade with a varying
footer depth.

50. • Assuming the left side of the home is 50 feet in length and the footer goes from 4 foot
depth at the front end of the house and slopes to 1 foot depth at the back of the house.
• A simple formula would be to say the average footer depth across the stretch is 2 feet.
• The calculation would then be 50 feet divided by 10 = _______ x 8 = finished solution
needed.
• The total is 40 gallons because the termiticide is now applied at an average of 8 gallons
per 10 linear feet due to the depth of the footer.
• Remember, when applying to slopes you’ll have to rod according to the footer depth in
in each 1 foot stretch.

51. • All adjacent slabs such as patios and porches need to be
drilled vertically if they are backfilled (open crawl porches do
not apply to this step since they would be treated form the
inside of the crawl space if necessary.

52. • Drill garage slabs and slabs adjacent to the home vertically every 12 inches

53. • When using Termidor SC, all slabs will be treated at a rate of 4
gallons per 10 linear feet.
• Since the drill holes are 12 inches apart you need to calibrate
how many seconds to treat each hole to achieve the 4 gallons
per 10 linear feet rate.

54. • It is very important that you plug
the holes you drill in slabs.
• This is accomplished by tapping
down plastic termite plugs after
finishing treatment.
• It’s a good idea to use a dust pan
and whisk broom to remove all
dust from drilling.
• The final step is using mortar mix
to smooth over the capped holes

55. • First you MUST remove all
cellulose debris from
crawl space.
• It would be detrimental to
the treatment to leave a
food source for termites

56. • The inside of crawl space walls
are trenched 6 inches wide by 6
inches deep.
• The trench will be treated at 4
gallons per 10 linear feet.
• Make sure to treat the previously
removed soils as you fill the
trench back in.

57. • All piers are trenched as part the
treatment process.
• These areas are treated at a rate of 4
gallons per 10 linear feet.
• Utility and pipe penetrations into the soil
shall be treated as well.
• These penetrations allow for termites to
have an easy walkway into the home
without proper treatment.
• Utility and pipe penetrations will also be
treated at a rate of 4 gallons per 10
linear feet.

58. • This step relates to situations
where you have active termite in
an interior wall void.
• In this step we would use a
product like Termidor or
Premise pressurized foam.
• You first make an incision into
the wall into the effected area
using a 1/8 inch drill bit (make
sure not to hit a stud or the foam
will shoot right back out at you).

59. • After drilling the hole you will
insert your foam tip and apply
foam for 5 seconds per hole.
• Make sure holes are about 16
inches apart (between each set
of wall studs)
• This step should only need to be
performed within 10 feet of
either side of current termite
activity in the wall.

60. • Termidor HE is another option for termite treatments.
• The application rate is about half of the Termidor SC label.
• If you use Termidor HE you will follow the label directions as with all
products.
• Remember that the Termidor HE label employs many of the same
techniques as Termidor SC and can save considerable time and effort
in completing a treatment.

61. • There are several foundation types and a general
understanding of what makes each of those different will allow
for better treatments.
• In some cases holes may need to be made sideways or at an
angle to allow treatment in these and similar areas. These
treatments are referred to as vertical treatments and horizontal
treatments.

62. • There are 3 common types of slabs that include monolithic,
floating, and supported.
• The names are somewhat descriptive of their design, and they
each serve a different purpose.

63. • A supported slab is poured in 2 parts with
the main slab resting( being supported by)
on the footing.
• The areas where the slab meets the
foundation and footing is referred to as an
expansion joints.
• Expansion joints may allow subterranean
termites to enter the structure.
• Often times product will come up through
these expansion joints, this does not denote
product failure, and is generally not
relevant.

64. • Floating slabs are similar to supported slabs
but nothing is supported.
• The expansion joints are similar to that of
supported slabs and can allow termite
access.
• This is most commonly found with room
additions, garages, and outdoor patios.

65. • Mono implies ONE.
• This means that the slab is one
big piece and has no expansion
joints.

66. THESE ARE PHOTOS OF STRESS
FRACTURES WHICH ARE
COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS SLAB
CRACKS

67. • Conducive conditions need to be corrected for the termite
treatment to be effective
• As you can imagine a property with constant standing water
around the foundation or a leaky roof is going to be very hard
to control termites in
• You and/or the homeowner need to devise a plan to solve these
issues
• ALWAYS note these issues on your termite agreement

68. • All paperwork must be completed and stored upon completion of
termite work.
• All details including linear feet of treatment and total gallons of
product used are imperative in these types of treatments.
• Keeping correct paperwork can protect the company from lawsuits
and also keep the company out of trouble with state inspectors.

69. • You have completed the lesson portion of this course.
• Please continue to the quiz and complete all questions
• You will receive your certificate within 24 hours of successfully
completing the exam with a score of 70% or higher.
• Thank you for choosing American Pest CEUs
• You can visit us on the web at Americanpestceus.com