Termite Fumigation
Dusting, Baiting or Barrier Treatment?
Are you considering termite fumigation for your home?
Getting rid of termites once they’ve established themselves in your home can be a costly exercise.
There are different methods of termite control available, including baiting, dusting, physical and chemical barriers, and fumigation.
But not all of these methods are appropriate for all species of termite.
The cost involved in fumigation and other treatments can be up to several thousand dollars.
So it’s absolutely vital that the method of termite extermination chosen is appropriate for the species of termite in your home – lest you find yourself paying for a second treatment.
Sulfuryl fluoride (trade name Vikane) is a gas used 99% of the time to fumigate closed structures in the USA against drywood & Formosan termites, borers, bed bugs, carpet beetles in woolen carpets, cockroaches, spiders and even rodents.
Methyl bromide (aka Bromomethane) was widely used in the past as a fumigant for control of termites, bed bugs, cockroaches, rodents, fungi & weeds (Gehring et al., 1991; IPCS, 1995).
Using Sulfuryl fluoride or Methyl bromide to dispose of termites is still relatively rare in most parts Australia.
That’s largely because it’s most appropriately used to treat infestations of Drywood or Dampwood termite species in Northern Australia – and the most widespread and problematic termite species are the subterranean termites.
Why isn’t termite fumigation suitable for subterranean termites?
Subterranean termites build colonies in the ground and tunnel their way into your home from a colony some distance away. While gassing with Sulfuryl fluoride may kill the termites that are already in your home, it won’t affect the underground colony.
These colonies can be heavily populated so to prevent repeat infestations, choosing a treatment that aims to destroy the colony is vital.
Conversely, Drywood and Dampwood termites build smaller colonies inside the wood they’re feeding on, rather than in the ground. That means that termite fumigation may be effective for these species as it is able to destroy the colonies established in your home or furniture.
What Exactly is Termite Fumigation?
Termite fumigation is undertaken using toxic chemicals. When an entire home is to undergo this type of treatment, the home is ‘tented’ and the chemicals pumped into the home.
If Drywood termites are found only in furniture, the particular item can be placed in a chamber and subjected to a gas treatment.