• First, seal termites out. Cover exposed wood with paint or sealer. Caulk cracks and crevices. Screen windows and vents.
• Second, treatment of exposed wood with borates or boric acid provides long term protection against infestation.

• Don’t have wood in contact with soil.
• Cover exposed wood with paint or sealer.
• Remove wood debris from your yard.
• Plant trees away from house, and prune away vegetation that provides a bridge to the house.
• Ants are predators of termites. Do not kill ants that are not causing a nuisance problem in the house.

• Removal or repair of infested wood. For a small infestation, this may be all that is needed.
• Heat: This involves tenting and heating either the whole structure or just a part of it up to 140 degrees F^o, a temperature that will not harm the structure. A test of termite eradication methods at UC Berkeley in 1996 resulted in a 100% mortality of termites in naturally infested wood boards treated with heat.³ Care is required to remove all household items that may be damaged by heat, such as electronic equipment.
• Microwaves: this is a spot treatment method that also kills the termites by applying heat. The researchers cited above got a 100% mortality rate with this method as well, applied to naturally infested boards. Other studies have had varying success rates. House damage may include warped wood and wood burns.
• Cold: cold treatment with liquid nitrogen is a spot treatment method whose effectiveness ranged from 74 to 100% in the above tests, depending on the dose used. This can be an effective method for inaccessible areas, as nitrogen is injected through small holes drilled into the walls. Frost formation within the house may damage some wall coverings. Drill holes must be repaired. NOTE: as of spring 2004, we do not know of any companies that offer this treatment
• Electrocution: Called Electrogun, this is a spot treatment using volts of electricity, which kills termites in exposed wood. Mortality in the above tests was 95% four weeks after treatment in naturally infested wood. Drill holes and minor wood burns may result from the Electrogun method.
• Borates: Borate salts or boric acid can be injected into wood as a treatment or applied to wood surfaces as a preventive measure. Borate dust may be used in wall voids as well. Borate foam is another form of borate that may be applied as a spot treatment. Depending on the product and treatment method, borates may act as a contact poison or a stomach poison. Borates should not be used on wood in contact with soil, as they are water soluble and will leach into the soil. Tim-Bor, Bora-Care, Jecta, and Impel are some brand names of borate products. Ethylene glycol may be added to liquid formulations of borates; this substance increases the penetration of the borate into wood but may be a problem for chemically sensitive individuals.
• Borates are also available in over-the-counter products for people who want to do their own termite treatments. An example of a product available in San Diego area home improvement stores is Spectracide Terminate. According to the manufacturer, the product comes in a dust formulation for injecting into cracks and crevices in exposed wood areas, and in a water-based spray form that can be applied to bare wood. The spray will penetrate the wood, whereas the dust must be squirted into existing cracks, or else into holes that you drill (1/8 inch drill bit, drilled 1-2 inches deep, 3-4 holes in a square foot). The kill rate is 100% in 24-48 hours for all termites it comes into contact with. As with all spot treatments, the difficulty is in knowing whether you’ve reached all the termites. Continued surveillance may be needed.
• Fungal pathogens: BioBlast is the trade name of a method that utilizes a fungus that is deadly for termites when sprayed onto the infested wood.
• Limonene or other citrus derivatives: Limonene has been used successfully as a pet flea control agent, and is now being applied to termite control. No information was found regarding the effectiveness of this method, whether it provides residual protection, or to what extent it is found in the indoor air of structures treated with it.
• Pyrethroids, a class of insecticides that originally derived from chrysanthemums but now are manufactured synthetically. Examples of pyrethrins used in products licensed for termite control in California are bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, deltamethrin, esfenvalerate, permethrin, and prallethrin. Piperonyl butoxide is often added to pyrethrin products to increase their effectiveness. Pyrethroids used for termite control have moderate acute toxicity. Several are possible carcinogens or suspected endocrine disruptors. See table below.
• Imidacloprid is the active ingredient in some brands of spot-on flea products for dogs and cats, and is found in other insecticides as well. Premise is a current brand used by exterminators. (There is another pesticide product called Premise which contains pyrethroids, so make sure you know which product is being considered for your house, if an exterminator plans to use Premise.)

• For how long will the company guarantee their work?
• Do they use any back-up chemicals for spot treatment? Will they provide you with Material Safety Data Sheets and product labels for any chemicals they plan to use?
• Will they put it in writing that they will not use any materials other than those you have agreed to?

* The California Structural Pest Control Board provides information on complaints made about the companies in the last two years. These records apply only to the San Diego branches of these companies and cover the two years preceding August 2004. We suggest you make your own calls before hiring a company: the number is 800-737-8188.

** This information is derived from written questionnaires sent to the companies by EHC; those who did not respond may have satisfactory guarantees but we do not have the information.