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What’s the Best Termite Treatment?
There are several different kinds of termite treatments out there, two of the most common types being liquid barrier treatment and Sentricon treatment. We consider the better termite treatment of the two options to be an obvious choice, but many people are unsure. Because of this, we’ve broken down the advantages and disadvantages of these two treatments to give you a clear understanding of the individual methods. Here’s a quick hint: Sentricon is the most effective termite treatment.
Why?
Let’s take a closer look at both kinds of treatments and find out why liquid barrier treatments just don’t stand up to Sentricon.
Liquid Barrier Termite Treatment
The goal of a Liquid barrier treatment, or termiticide, does is exactly what the name suggests. It – to creates a barrier of liquid chemicals around the foundation of your house. When a termite touches this chemical barrier, they die. So, in theory, this treatment keeps any termites from making it to your home. But creating this barrier is harder than it sounds. Professionals must dig trenches around your entire house or drill into the foundation of your home. In order to keep the barrier continuous, they might even have to break through concrete, brick, and other obstacles. If you skip parts of the house, the treatment is no longer effective. That means you can’t just hop over your entryway. You must go drill through it. This means you must spend several hours doing preparation work before you can start applying the treatment. And the treatment itself requires dumping what could end up being hundreds of gallons of termiticide into the ground.
Why This Treatment Isn’t Effective
There are multiple reasons why liquid barrier treatment isn’t something we recommend to our customers. First, it’s not 100% successful. A termite only needs 1/32 of an inch to get through the barrier. Though they do die if they meet the chemicals, they can often find there way through the barrier anyway. But because you can’t tell if they’ve gotten through, you’ll never know if it’s doing the job it’s supposed to do. You may want to say something like “To get 100% coverage with a liquid termiticide, the chemical must touch every granule of sand with no missed areas. With shifting soil, rocks and roots in the ground, that is hard to do. Once termites find a gap, you’re guaranteed that a portion of that colony will be back and forth to your house.” You don’t have to use those exact words but you want to paint a picture for them that makes it seem unlikely that there can’t be a gap anywhere.
The chemical liquid itself also degrades over time. This makes it even less effective as time passes. And while the barrier does kill termites, it never takes out the entire colony. On top of that, the treatment is full of harmful materials. The liquid can kill your lawn, your flowers, and the rest of your garden. If you have pets that enjoy digging in your yard, it can also pose a threat to them. So though liquid barrier treatment does kill termites, it comes with a lot of other disadvantages.
Sentricon Termite Treatment
Sentricon uses bait to protect your home from termite colonies. A professional installs these Sentricon systems around your home in locations that are easy for termites to find. These systems push the bait 8 to 10 inches below the ground. Their caps are so low they won’t get in the way or any yard work. In fact, because guests won’t know where to look, they might not even notice them at all.
What Makes This Treatment Better than Liquid Termite Treatment?
To understand why Sentricon is more effective than liquid barrier treatments, you have to understand a bit about termites. Termites live in groups called colonies. Each colony has a queen, who can lay millions of eggs in her lifetime, and three other types of termites. These termites are known as workers, soldiers, and alates (swarmers). The Queen spends her time laying more eggs and building up the colony. The soldiers protect the nest where the queen and eggs are and the worker’s eggs and the reproductives. The workers are the ones that search for food and do damage to your home. Forging for food is an instinct for worker termites. Even if they find a food source, they’ll keep looking for more. So, the worker termites will always find a Sentricon stato.
When a worker finds the bait, they distribute it through the colony and leave a pheromone trail to attract other termites to the bait. food source. In other words, the bait gets passed around to every termite in the colony. The worker termites die first when they try to molt, and because the rest of the colony can’t feed sustain themselves without workers, they die off as well. Most importantly, the Queen will be fed the bait and won’t be able to make any more termites to rebuild the colony. Installation takes only a few minutes, and the bait doesn’t degrade like liquid treatment.
Other Benefits of Sentricon
Not only does Sentricon eliminate the entire colony, it offers long-term protection against any other termites that stumble across your home. Let’s look at a few other benefits that come with Sentricon treatments.
It’s Safer for the Environment and Your Family
Sentricon doesn’t use any type of chemical. The there is no signal word (Caution, Warning or Danger) on the active ingredient in Recruit HD bait and it does not leach into the soil. This makes it a 100% safer termite treatment option than liquid. Because of this, Sentricon is safer for your home, your yard, your pets, and your family. Sentricon is also safer than liquid barrier treatments.
There’s No Digging Involved
You don’t have to dig up parts of your lawn, walkway, or other property. Of course, grass always grows back, and you can repair your other belongings. But that takes a lot more time, a lot more effort, and a lot more money.
Why Sentricon Is the Best Termite Treatment
Sentricon works better than other termite treatments, but that isn’t the only reason we consider it the best choice. Because it wipes out the entire colony, offers long-term protection, and is a healthier, greener alternative to termiticide. If you’re trying to decide what termite treatment option is the best for your needs, you should go with Sentricon every time. Worried you might have termites living on your property? Be proactive about protecting your home from termites; don’t wait until they’ve already damaged your home. Look at our termite inspection services and see how we can help you.
