# Trelona vs. Sentricon Subterranean Termite Extermination



## withoutapaddle (Aug 24, 2012)

Anyone have some thoughts on which subterranean termite extermination system is better? Trelona or Sentricon .

Terminix (Southern California) offered an install + 1 year maintenance / monitoring plan. They use the Sentricon system.

Thanks for any tips.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

This is my personal opinion of any of those bait type systems coming from someone that long ago was a licenced exterminator in VA.
There all a scam and a huge money maker for the company doing it.
Only place I'd use them is if it was near a well.
They can install them in about 1/10 or less the time it takes to do a real chemical treatment and only need what looks like a bulb planter.
There idea of an inspection when they come back is to undo the cap and pull the stick out and look at it, and wait till you see what that simple task is going to cost you.
There going to place them out beyond the drip line of the roof and way too far apart.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

joecaption said:


> This is my personal opinion of any of those bait type systems coming from someone that long ago was a licenced exterminator in VA.
> There all a scam and a huge money maker for the company doing it.
> Only place I'd use them is if it was near a well.
> They can install them in about 1/10 or less the time it takes to do a real chemical treatment and only need what looks like a bulb planter.
> ...



JOE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^100%^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Terminex is a business income model... not a cure/prevent termite model. High install rates, and annual or semi annual billings when they check your bait cans....which may or may not be even close to a infestation.

I have a Northern Cali friend that researched subteraian quite extensively, and concluded there are two schools of thought 1) Use a repellent/immediate killer... but that presupposes you can apply it everywhere or directly where the PRESENT activity is.

or 2) use a slow acting carrier that goes back to the colony/nest to rid the infestation. 

It's early, I'll call him a little later and give you some references.

Good luck

(I thought SoCal only had flying termites that basically you tent a house for.)


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## withoutapaddle (Aug 24, 2012)

joecaption said:


> This is my personal opinion of any of those bait type systems coming from someone that long ago was a licenced exterminator in VA.
> There all a scam and a huge money maker for the company doing it.
> Only place I'd use them is if it was near a well.
> They can install them in about 1/10 or less the time it takes to do a real chemical treatment and only need what looks like a bulb planter.
> ...


 Thanks for your input Joe. I'd do all this myself but I do not live near the house. My workmate had subterranean termites and used Terminix. He paid their bloated install price $2100 for a perimeter of traps around the house & one year maintenance. After the Terminix maintenance plan expired, he did not renew and performed the maintenance himself. It took about 7 months for the termites to be killed off. It's been a year since the termites were exterminated and they have not returned to any traps which were filled with regular wooden bait.

I read that the traps are supposed to be about 1.5 feet away from the base of the house (if prior termicide was sprayed because termites might have learned to avoid that area or prior termite deaths) away from the base of the house and no more than 10 feet apart. If no germicide was sprayed, traps can be closer to the house. I'd be getting their placement plan up front before any work is done.


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## withoutapaddle (Aug 24, 2012)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> JOE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^100%^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> 
> Terminex is a business income model... not a cure/prevent termite model. High install rates, and annual or semi annual billings when they check your bait cans....which may or may not be even close to a infestation.
> 
> ...


Thanks Mountain. Southern California has both types of termites, subterranean (bait traps and spraying are remedies) and dry wood (tenting & spraying is the remedy) .


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

Did not know subterain were in SoCal.... *But I still say JOE CAPTION IS 100% on the money.*

And consider that your friend has not had a bait trap (basically a canister with cardboard) hit, in no way assures you that the terminites have not infested your home.


EDIT: Withoutpaddle... What makes your friend think the termites have been exterminated... Did Terminex tell him.??

Joe... What is your best recoomendation for subteranians...??? TIA


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## withoutapaddle (Aug 24, 2012)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> Did not know subterain were in SoCal.... *But I still say JOE CAPTION IS 100% on the money.*
> 
> And consider that your friend has not had a bait trap (basically a canister with cardboard) hit, in no way assures you that the terminites have not infested your home.
> 
> ...


Hi Mountain,

My workmate had bait traps surrounding the whole house and throughout the yard. There were "hits" at multiple bait traps in one corner of the property, he saw himself. After a month, the termites which were crawling in to his house vanished. He then replaced the poisoned wood with regular wood that termites are attracted to and he continued to monitor the traps. There have been no sign of termite feeding. Also he went to his crawl space and located a few of the mud tubes which the termites make. He broke it open, and there were no more termites.


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## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

Withoutpaddle....

I am glad that he saw a bait trap tripped, and witnessed that termites were no longer crawling into his home.... and that his new repair showed no further termite infestation at the locale that he replaced....

just not sure he knew what he was looking for.....

(I'm no etomolist or termite knowledgeable, but I do know a con... and I am not confident with terminex at all.... my one limited experience could be just that.. a limited experience.... with a salesman that did not know his a$$ from a piece of wood.)

I honestly cOULD BE DEAD WRONG........ wish Joe would come back and teach me some details/facts/advice.

Best to ya....


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## ChicoBugGuy (May 4, 2017)

Monitoring stations are the worst way to treat a termite infestation imo. I went to a home that a company installed them. Termites swarming all over the house. He paid $1,200 for the monitoring stations to one company. Then when they failed to alert him $800 to a second company for the treatment to fix them. Should of saved his money for the stations. 

For his house, if he wanted protection from termites, he could of paid $1,200 for a perimeter trench and drench that would of prevented termites vs just monitoring them. Perimeter trench and drench with termidor lasts a minimum 5 years and up to 15 based on studies. Depends on your soil type. 

If they are drywood termites, your options are limited. Usually this requires tenting and fumigating the home. The monitoring/bait stations would not work at all on drywood.


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## Bugman1963 (Nov 10, 2017)

Please compare apples to apples. The Sentricon stations of today use a wood like product that termites prefer to southern pine 8 to 1. Verified time and again. Since termites that eat wood (teenagers) are blind, they must come upon wood or be directed to a food source by a pheromone left by a termite that has found edible cellulose. That bait stations gets loaded quickly with a high level of pheromone. Any termite seeking food or traveling toward your house that senses that high level of pheromone is going to make a bee line for that bait station. The entire colony gets fed this bait and termites that were feasting on house soon forget the house in lieu of the bait. When spring comes and the queen signals the teenagers to grow up into swarmers (which have eyes and can not eat wood but must be feed by a teenager). However when they breakout of their old skin the explode into a mess of termite guts because the active ingredient in the bait stops termites from making new skin (chitin synthesis inhibitor). Ask yourselves one question. If these sentricon bait stations are so useless, why does every termite company use them. Terminix also covers Formosan damage claims if the customer has these Sentricon bait stations.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Not all company's use them.
As to why are they used;
They pay less than $50.00 dollars a case for the stakes.
They can install them with nothing but a bulb planter in less than an hour with minimally trained labor without even having to go under the house.
They then get to charge you about $100.00 for each one, then charge you more money to come back and do nothing more then come back and look at a stick.
If that's the way you think is going to work for you then why not DIY and save money?
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Spectra...-Killing-Stakes-15-Count-HG-96115-1/203985944


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## Bugman1963 (Nov 10, 2017)

The link you shared was a product using spectracide which is a poison. The Sentricon system uses novaflouramin (sp) which is not a poison but a CSI which causes a popcorn affect when moulting . But ask yourself this, when termites get through whatever defense used, and they often do, is Home Depot going to pay for the damages (average 5000 to 8000 in U.S. 10,000 to 30,000 Formosan)? No, but if you maintain a bond you are covered. Feel like gambling?


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## jlhicks10 (May 5, 2018)

The question is why Trelona v s. Sentricon. Any opinions on why the switch from Sentricon to Trelona? Cost? Effectiveness? Environmental?


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## Greybo80 (Sep 21, 2018)

The systems are very similar. A recent study over 2 years does novaluron (Trelona) to be the most effective. It's basically just the latest and greatest. Sentricon is a great product too.
What many here have failed to mention is that Some People Don't Have a Choice of Liquid treatment.. Whether they live in a raised structure with inaccessible areas or French drains or live too close to a water source, they simply cannot treat the home with Termidor. In those cases bait stations are The alternative.
Yes some companies may be overpriced but it doesn't mean the product is not a solution for those who cannot have a liquid treatment. The IGR in trelona has proven to be effective and the newest bait stations only need be checked annually if the home is inactive.


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