# Experiences with Termidor vs Sentricon for termite control?



## thinksincode

Hello all,

Last year, before buying my house, some termites made a meal out of part of the wooden deck. The seller of the house had spot treatments done, but it seems to have worked (for now).

Before I have it repaired/rebuilt, I want to have an inspection done to determine if the termites are truly gone. I was doing research on local pest control companies and have seen a lot of conflicting information about Termidor (chemical barrier around full perimeter) vs. Sentricon (bait stations with some attractant that the termites supposedly like more than wood).

It seems like a chemical barrier like Termidor would be most effective, though also most disruptive. I am considering doing the Sentricon because it also serves as a monitoring tool, where they check periodically if there's been any activity.

Has anyone here had any experience with either of these products they could share? Actual experience, not just opinions based on the descriptions of each product, since I already have that.

Thanks!


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## joecaption

I was a licenced exterminator in VA for a few years and I'll share what I found out.
Go with the Termidor and a full treatment.
Spot treatments do nothing, there just going to find a new way in.
Those bait stations are all but usless, There set out away from the drip line of the house out in the yard every 10 ft. or so, not under the house of even near the foundation. Termites are blind, what's the chances there even going to find the station, and if they do so what. There's most likly many colonys of termites living out in your yard doing no harm, just eatting anything dead they can find. 
The Termidor will be picked up by the workers and be taken back to the nest and will kill the queen. Once she's gone the nest dies out.
Bait staions cost them about $25.00 a case and can be installed in under a min with nothing more then what looks like a bulb planter. There going to change you about $100.00 each if you figure out the total cost and devide it by the number of stations. (based on what I have seen them charge)
Then there going to chage you every year to do nothing more then pull a stick out of the staion and look at it to see if there's been something eating it.

With a Termidor treatment there going to drill a hole in every block void, trench the outside and inside around the foundation and flood it with chemical. If there's piers there going to drill the blocks and trench around them and shoot chemical.
Then there going to rod around the footing.
Now your protected everywhere, where it counts.
It's very common to have them find a tiny spot of missing morter and go right up through the foundation and never be seen.


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## PAbugman

Good advice Joe. We use Termidor and we make our own wooden stakes and leave with the homeowner for them to use as monitors.


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## joecaption

Thanks Pa.
I guess my point was we already know there's termites in the yard, that's a fact. All a bait staion is going to do is confurm the fact.
I'd be more concerened with the ones trying to get in the foundation.


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## Italgrl

*At one time I had bait stations and*

I've had bait stations. They were expensive (5k) 

When they did nothing and I had to call a real termite company they laughed at me and said "why would a termite choose this bait (which is just a piece of wood) over all the wood framing in your house?"


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## joecaption

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...talogId=10053&productId=100011173&R=100011173

Any of you out there that have the bait stations, think about what you had to pay to get them, devide that amount by the number of stations to get a price for each one. Now look at what you could have paid and done it your self.
There a rip off.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...talogId=10053&productId=100011173&R=100011173


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## thinksincode

joecaption said:


> http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...talogId=10053&productId=100011173&R=100011173
> 
> Any of you out there that have the bait stations, think about what you had to pay to get them, devide that amount by the number of stations to get a price for each one. Now look at what you could have paid and done it your self.
> There a rip off.
> http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...talogId=10053&productId=100011173&R=100011173


Well, the cheap store-bought bait stations aren't the same as Sentricon. They are very cheap (as you pointed out) and use sulfluramid. In fact, they now have to advise on the packaging, _"Not recommended as sole protection against termites. For active infestations, a remedial treatment and a professional inspection are recommended."_

The newer Sentricon installations now use a different "always active" termiticide instead of just baiting with wood, and from what I've read it's more effective than before.


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## thinksincode

Italgrl said:


> I've had bait stations. They were expensive (5k)
> 
> When they did nothing and I had to call a real termite company they laughed at me and said "why would a termite choose this bait (which is just a piece of wood) over all the wood framing in your house?"


Er, I don't think the termite mind works like that. They don't know the difference between a piece of wood in a bait and the wood framing in your house, it's just wood. They are certainly more likely to start eating at your house, but it's not a "preference" thing.


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## thinksincode

Anyway, I got an Angie's List coupon in my email for a whole-house Termidor treatment plus 5 year warranty for $900, I am probably going to do that!


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## Italgrl

thinksincode said:


> Er, I don't think the termite mind works like that. They don't know the difference between a piece of wood in a bait and the wood framing in your house, it's just wood. They are certainly more likely to start eating at your house, but it's not a "preference" thing.



That's exactly right - termites do NOT know the difference between your house and the wood in the bait (which does NOT kill them FYI) - so, WHY would a blind termite leave the wood inside your cozy, protected from the elements walls to go find a random piece of wood in the ground three feet away from your house? Answer, he would not. Baiting is a complete and utter waste of money. In fact, I've heard that some consumer protection organization is trying to get them declared scams.


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## thinksincode

Italgrl said:


> That's exactly right - termites do NOT know the difference between your house and the wood in the bait (which does NOT kill them FYI) - so, WHY would a blind termite leave the wood inside your cozy, protected from the elements walls to go find a random piece of wood in the ground three feet away from your house? Answer, he would not. Baiting is a complete and utter waste of money. In fact, I've heard that some consumer protection organization is trying to get them declared scams.


Well, I'm no pest control expert, but I'm pretty sure that statement is inaccurate. 

The termites go back and forth from your house to the nest, so there is certainly the possibility that they will run into a bait station and begin leaving pheromone trails to this new tasty wood they found.

Termites are always protected from the elements - they go underground, and build the mud tubes.

And actually, Sentricon now uses an "always active" bait system so yes, the wood in the bait does kill them. 

Baiting is not "a complete and utter waste of money"; many people have had great successes with Sentricon, as I've found in my research. 

I am definitely leaning towards the Termidor treatment, but let's be fair in the discussion.


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## Italgrl

*If you didn't want advice*

If you didn't want advice from people who have actually used the product, why did you ask? Seems like many of the replies you got were a no go on bait systems. 

I live in Florida, otherwise known as "if your house doesn't have termites yet, it's only a matter of time." When bait systems came out, the entire state rejoiced because the other methods are much more expensive, intrusive and inconvenient. NO ONE I know that used the baits got rid of their problem. They all had to then use another kind of service later on. 

Your house has hundreds if not thousands of pieces of wood in it. Instead, the termite is going to find this randomly placed, 6 inch piece of wood inside a plastic housing in your yard. Sure. Believe whatever you want. You realize that there isn't some juicy termite treat in there that will draw them to it, right? It's JUST a piece of wood. 

Being that many houses are only 20 feet apart in Florida, whose termites do the baits attract? Yours or your neighbors? 

Go ahead, spend your money, the economy needs stimulating.


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## thinksincode

Italgrl,

I'm not looking for a fight! I have already said that I'm leaning towards doing a Termidor treatment (which is a chemical barrier, not a bait station). I just wanted to have a fair discussion about the two.

What bait system did you use? Are you comparing to a store-bought bait station? Because in that case I agree, they are useless. The FTC forced them to put a notice on the label for those stating that they aren't recommended as a standalone termite treatment.

Sentricon USED to use an inert wood monitoring bait, which was replaced with poison when activity was found. But again, as I said before, now they have an "Always Active" system that uses their Recruit HD bait, which is a poison. It's NOT just "a piece of wood". And the termites like it. It sort of is a "juicy termite treat".

From http://www.drjacks.net/TermiteFreeZones/SentriconAlwaysActive/tabid/107/Default.aspx:

"Test results show that termites actually prefer feeding on it over the wood monitoring devices. Termites feeding on homes have actually left the structure when they find Recruit HD outside the home."

I'm not saying that they will work better than a Termidor or similar treatment, but I think you're letting a bad experience in the past cloud your judgement here. 

Unless all the stories I've read are lies, Sentricon has been very effective in many cases. It sounds like Termidor is still the better choice, being more effective and requiring less call-backs, but again, let's get the facts straight...


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## Italgrl

*If you read my earlier post*

If you read my earlier post, you know what I paid (5k) - no way that was a store bought thing. I used the one you asked about which is why I answered. 

Out of the 30 bait stations and over the course of two years, termites were only ever found in * ONE* bait station. 12 months after install and monthly service, I found termites in my bedroom baseboard and the leg of my headboard. There was a bait station directly outside the area that was damaged. 

When I went to sell the house termites were found in my living room, entry foyer and in my garage. All of these areas were approximately 3 feet from a bait station except the foyer, but no termites in the baits.


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## thinksincode

You're right, I forgot about the $5k figure. That sucks to drop that much money and not have it even work. My only point I was trying to make was that they have changed the Sentricon system since then and have the newer always active baits, which the termites do seem to prefer more than wood.
Of course, the problem is them actually finding it in the first place... :/


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## gobug

A termite colony has squadrons. The baits do not kill the worker who collects the pesticide laden cellulose until it enters the stomachs of the squadron. The pesticide may never make it to the other squadrons or the queen. 

Imagine having a hundred huge hula hoops and tossing them around your structure. The hoops would all overlap each other. Each hoop is the food foraging circle for a termite colony. Each hoop has many squadrons that are foraging for food to support their colony. Can you feed them all? If you eliminate the hoops around your habitat, will new hoops move in? Move from 2 dimensions to 3. How deep must you go to offer bait and result in protecting your habitat?

Hide. A moat will make it worse. A desert may work (seriously). Alter the flow of water around and through your structure.

Good luck
Gary


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## PAbugman

Baiting technology is getting better all the time. Sentricon & Dow were first. I’m of the opinion that when pheromones are isolated and incorporated into the bait, the baiting programs will have taken a great leap. We are using pheromones in german cockroach and stored product pest control. 

A termite colony feeds in many locations with individual termites moving from one location to another. The Triple-Trap-Release studies have shown that, much to the surprise of pest control and entomologists. Those studies are what precipitated the research and movement into baiting. I believe that we do or will need feeding stations that are deeper into the soil, especially where basements are prevalent. 

The cozy house/basement that we live in is actually harder for a termite to attack then exterior wood with direct ground contact. We as humans need to be careful about projecting our behavior into insect colonies. I wish I could make them do what I want. 

As optimistic as I am about the future of baiting chemistry, we don’t use it ourselves. Fipronil based products (Termidor for one) are what we use as it works well and relies on horizontal transfer similar to baits. We are a small company and don’t want to have the potential warranty/liability issues that would come from a total baiting failure, which do happen. 

A fipronil treatment and baiting stations, even store bought, go hand in hand as fipronil is non-repellent. Non-repellency is the direction the termite industry has gone, with much success.


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## NHtransplant

I am one person who has had success with the bait stations. I cannot speak to the cost of them, I have a friend that works at Terminex and he installed them for free. I live about 15 feet from a river so they cannot do the Termidor treatment in the ground as is preferred. That stuff is not good for aquatic life, or so I'm told.
I did have termites entering my foundation at one point. Since the bait stations were installed I have not. I also found one station that did have termites get into it and eat some of the bait. Presumably that colony was killed off before it could reach my house. I was told that termites roam aimlessly through the ground looking for wood. When they find it they eat. If they hit the bait stations before they hit your house they will eat it.


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## thinksincode

What part of Massachusetts are you from?


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## NHtransplant

thinksincode said:


> What part of Massachusetts are you from?


I'm in Dighton.


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## thinksincode

Just an update: I decided to go with the Termidor. The pest control company is here trenching and pumping it as we speak! Thanks to everyone for their input.


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## FlyingHammer

thinksincode said:


> Anyway, I got an Angie's List coupon in my email for a whole-house Termidor treatment plus 5 year warranty for $900, I am probably going to do that!


That seems a bit high to me. The Termidor runs about $200 (retail) for a 1,200 square foot house, and you can do the whole job yourself in an afternoon. It's a bit of work, but an easy DIY project.


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## r0ckstarr

.....


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## FoundationPest

I use Termidor to treat the homes of all of my clients. Highly recommended.


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## Ayriad

I know this is an old thread but it is a choice many are having to make still so would like to add my experience with the termite guy who gives the quotes with the company I chose to do my work. First off if anyone was charged 5k to Set sentricon traps, unless you live in a house the size Oprah lives in...maybe! I do not live in a small house by no means and I was quoted $805 for the traps to be set every 12 feet. The termidor was $895. The company I chose does both so has no need to recommend one over the other with similar pricing except the sentricon had a higher yearly service fee while the termidor was more of an inspection for further activity and treatment if needed. Yearly for termidor was 110 dollars. Yearly for sentricon was 300 dollars. I was told termidor has a quicker kill to the nest but you do have chemicals. Sentricon is more green friendly but can take months to a year for colony kill. Termidor requires drilling while sentricone does not. It all depends on what the customer is happy with. Some are more green conscientious. Personally I chose termidor due to the fact I had an active colony damaging my house and wanted them eradicated immediately. Also for the record sentricon does not use a stick of wood to check for activity. The bait used has been proven in the most extensive trials of any bait station to be more palatable to the termites than wood due to the higher cellulose content. Yes termites love to eat our homes But They must go to ground to the colony to feed them. Yes termites are blind. They communicate via pheromone trails and noise. They bump the earth to make vibrations. Once again, I chose termidor for my immediate needs but would feel comfortable with sentricon if I was concerned about run off. If I was purchasing a home that was termite free I might would choose the sentricon.


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