Forums > Specific Focus > Home, Garden & Construction in Mexico

Eldeora

Nov 30, 2001, 10:31 PM

Post #1 of 6 (2458 views)

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Termites in doors, etc

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I've searched and followed the postings on this board and have seen a couple of products mentioned for termites. One quite toxic, one allegedly benign, but my experience with most "benign" products is that they don't work!
My question is, what do most Mexicans use to treat internal doors, furniture, etc? My house is 95% concrete, but despite the real estate agent/owner's insistence that my house had been treated and doors had been replaced, I'm finding that furniture/door jambs/internal wood louvre doors are still heavily infested. Some varnished ones look fine on the surface, but tap them or press them with your finger and hello, they are hollow and still very active!! Tiny dark round dust droppings tell the tale. Do I just take everything out and burn it, especially to stop them spreading? A Mexican who said he knew what to do bought me some very stinky para stuff to paint on, but it still doesn't work. It might work on total bath immersion, but it sure doesn't work by painting it or trying to saturate it with a brush.
I don't want to have to treat wood with toxic stuf for years on end. My gut feeling is that I should just pull all the wood frames out and go for aluminum or steel furniture/doors. Is this a major problem in Mexico, or local to Acapulco on the coast?

Loco

Nov 30, 2001, 11:05 PM

Post #2 of 6 (2449 views)

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Call the Orkin man

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In Florida it is a continual battle (Florida is the only place I've lived with serious threat). I bought a woodframed (cyprus - 1920's) home and there was evidence of them everywhere. To sell/buy a house there you need an inspection and then at least 6 month treatments around the circumference. Once they are in the wood they have "a meal" but they need moisture. They usually get that from earth and there should be trails/tunnels. They would scale a 8/10 foot cement wall to get to a wood framed roof.I would either treat them regularly or build with something they don't like.

Jim in Cancun

Dec 1, 2001, 6:52 AM

Post #3 of 6 (2449 views)

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Call the Orkin man

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John

Dec 1, 2001, 6:47 PM

Post #4 of 6 (2449 views)

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termite nests can be 2 miles wide

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For this reason it relly doesn't help much to spray. The treatment is highly toxic by nature and it only kills the termites that are present in the wood at the time of treatment and for a limited time thereafter.Jim is right. Ceadar and some of the coastal hardwoods smell bad to termites, apparently, and they are less likely to much down. However, you can guarantee a termite free life, as far as doors and windows are concerned, by using metal.

Clapton

Dec 3, 2001, 11:56 PM

Post #5 of 6 (2448 views)

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Call the Orkin man

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Jim, you sure are whistling a new tune! As I recall you were very adamnant on using Penta a few months ago!If you scroll down the page, you'll find a thread on treating wood and alternatives such as hardwoods that are naturally termite resistant. The key word is "resitant" and not "proof". The terms hardwood and softwood don't actually refer to the woods density (hardness) but to deciduous or coniferous trees. Some of the hardwoods found in Mexico are much "softer" than some softwoods, parota is one example. Spanish cedar or "cedro" is also quite soft but falls into the hardwood category. Both of these woods offer good resistance to wood-boring pests. Other woods commonly found in Mexico are listed in another post further down the page.
: Fumigators come and go. The one I hired to fumigate the palapa said. "This service is guaranteed for a year but it usually doesn't last so give us a call in the spring and we'll come out and do it again.: My recommendation (about 15 years of experience and lots of personal exprience including a closet eaten by the little buggers and a lovely cedar dresser right next to it that reamins unharmed)is to rip out "soft" woods and use hardwood--Mexico has some of the most beautiful I've seen. JMHO

Jim in Cancun

Dec 4, 2001, 2:09 PM

Post #6 of 6 (2450 views)

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Call the Orkin man

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