RD & Gwyn's In-Town Homestead

[Gwynmael]

And now some of the bad (at least in a frustrating, annoying, considered burning down the house kind of way) --- the Termite Saga.

W, our youngest, moved out last summer which meant that after over 25 years I was going to get my own dedicated sewing & crafting space. I knew that room would need some repair work after having two teenage boys reside in it and we'd only painted it once in 17 years. RD was giving me free reign and didn't even want to be asked to give his opinion on paint color choices. He did make the mistake of saying - I don't care if you paint every wall a different color as long as long as the door can still close. LOL. I had only been thinking of finding one color, that sent me down the path of a main color, plus trim color, plus accent wall color.

main is oatmeal one, trim is white one, and accent color is between 2 choices of orange neither of which are in this photo. LOL

Here's what I had to start with


Yep, he left me a mess.

[Gwynmael]

Whew! I got timed out while posting the previous and couldn't get back to the site even after rebooting the computer. Weird. Anyhow, I'm going to spend some time resizing my photos before adding another post.

[kickstand]

So you're the one who broke it! I have found that writing a long post in a separate word processor / app, then cut and paste and add pics tends to work best for longer posts.

[Gwynmael]

LOL, I think it was more the # and large size of the pics.

[redman2006]

Good to see you back.

[Gwynmael]

Thanks redman, it's good to be back.

[junior125]

you don't want to see the mess he's left here so far, I'm about to banish all of this projects to the corner of the property to allow for mine to have grass grow around them in its place

[Gwynmael]

Hmmm, think I finally got the pic situation figured out. Now, where was I? Oh yeah .....

It took me about 3 days to get thru all that mess - sorting, trashing, cleaning. It wasn't really too bad, I just have a lot of other things I have to get done too.

For whatever reason, I started on this wall. Probably because I knew it was going to need at least one big patch.
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Then this started happening
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The paint was literally just peeling off in strips. Weirdest dang thing. At first I was thinking - grrr stupid builders didn't primer the drywall. Given every other thing that's happened in this house it wouldn't surprise me. But the peeling continued around the room.

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Well crap. I tried some internet searches to see if I could figure out what was causing it. Most results referenced poor quality paint. Okay, I guess. Now I'm going to need some sealing primer. So off to HD I go. There were several contractors in line with me at the paint counter. So I showed them all the above pics to see what they thought. Every single one said - previous moisture problem. Hunh, but that room hasn't had any that I know of. They said best thing to do was peel any more loose paint, use oil-based sealing primer and paint. Okie dokie.

[Gwynmael]

So .... 4 days later almost all the paint in the entire room has peeled off. I just have the corner in the last pic left up near the ceiling. I catch the paint edge with my putty knife so I can get enough of the paint to grab. Start peeling it up ........... and from behind the paint tumbles out live termites!!!!

Squished those f'ers and stomp out of the room while dialing RD at work. It's now less than two weeks before my birthday and I really don't think my move in plan is going to happen.

RD says don't do anything!! He will look when he gets home in a few hours.

Unfortunately, this is what he found
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That water pipe is for the outside spigot on the front of the house. There are no polite words being said at this point, as that area was treated several years prior for termites. I seem to have lost the pic that shows the stud area to the right, closest to the outside wall that was full of thousands of dead termites.

I go to call the exterminator we've used previously, only to find out that he had passed away. Phooey. I started calling around and was able to get inspections scheduled with two companies that used different extermination methods. One for the next day (Friday) and one for Monday. Both companies said don't disturb anything further until they can inspect.

First company out the next day - prompt, professional, respectful. Takes multiple pics of the dead termites - says its one for his record books. But can't find evidence on outside foundation of where they came in. Was supposed to email me detailed treatment bid for $900, but never does. Also said it could take THREE months to kill off the colony. YIKES!

Second company out on Monday - LATE! I got a phone call 20 minutes AFTER the scheduled time to let me know he was running late and wouldn't be there for another 30 minutes. Fine. Professional, but slightly condescending. Over the weekend I had found this evidence in the hallway by the linen closet which is right next to the doorway to this room, so had him look there also. (the paint dimpling is cause by the termite runs, usually when they dry out)
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He just kind of peered at it, said Oh that's old. He also couldn't find any termite run evidence on the outside of the foundation. His estimate was $670. But that required a contract at annual rate of $125 with a minimum starting contract of 3 years. This company only used exterior bait stations, would do nothing to directly treat those already in the house, and it would take SIX months to kill the colony!! All while the d**n things are eating my house!!

[Gwynmael]

Well ..... the finances for either of those (insufficient IMHO) options was just not available. Tess had needed lifesaving emergency surgery in June to the tune of $1400 (partially financed) and the last weekend that W was here we put a new roof on the house (most materials & expertise donated by friend; we supplied remaining materials, labor, hydration, and food). As in, two weeks before discovering the termites.

Off to the interwebs I went to research and try and come up with options. There I found a wonderful site - www.domyown.com. Full of videos, expert advice, even the ability to call & get advice, AND selling the same stuff the pros use. We were able to get everything (except for a new, dedicated, hand pump sprayer) needed to treat and kill the termites for about $100! Good thing too, as we would soon discover that going with either of the companies would not have solved our problem. ***Yes, that is foreshadowing. Muwahaha ***

Pics of what we initially found taking the drywall off so we could treat. For reference: this bedroom is the SW corner of the house; window is centered on S wall; termites initially discovered on S wall near SE corner; spigot water pipe is on E wall, which is a shared wall with C's room; the last pic is E wall but north towards the door (door is on N wall at NE corner of room).

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[olfart]

The question that comes to mind is, do you have a water leak under the house? Termites can't survive long without water, and to be there in those numbers, there's likely a source for their colony. If you have a slab foundation, finding the leak is lots of fun.

[Gwynmael]

olfart - No leak. Yes, we're on a slab. A monolithic pour slab.

Yes, they need water...but really need water to be able to leave the dirt. Well, at least the subterranean type do, which these are.

I'm getting there.

[kickstand]

Well, to be honest, yours have evolved from Subterranean to Suburban. ..just sayin

[RD]

Well, to be honest, yours have evolved from Subterranean to Suburban. ..just sayin

Seems that way, eating my house I swear if they go after my beer frig I'm burning this place down.


RD

[Gwynmael]

Yes, they need water...but really need water to be able to leave the dirt. Well, at least the subterranean type do, which these are.

Clarification - they need water to be able to build their "mud" tunnels, and keep them moist, in order to survive traveling from the dirt to their food source and back again.