Replies

1. 
   Brian_Lumley | Apr 18, 1999 02:51am | #7

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   I have found termites under the siding at a bathroom on the 2nd story level. They will travel to water and will go a long way if there is moisture trapped under the siding. The best way to stop them is with a galvinized metal shield at the top of the foundation. The shield should go under your sill plate and protrude at least 1-1/2''on either side of your finished interior and your finished exterior. This means putting a break in the insulation joint on the outside but caulk & foam can take care of that.

   You must eliminate all wood to soil contact. This includes windows, decks, porches, stairs, mudsills etc.

   If a deck touches a tree you must put a metal barrier between it and the house. The deck must not be attached to the house.

   Termites make little cellulos tunnels as they travel. They are constantly travelling to and from the main hive and they also establish smaller outpost hives where the pickings are good and there is ample water.

   Stopping them outside the house at ground level is your best defence.

2. 
   Guest_ | Apr 18, 1999 02:55am | #8

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   I would like to hear from anyone with personal first hand experience of termites traveling vertically two or three feet through RFBI to reach unprotected wood. GeneL.

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 29, 1999 05:03am | #1

   *I've heard of subterranean termites traveling over 100' back and forth to a nest. They found an empty pipe and used it as an expressway.It shouldn't be too much trouble for them to travel along cracks between Rigid Foam Building Insulation and other materials. Their little bodies are soft and can pass thru extremely small cracks in termite shields, and behind insulation etc.I assume they don't have to pass through a full 3 feet of RFBI. Or are your houses that well insulated! R-216? ;-)I hope you haven't found a problem in one of your projects. I assume you saw the article in the Journal of Light Construction on foam and termites.

1. 
   Guest_ | Mar 31, 1999 08:00pm | #2

   *Gary et al. 2-inch thick RFBI is the most I ever applied on the foundation. I thought the traveling VERTICALLY was clear. Better to have asked, "Does anyone have any first hand experience with termites traveling vertically or diagonally through RFBI from the footings to the unprotected (?) wood above?" Note: travelling through the foam as opposed to traveling in the gap bwetwen the foam and the concrete. Termite infestation of ICFs has me wondering. But as one researcher noted in ICFs the concrete is tightly bonded to the foam thus leaving no gaps. Whereas gluing the RFBI to the foundation leaves gaps. GeneL.

1. 
   Gayle | Apr 06, 1999 07:40am | #3

   *None yet, thank goodness. I keep checking as I have an ICF basement. (Very warm and comfy house, though). We did treat the band joist and surounding backfill with borate(boric? - I'll have to look at the label again), acid. So far, sucess.

1. 
   Guest_ | Apr 07, 1999 10:34am | #4

   *Gayle,Could you share some details on treating the backfill with borate?TIA,Jerry

2. 
   Guest_ | Apr 08, 1999 06:12am | #5

   *this web site may help!!!!http://www.borax.com/about_tb/overvu1.htm

3. 
   Guest_ | Apr 08, 1999 07:31pm | #6

   *In a pinch, you could mix borax and boric acid as mentioned in the Journal of Light Construction article as an alternative to TimBor. I did this a few weeks ago under the slab of my new tank house. Pretty inexpensive, I found the ingredients at a WalMart late at night. Its water soluable and not all that hazardous to humans, but I wouldn't put too much of it where it will find its way into the underground water supply if you can avoid it.While soil pressure MAY keep the crack between the concrete and foam tight, vertical joints between foam panels or foam form units may remain open enough to allow passageways for termites at least part of the way twords the house's framing.Used to have an Ant Farm when I was a kid. Those ants burrowed thru perlite I think. Termites probably won't burrow thru a lot of styrofoam unless they are very bored and have lots of other sources of food at hand. Like construction debris or dead tree stumps in the backfill.Some of the new foams are being made with borates in it.