Termidor SC Termiticide/Insecticide - Questions & Answers

If you are treating for Carpenter Ants, you will spray around the perimeter of the house as you described, 1-2 ft up the foundation and 1-2 ft out onto the ground, around door frames, window frames, places where cables, pipes or wires go through the wall and any other crack or crevice where the ants can gain entry into your home. If you are treating for termites, you will need to make a 6 inch x 6 inch trench right up against the foundation and pour in 4 gallons of diluted Termidor SC for every 10 ft of trench. We recommend that you read our article How To Do a Termite Treatment to learn how to deal with porches, decks and driveways when performing a termite treatment

Termidor SC is not labeled to be used indoors or in wall voids for carpenter ants. You can use it around the outside of your window frames, door frames and any other crack or crevice where the ants could be gaining entry into your home. Termidor SC is the #1 product on the market for carpenter ants. We also carry Carpenter Ant Kit#1 and Carpenter Ant Kit#2.

Carpenter Ant Article

We are not sure if are asking if you can use Termidor SC on edible vegetables or if you accidentally treated near a garden, but Termidor SC should not under any circumstances be applied near or on anything edible.  You should keep Termidor treatments at least 10 feet away from any garden.  If you treated on or near your garden, you should discard anything that may be contaminated with Termidor SC.  If you are looking for something to treat your garden with, we do have many products that are for use on gardens.

Edible Garden Products

The manufacturer of Termidor SC recommends that you use the diluted solution within 24 hours. The longer the product sits in a solution the less effective it will become. Also, leaving chemicals or even just plain water in a hand pump sprayer can cause the seals and gaskets to breakdown. This will eventually require you to purchase a repair kit for the sprayer or even a whole new sprayer much faster than someone that had properly maintained their sprayer.

Termidor SC  bonds to the soil and does not move once it is applied.  Therefore, it can be applied where a well or garden is present as long as it is more than 10 feet away from the well or garden or tree.  We would suggest not applying Termidor SC along the side of the house that is within 10 feet of the trees.  You should keep a close eye on this area of the house for termites, or you can of course always install some Termite Bait Stations in that area for monitoring activity. 

You can expect Termidor SC to last for at most 6 weeks when it is applied as directed on the product label for a carpenter ant treatment. Six weeks is all most ant infestations will require for elimination with Termidor SC. You should spot check several weeks after the Termidor SC application to make sure the ants are gone.

Termidor SC can be purchased by anyone that does not live in a restricted state and at this time Texas is not a restricted state. In most instances you are allowed to use Termidor SC as long as you are using it on your own property and you are not treating say your neighbors house for profit.

We strongly encourage you to read and follow pages 13-14 of Termidor SC product label which deals specifically with outdoor perimeter applications. According to the product label you are only permitted to apply Termidor two times per year as a perimeter spray. As long as Termidor SC was allowed to dry before you had rain there is no reason to reapply the product as it will not wash away. Also, the product label limits the area that you are allowed to spray to one foot up the foundation of the structure and one foot out onto the ground around the structure. You are not permitted to spray around your fence line or around your yard with this product. In these restricted areas we recommend that you use Advance Carpenter Ant Bait.

Termite treatment is completely different than ant control.  Since termites enter the house from underground, Termidor has to be applied into the ground by digging trenches and applying at the rate of 4 gallons per 10 feet.  It is a lot of work and this is why termite companies charge over $1000 or more to treat a house.  When treating for ants, you only have to spray around the perimeter of the house like any other pest control spray using a hand pump sprayer.  One bottle of Termidor will make 25 gallons.  You usually only need 1 or 2 gallons to treat the outside perimeter of your home every 3 to 4 months.  So 1 bottle of Termidor will easily last you  for 2 years worth of treating....much less than a professional service for 2 years.  You mix .8 ounces per gallon of water (there is a convenient measuring device built into the bottle for easy measuring) and spray around the foundation of your home 1 foot up onto the foundation and 1 foot out onto the ground.  One application typically lasts for 3 to 4 months.  Simple as that.

Termidor does not leave a residue and so what you saw was normal.  Unfortunately there is no real sign that you will see to know that it is working other than the fact that you will not have any new termite activity.  If you treated correctly and the termites did come into contact with the Termidor SC, then it will work.  You have to trust that Termidor is the best termite control product for a reason.  Since it does not kill the termites right away and it allows them to take the product back under the slab where the rest of the termites are, it takes up to 90 days to kill all of the termites.  So you should not disturb the area or check to see if there is still activity until after 90 days.

There is not a soil sample test kit for homeowners use that we know of.  However, most states department of agriculture's have a way to test soil for termiticides.

Termidor is not labeled to treat mole crickets and Termidor is not allowed to be used in the yard at all.  For mole crickets we recommend Advion Insect Granules which are specifically labeled for mole crickets.

Termidor can only be used indoors if you are injecting it into a wall void or piece of wood and not applying it out in the open along baseboards or window sills like you would other pest control products.  Termidor is mainly intended for use around the outside perimter when used for ants.  We do sell a carpenter ant kit that is for indoor/outdoor use which is our most popular product for carpenter ants when you do not know where the nest is.   You could either use the carpenter ant kit inside and/or use Termidor as an injection in the area where the frass is hoping you contact the nest directly.

The best way to protect yourself when using any type of insecticide is to read and follow the product label. Page 2 of the Termidor SC product label specifically tells you what precautions need to be taken before, during and after the application. You only need to wear a face mask if you will be doing the application in a poorly ventilated or enclosed area. All other applications will require you to wear long sleeves, long pants, shoes and socks and gloves. Be sure to wash your hands after the application before you eat, drink, chew gum or use the restroom.

 Termidor is only labeled for use around residential and commercial structures and should not be used away from a structure.  So we are not able to recommend it as a treatment method.  Most termiticides are only labeled for use around structures.  Termidor does take up to 90 days to kill a termite colony.  It is recommended when having a wood pile to build a structure for it or place it up on blocks or on a metal stand so it does not come into contact with the ground.  That being said, a 6 x 6 inch trench would work, IF it was labeled to be used away from the house.

Termidor SC is not known to leech through the soil. You will need to follow the Termidor SC product label which has specific instructions for treating near a well to avoid any contamination issues:

TREATMENT AROUND WELLS OR CISTERNS: Do not contaminate wells or cisterns.
Structures With Wells/Cisterns Inside Foundations: Structures that contain wells or cisterns within the foundation of a structure can only be treated using the following techniques:
1. Do not apply within 5 feet of any well or cistern by rodding and/or trenching or by the backfill method. Treat soil between 5 and 10 feet from the well or cistern by the backfill method only. Treatment of soil adjacent to water pipes within 3 feet of grade should only be done by the backfill method.
a) Trench and remove soil to be treated onto heavy plastic sheeting or similar material or into a wheelbarrow.
b) Treat the soil at the rate of 4 gallons of solution per 10 linear feet per foot of depth of the trench, or 1 gallon per 1.0 cubic feet of soil. Mix thoroughly into the soil taking care to contain the liquid and prevent runoff or spillage.
c) After the treated soil has absorbed the solution, replace the soil into the trench.
Structures With Adjacent Wells/Cisterns and/or Other Water Bodies: Applicators must inspect all structures with nearby water sources such as wells, cisterns, surface ponds, streams, and other bodies of water and evaluate, at a minimum, the treatment recommendations listed below prior to making an application.

1. Prior to treatment, if feasible, expose the water pipes) coming from the well to the structure, if the pipes) enter the structure within 3 feet of grade.
2. Prior to treatment applicators are advised to take precautions to limit the risk of applying the termiticide into subsurface drains that could empty into any bodies of water. These precautions include evaluating whether application of the termiticide to the top of the footer may result in contamination of the subsurface drain. Factors such as depth to the drain system and soil type and degree of compaction should be taken into account in determining the depth of treatment.
3. When appropriate (i.e., on the water side of the structure), the treated backfill technique (described above) can also be used to minimize off-site movement of termiticide.

Your aim is not to actually fill the trench. You aim is to drench the trench. You will need to spread the four gallons of diluted Termidor SC over 10 linear feet of the 6 inch x 6 inch trench.

The goal is to soak the bottom of the trench so the solution sinks down into the ground along the foundation.  After the solution soaks into the ground, you should apply the solution to the backfill as you push it back into the trench so you have a complete treated barrier against the house.

If you are building a home you should treat the ground before any footings or slabs are poured.  This is because you will never have the opportunity again to treat underneath slabs.  When treating these areas, you are supposed to apply 1 gallon of Termidor per 10 square feet.  Treat all areas that will have a slab poured including basements, patios, porches, and garage slabs.  Then, when the house is completed and all grade levels have been placed next to the house, you should do a 6 inch trench and treat around the home as well.  This is the proper way to treat a new construction home.

When using Termidor SC, drilling into the interior of a slab is NOT necessary if you are treating the outside perimeter of the home.  If you are trenching around the outside of the house and drilling through slabs attached to the house, then you do not have to drill interior slabs.  This is clearly stated on the product label.