How to get rid of termites is a common question of old households that have a lot of wooden elements. Case in point: our combined use commercial building with a residential area.
The Termite Problem
Our home is about my age, so it is more than four decades old. It is a three-story building in a commercial area here in Bacolod City. The lower level is our store in front and the garage at the back. On the second floor is the stock room, some storage area, and some living quarters. Then the third floor is the residential area.
It is a typical Filipino-Chinese home where the business owners live in the same building as their store.
We have a lot of wooden components — shelves, closets, and countertops. Even our bed frames are made of wood. They used to be lovely. It is nice to have a balance of wood and concrete elements in your home.
The Termite Disaster
I grew up in this house. My memories are built around here. I only left home when I studied in Cebu for five years. But I came back and now my own family lives here.
After 10 years of marriage, a lot of our wedding gifts are still intact inside their boxes. These include china, glassware, some towels, and sheets. These are the kinds of things that wedding guests usually give to newlyweds to help them start their new life as a couple.
My wife has kept some of these gifts until they are needed. This stuff is kept in storage cabinets inside our bathroom. Two months prior to the termite disaster, our helper has cleaned this area and took out the items. She wiped them and re-arranged the stuff piling up inside.
That is why we did not expect this to happen.
Watch how the termites ate through a lot of our stuff at home.
Frightening Termite Infestation
One night, we woke up with a strange noise coming from outside our bedroom. The hallway was empty but the buzz is getting louder and eerie. It seemed to come from the walls but it was made of concrete.
Eventually, we realized it came from the wooden lining that connects the floor to the wall. It turned out that about two feet of that span were already hollow because the termites have eaten up the wood. We panicked and didn’t know what to do. Not surprisingly, we do not know how to get rid of termites. This is the first time that we have faced this problem at home.
To stop the infernal noise in the middle of the night, we sprayed the area with insect killers so they will all die. And then we slept.
The Spread
A couple of weeks later, there was that sound again. But it was fainter this time. It was then we realized that the termites just found a new location — our bathroom cabinet.
They ate through all the towels that were in the boxes. From afar the cardboard boxes looked intact. But inside, the termites already ate all the fabric and they have already built their colony while retaining the shape of the box. It was creepy and hair-raising!
Because of this, we opened all the boxes and the rest of the cabinets. They build their homes inside the boxes containing glassware and china. They also ate through a lot of our children’s good books. *sniff*
It was then we realized that we needed help. We didn’t know how far and wide the infestation was. What we know is, termites liked wood and paper. They evaded those in plastic containers.
How to Get Rid of Termites
So by now, we realized that we could not just treat the termite problem at home with bug spray. We did not know how to get rid of termites at all. For a three-door, three-story building, that’s a lot of floor space to cover. We needed professionals.
That’s when we contacted V3 Pestmasters — a Bacolod company that specializes in agro-chem and pest control services.
First, they sent somebody to check the places where the termites have been. The problem was, we touched these areas. They needed to see the areas where there were live or active termites. We should not have sprayed them.
Then they sent us a quotation for the entire treatment. That includes regular visits to check on their installations of pesticides. But we had to wait until the termites showed up again. When they did, that was when the chemical containers were installed. I think they called it termite bait.
We were told that the termites would be attracted to the chemical and bring it back to their home. Because of their behavior, the poison will be passed on to the others and the whole colony will be eventually destroyed.
It really worked because so far, we haven’t seen termites around the house anymore.
What to Do with Termite Infestation at Home
The best way to deal with a termite infestation is to prevent it in the first place. You should reduce the amount of food they can eat around the home. Declutter if you can and check and clean storage boxes, hidden corners, and firewood storage areas regularly.
Removing fallen leaves and branches from the outside of your home can reduce termites in your garden. A Gutter Cleaning Omaha professional can help you reach leaves and branches that have fallen in high places.
The last preventative measure you can do is remove moisture from your house and wooden objects. Termites love moist areas to eat and make nests in.
Contact Information
V3 Pestmasters
Agro-chem and Pest Control Services, Inc.
Door #5 Chua Building, Libertad Extension, Brgy. Taculing
Bacolod City, Negros Occidental
Tel. No. (034) 446-0144 | 446-3187
It has been several months now. I cannot safely say yet that the entire home is termite-free. But from what we can see, we can already rest easy because no termites have popped up anywhere around the house. and even our stock rooms. Our conclusion is, we need professionals to get rid of termites.
Very helpful & informative. Thanks for sharing.