Termite Tenting

While you can try treating your house for termites yourself, you will probably want to leave it up to a professional so that you know it’s done right. There are many pest control companies who specialize in termite eradication and control.

If you have a particularly bad termite problem, the exterminator may suggest that you have a tent fumigation done. This is for bad infestations that extend throughout the structure, and it is probably the most radical of all termite treatments.

With tent fumigation, you will be required to leave your home for a minimum of three days. The chemicals that the company uses are strong although they won’t cause damage to anything in your home except for exposed food.

There are some preparations you will need to go through to get ready for the tenting. You may want to ask your pest control operator specifically what you need to do before they come, but here is a general list of guidelines:

All food will need to be double bagged with special bags that are usually provided by the pest control company. You may want to remove foods packaged in plastic bags and cardboard boxes; items where the seal has been broken and items are stored in a resealed container; eggs, fruits and vegetables; opened bottled drinking water; and bags and opened cans of pet food and bird seed. You should also remove food from your refrigerator and freezer. A good rule of thumb is “When in doubt, take it out!”

Items that don’t need to be bagged or removed include unopened cans; cosmetics, such as lipsticks; unopened soda cans and glass bottles; shampoo, soaps and unopened toothpaste and mouthwash; and unopened bottles of liquor and wine (stored horizontally).

All people, plants, and pets must be removed from the home.

Medications not factory sealed should be removed from the home.

Remove all mattresses enveloped with plastic covers such as baby mattresses, etc. or remove covers (except water beds). Unzip plastic covers over clothing.

Some companies ask you to soak the soil outside the foundation of your home at least one foot away and remove all yard debris close to the foundation of the home.

Advise your neighbors that your home is being fumigated so they can keep their pets away from your home.

Turn off all air conditioners and furnaces and extinguish any pilot lights

Vehicles including boats, motorcycles, RV’s and lawn mowers must be removed from the garage and the property

Access to all areas of the home must be made possible

Exterior doors must be able to be locked

Take with you any valuables such as jewelry and antiques

All drawers and closets must be left open

Your fumigator may ask that other things be done prior to tenting, so be sure to ask them prior to the procedure. They will probably provide you with a sheet indicating they have advised you of the preparations.

They will also probably give you an information about the specific gas they will be using and ask you to sign a piece of paper that acknowledges you have been advised of all this.

The first day of fumigation, your home is covered with a tent or tarp. The idea of this is to make sure that the gas they use stays inside the structure and that all areas of the home will be treated with the gas. Here’s what a tented home looks like on day 1:

After the home is covered with the tent, Vikane gas or some other type of chemical is sent inside the home and circulated with fans placed throughout the home. The purpose of the fans is to move the gas throughout the home so that all areas are covered and treated.

The property is then left alone for the gas to work through and kill the termites. Since Vikane is odorless, chloropicrin (tear gas) is added as a warning agent. Warning signs are also posted around the perimeter of the tent.

Day 2 is when the tent is removed from the home and the gas is released. All the windows and doors will be opened and the fans will still run so that all the gas is taken out of the structure.

In pure form, the gas can be lethal to breathe in, but when the home is aired out, the level of gas can be brought down to levels that have been found to cause no harm to animals or humans.

On the third day, the inspectors will come in with special measuring instruments to measure the level of gas in the air and determine whether or not it is safe for you to come back in the home. They will do another visual inspection to make sure that all live termites have been eradicated that were inside the structure.

They will provide you with a certification form showing that your home is termite free and then give you suggestions as to how to prevent an infestation from happening again.

While the tenting will kill all live termites, however, subterranean termites are in the soil and the gas won’t be able to reach and kill them. That’s why a prevention plan is so important because you want to avoid re-infestation by the presence of these bugs.

The gas will not kill the termite eggs. Vikane is not an ovicide, meaning it will not kill the insect eggs. However, in the case of termites, even if the eggs hatch, the baby termite will eventually die because there are no worker termites to feed them.

If the target pest is drywood termites, the concentration of Vikane gas will be very specific to the required dosage for drywood termites. However, even at this dosage, Vikane will kill many other insects like cockroaches, silverfish, ants, even rats and mice.
You may continue to see evidence of termite droppings around your home. Though fumigation kills all termites inside the house, the droppings will still be inside the termite galleries or tunnels inside the wood.

Through constant movement of the house, for example, doors closing hard, natural movements, and the gravitational pull, you will still see termite droppings occasionally.

You will be allowed back into your home after the certification process is completed on the third day. The gas won’t harm anything in your home such as furniture, etc.
You may want to wash down cabinets and countertops, but this isn’t really necessary as Vikane gas will not stick to any surface because of its non-residual properties. Many people do this anyway for their own piece of mind anyway.

Tenting, however, isn’t always necessary to treat for termites. You can also have other treatments done to get rid of your termites. Most of these procedures are also used as preventative measures when you are trying to keep termites from infesting your home. You may want to consider other methods of treating termites, such as Chemical treatment.