Our new 6-foot wooden fence is being attacked at 6 or 8 places by aggressive ground-dwelling termites. They are building mud tubes from the ground up nearly a foot in some places.
We are in an area where houses are not tented, as all termites are ground-dwellers, not flying. We got a clear termite report when we bought the duplex last year. We have tried knocking down the tubes, painting the fence bottom with Terminix solution from Home Depot but they keep coming back in new spots.
Anybody had this problem? Am I gonna have to pay several hundred Dollars for professional eradication? (I wish I could just turn loose some chickens, they would make short work of those pests).
Furnishedowner
Hi,
What kind of wood did you use for the fence?
Generally speaking termites do not like pressure treated lumber, redwood and some types of cedar.
They do however love doug fir, pine and hemlock.
Try treating the outside base of the posts with Copper Green (Alkaline Copper Quaternary or Copper Azole).
It is a poison and precautions must be taken to apply and allow it to dry completely and caution must be used to prevent animals from coming in contact with it while it dries.
This is basically the same ingredient used to make pressure treated (Green) lumber.
Brush all sides of the post’s and any near ground fence pikets up about 12" from ground and allow to dry. You can paint back over it once it dries although the green color will bleed somewhat through paint.
Good luck,
GR
Thanks for the info. GoldRiver.
I believe it’s Douglas Fir. Where do you buy the chemicals? Is it available at Home Depot or a hardware store?
Furnishedowner
Hi,
I think it is available at Lowes or Home Depot.
I believe the can say’s “Copper Green”!
GR
I’m having the same problem in my area. Not that much still it’s about time to crack down these termites. Thanks for the piece of information.