Plants that are planted too close too your home create issues down the road, what are those issues you ask?
It is essential for a termite treater to understand and know what slab they are treating. Floating slabs are concrete slabs with a deepened and reinforced perimeter. This type of foundation is called a floating slab because it floats on the soil. They are used as foundations for home, businesses, sheds, car garages, additions etc.
Post tension slabs give the best protection from my point of view, cables are run throughout concrete and tightened up. Concrete is less likely to crack and allow termites to enter.
Always be on the lookout for something that looks like these pictures, termites build these tubes to protect themselves and to gain entry into your home.
Subterranean termites live in the ground and these mud tubes are often visible on your foundation. So if your checking your home and see something like this, it is time to call a Pest Management Professional.
Do you know what’s going on here? Post Tension or not?
Honestly I have no idea, it is stamped with Post Tension but there appears to be an expansion joint visible in both garages. There is also evidence of termites coming up the expansion joint. So I’m guessing but I think its a combination of Post Tension and Floating Slab.
What do I do? Do I drill the slab or not? Well if you hear screaming coming from Arizona it’s me!
What can you find in your foundation slab?
This is the stuff that makes a termite treater go crazy, you never know what the construction crew left behind.
Are you refurbishing your Home?
So this last week I decided to replace a piece of carpeting in my dining room. I never liked it in the dining room to begin with and finally decided to put in tile. After removing the carpet I noticed a very large crack and YES I had the termite expert (Mike) come to my house and drill it before putting in the tile.
Nothing looks worse than tile that has to be drilled after you notice the termites.
So a piece of free advice – if you are replacing a floor with wood or tile, take the time and treat for termites. Most termite companies would prefer not to drill a new tile, it will never look the same.
A few pictures of cracks in the concrete…
Before replacing a floor take the time to have it fixed, I don’t like drilling new wood or tile floors. Trust me on this one, please!
Before you replace the floor, treat for termites. (Yesterdays answer on picture – magnified picture of wasp nest….)
So you decide its time to replace that old flooring in your home and as you take up the old floor you discover damage and concrete cracks. Now is the time to call your termite experts because and trust me on this one you don’t want to put down the floor and then discover you need it treated. This will destroy or at the very least make the new flooring look terrible. Here is some damage from termites and some water damage, I don’t know which came first but my guess is the termites.
Nothing worse in my mind than having to drill grout lines in stone tile, because no matter how good you are it will never look as good as new. So please take a moment and think it through, treat the concrete and then lay the new floor. It will save you money in the long run and more importantly the aggravation of knowing where those drill holes are. Because your mind will focus on those marks, trust me.
