Liquid Application with Bait and Monitoring

• A liquid application with bait and monitoring combines three methods to ensure complete, safe removal of termites from the home. First, a liquid pesticide called termiticide is injected under the ground at entry points to the house, such as doorways and windows and along the foundation. Some entry points may not be obvious to the layperson, and injecting the liquid is dangerous, so a professional is required.
  
  With this termite removal method, bait is also used. Bait involves placing material that termites like to eat -- such as cardboard or paper -- in special underground stations where termites are likely to travel. The edible material is laced with lethal poison that acts slowly to kill the termites. The hope is that termites will ingest the substance and carry it back to the nest, sharing it with other termites.
  
  Finally, monitoring stations are used to detect the presence of termites in or near the home. If termites are suspected, the monitoring stations will be replaced with bait. Using this method allows you to ensure that your home is free of termites without the continuous presence of lethal bait around your home.
  
  

Liquid Application with Repellent

• This combination of methods involves using liquid pesticide in the same manner described above. However, instead of using bait as an additional form of termite prevention, this method combines the liquid pesticide application with an application of termite repellent. The benefit of using a repellent product instead of a bait product is that repellents can be used both inside and outside the home. If a termite gets past the barriers to entry (the liquid repellent), the termite will encounter the repellent that makes the environment inhospitable.
  
  The downside to using repellents is that termites know that the repellent is present and they avoid the area instead of eating the bait and taking it back to the colony, which would eliminate more termites.
  
  

Fumigation

• Fumigation involves tenting the entire home and spraying a combination of gases (usually sulfuryl fluoride and methyl bromide) that is poisonous to termites. The benefit to this method of treatment is that the entire home is treated, and all colonies that are hidden throughout the home are immediately destroyed. However, you need to leave your home during the fumigation process and generally for several days afterward, as the chemicals are very poisonous. Mattresses must be removed from the house as well, and exterior plants close to the home need to be trimmed.