A green pest control program should be part of your building plans.
Termites like wood. They don’t care if the wood is old growth, new growth, responsibly harvested or clear-cut; they just want to eat it.
Wouldn’t it be grand if you could just explain to the bugs that you are trying to be green and therefore don’t want to use pesticides in your home? You could suggest that the termites just move into the back yard and feast on that dead stump instead. Of course, any compassionate termite would see the reasoning in that. Well, we don’t have compassionate termites in Missouri.
Fortunately there’s Frank Green (his real name!) from Magnamite, a greater St. Louis-area company that specializes in green termite control. Frank says there is a way to minimize exposure to harmful pesticides, protect the earth and still protect our homes from termites.
“Customers think we are just like conventional termite exterminators. They have visions of spray cans and hard hats,” he says. For 25 years, though, Frank’s company has been treating new and renovated homes to provide a permanent barrier between your wood and the things that want to eat it. They don’t use spray cans or wear hard hats, and you won’t have to invite them back every spring.
The Green Pest Control Method
The method that Magnamite uses involves spraying the frame of a home with a borate compound. All of the compound is sprayed on the wood and does not leave any chemical residue or fumes. The wood is then sealed behind insulation and sheet rock or paneling.
When the selfish Missouri termites arrive at your home looking for lunch, they begin attacking the wood frame behind the walls and under the flooring. If the wood has been treated with borate, though, the compound wreaks havoc on the termites’ digestive system, and eventually causes the bugs to starve to death.
Once the wood is treated, the benefits remain for at least 20 years, which eliminates the need for annual or semi-annual re-applications that are the norm with an old-style pest control company. Magnamite offers a 20-year warranty on this service.
A further happy consequence of the borate treatment is that it is a natural fire retardant. When treated, the cellulose of the wood absorbs the borate which gives the wood a freakishly high burning point.
Eliminating termites and mold typically mean high doses of dangerous pesticides, but Magnamite’s pest control services were used to treat a home where airborne contamination could be life-threatening to one of the children living there. “There was a small boy in Troy, MO, who was born with a disease that left him susceptible to almost all forms of airborne contamination. Because of his illness, he was severely restricted in his activities,” Frank said. ”His medical bills led to the family foreclosing on their home. But the people of Troy and the local newspaper started a campaign to build this family a new home for free. Land was donated and local contractors donated time and material to help them. Magnamite offered our termite and mold protection service at no charge. Since mold was of grave concern, the family trusted us and was overjoyed.”
Picking The Best Termite Control Expert
You have probably already noticed that Magnamite’s green pest control has one large drawback. The technician applying it must have access to the frame of the building. If a home is already finished and lived in, then the homeowner would be required to pull out all of the walls in order to take advantage of the borate treatment process. Not very convenient, and one of Frank’s largest problems is public awareness.
He had one angry homeowner who was made aware of this alternative termite service after her home was built, which was too late to request the treatment. The only way to avoid this problem, he feels, is to properly educate builders and realtors, so they in turn can educate their homeowneers. “By offering this protection, which is within the building industry’s green building guidelines,” Frank says, “the industry adds one more highly desirable green feature to the home.”
Many exterminators today are finding their green side so green pest control services have become more common. But Frank advises, “When you pick your termite company, base your decision on reputation, not price.”
Other pest control articles:
How To Build a Better Live-Catch Mouse Trap
Meet Duke, The Bed-Bug-Sniffing Dog
Enjoy Your Back Yard without Pesky Mosquitos
Originally posted 2010-03-26 09:00:57. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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