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Frequently Asked Questions
Note: For detailed information about applying this method and other valuable termite knowledge, we highly recommend buying our kiddle book "Termite Control for Homeowners". Please go to amazon.com and search for the book title.
This page contains general questions related to termites, how to detect, and how to control. For technical questions about how to apply Ruan's Termite Solution, please read Technical Questions.
How to identify termites?
The termites you commonly see are workers and soldiers. They are whitish to creamy, about 1/8" to 1/4" in length. Soldiers have large and brownish heads and large jaws; otherwise they look similar as workers. For more information, please read The termties.
How do I distinguish termites from ants?
The easiest way to distinguish is by the waist. Termites have two parts-head and body, while ants have three parts-head, chest (thorax) and abdomen (gaster). Termites have broad waist between head and body, while ants have slender waist between chest and abdomen. Also the termites you normally see are whitish to creamy in color except swarmers, while ants are in dark color. For more information, please read The termties.
What should I do if I see termites in my yard?
Firstly, do not be panic. Termites are living in a great number of yards. Possibly your neighbor's yards also have the same problem even they don't notice. Secondly, it does not help much to kill those termites you see. A termite colony can consists of hundreds of thousands even several millions of termites. Those you see are workers and soldiers and represent only a very small portion of them. The queen is hidden deep underground and is capable of producing several thousands of eggs each day. Killing some workers and soldiers will not do much harm to the colony. You will need a plan to take full control of the termite problem. Please read the answer for "What are the options for termite control".
What are the options for termite control?
You have options of using traditional barrier treatment or termite baiting or both. With barrier treatment, it will create a chemical barrier around your house foundation so that the termites will not be able to enter your house. Normally it costs more ($1000-$2000 for an average house) and it uses lots of chemical. Using baiting solution, the goal is to eliminate termite colonies in your yard so no termites can attack your property. The cost is normally cheaper and it is much more environmental friendly. However, the result can vary with the different solutions available. It can also take quite long time for termites to find the bait. And it requires your patience and regular inspection during treatment. Ruan's Termite Solution is a new termite baiting solution based on US patent 9149030 B2. This solution allows home owners to construct termite detection and baiting stations using readily available materials and buy chemicals from the market only when termites are detected. It not only saves money for home owners, but also is more effective than existing container-based solutions. It is more reliable and faster to detect termites and allow you to visually see termites if they do exist in your yard.
Do I need a barrier treatment if I see termites in my yard?
The fact is that many home owners choose to use a termite baiting solution when they see termite activities in their yards. Our solution is more effective and more reliable than other existing solutions and certainly be a good choice. Since no baiting solutions will block termites from entering your home, you are recommended to monitor the termites before they are properly controlled. Read Termite Monitoring page for more information. However, if termites have entered your property, we recommend to have a barrier treatment.
What are the advantages of Ruan's Termite Solution compared with others?
The most significant advantage of this solution is that it can more quickly and more reliably detect termites if termites do live in your yard. Also this method allow you see the termites for termite detection, so there is no possibility of false alarm. Other methods rely on disappearing of inceptor/cardboards which can be affected by many other factors and can result in lots of false alarms. When termites found a station, the more favorable environment of the station by using this solution helps termites to stay in the station. Other advantages include environmentally friend, capable of using most effective chemical, low cost, etc. Please read Advantages for more details.
Do I need to worry if I never see a termite in my yard?
Whether you should worry is more depending on the location of your property. If your property is located in northern states of the United States and away from coastal states, you are probably okay since termite activities are very low. If your property is located in middle to southern or coastal states of the United States or other termite active areas, you should worry. In many cases, termites enter properties stealthily before the owner has any notice and make even larger damage because the owner is not actively monitoring the situation. You can see a figure regarding the level of termite activities in different areas of the United States by clicking this link.
If termites are living in my yard, how likely they will enter my house?
If termites are living in your yard and you don't do anything, there is a significant chance that termites will find a way to enter your property sonner or later. Termites can also damage your external wooden structures, such as deck. The best way to have your mind in peace is that you know there is no termite activities or very low level of termite activities in your yard. Our solution is the most effective way for termite detection and control among termite baiting solutions.
Can we get rid of termites after one year by using your solution?
Our solution will provide a better chance that you can eliminate termite colonies in your yard if it is used properly and it will be faster. However, termite problem is a "dynamic" one. Some colonies got eliminated, but other colonies might get established. In many cases, if you find termites in your yard, there often are multiple colonies in your yard. Small colonies are more difficult to detect because their foraging area is small. Of course they will also impose less threat to your property. In other cases, some colonies might not be completely eliminated because the termites do not have enough exposure to the chemical. At bottom line, this solution should be able to eliminate majority of larger colonies if the procedure is followed properly, thus the threat for termites to enter your house is greatly reduced. We recommend to apply this solution again next year, if you detected termites this year and applied chemical to kill the termites.
When should I contact professional terminators?
It will depend on how comfortable in using this solution or any other baiting solutions. However, if you find termites have entered your property we recommend to contact professional terminator and they will likely create a chemical barrier around your property. In this way, the termites in your house will have to contact the treated soil when returning to their nest underground and will gradually die. There are other in-house treatment options too. Even you have a barrier treatment, you can still use this solution to eliminate termites in your yard.
Can any baiting solution guarantee termites will not enter house after installing the baits?
Just installing baiting stations around your house will NOT create barrier, so termites will still be able to enter your house. Using baiting stations, including our solution, we are targeting at eliminating termite colonies in your yard, so no termites can attack your property.
Why other existing termite baiting solutions do not allow you to see the termites for termite detection and cause lots of false alarms?
The reason is that all other solutions are not fast enough for termites to found the stations. They just rely on the fact they normally provide large amount of termite favorite food. Their stations are relatively small. While termites found the station, they are less likely to stay there because the environment is not very stable. Therefore, it is hard for you to really see the termites although not impossible. Our solution has many factors that help termites to find the stations and the time for termites to find the stations are reduced to weeks from months. Also after the termites found the stations, the stable environment helps them to stay there. Therefore, it becomes easy to see the termites in the station.
Can termites be attracted by anything?
Termites cannot be attracted remotely because termites cannot sense anything in a distance. Therefore, you don't need to worry constructing baiting stations or detection stations will attract termites to your yard or make termite problem any worse than before. Termites find food source by random foraging and love places with lots of food, humidity and little disturbances. Ruan's Termite Solution provides all those favorites conditions plus larger size and help termites to find the stations and keep stay there. We consider this fact as "attracting" termites. Please read Advantages page for more information.
If we don't detect any termites by applying this solution, does that mean there are no termites in my yard?
If you applied this solution properly including under-lawn stations and you still don't see any termites, that should mean there are no termites in your yard or termite population is very low. In either case, termite should not be a big problem for your property in near future. However, termite problem is a dynamic one and we recommend to apply this solution in every two years if no termites are detected. We believe this solution has much better chance to detect termites than other existing termite baiting solutions, still it could miss some small termite colonies. We are gathering statistics and welcome your feedback by using Contact us page. You should only consider termites are active in your yard when you really see termites. Some existing solutions use some kind of indications and that could quite possibly be false alarms.
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