We Australians are a DIY lot, we are. But there are some projects that it’s best to leave to the professionals. When you look at the pros and cons of DIY termite treatment vs professional treatment, which method comes out on top?
When it comes to painting or cleaning out gutters, it’s an easy choice. DIY is usually the best way to go. Complex electrical projects, though—not so much. The wrong move could get you killed.
Lately, a lot of people have tried to go the DIY route when it comes to getting rid of pests. If that pest is the odd mouse, fly, or ant—it’s OK to try to go it alone before you call in the professionals—provided you take proper safety precautions. However, that may not be the best option when you’re talking about termites.
Termites Can Cause Major Damage to Your Home
You may be able to afford to get it wrong on ants—and even mice. If your DIY methods don’t knock them out, you can always call in a professional. But that’s not the case with termites.
The damage termites can do to your home while you experiment with DIY pest control can cost you thousands. That’s a mighty expensive experiment. It would only pay off if you got it right—and stopped the damage in its tracks quickly—like a qualified professional termite treatment would.
But What about the Cost of a Professional Treatment?
Yes, you could go off to the store and look for chemicals that advertise that they will kill termites. It wouldn’t be as expensive as hiring a professional, for sure. But suppose these chemicals don’t stop the problem. Do you have the equipment and the knowledge to know if you’ve actually been successful?
The answer, of course, is no. Termites don’t show themselves like ants and mice. They hide within the structure of your wood, chewing away merrily until the timber is completely compromised, causing damage to the supporting structures in your home.
The only way to detect termites is with a professional inspection. Only a trained eye can see the subtle visible signs of a continued infestation. In most cases, a visual inspection is not enough. Special equipment, like thermal imaging cameras, thermal sensors, and moisture sensors, is needed to conduct a thorough check.
Not only would you have to pay for those tools (even one of which would cost way more than a professional termite treatment itself), but you would have to pay for the training to use them if you wanted to DIY your termite treatment. Learn how much termite treatment costs.
Your Knowledge of Termites vs a Pest Control Professional’s Knowledge
Are you aware that there are various species of termites—even within small regions of the country? Using a treatment intended to treat one species may not be effective at all against another.
Furthermore, you aren’t trained in methods to avoid contamination. Your DIY treatment might contaminate your water supply, your vegetable garden, or your neighbour’s. Since you haven’t been trained in regulatory policies, you won’t know if you’ve violated the law by your DIY application.
If you buy a treatment designed for outdoor termite treatment, yet the infestation has already made it inside your home, that treatment won’t work. To make things worse, you won’t even realise you haven’t killed them off since the termites are under your walls or inside the timbers of your floor. Professionals won’t make that mistake—and they’ll check your home thoroughly to make sure the termites are gone for good.
Professional Termite Treatment Ingredients vs DIY Chemicals
When you go to the store to buy pest control sprays and baits, the ingredients aren’t as potent as those licensed pest control professionals use. To use these special preparations requires a licence that demonstrates that the user has mastered certain safety and efficacy standards. For pest control professionals who rid your home of timber pests like termites, the requirements are even stricter.
Secondly, just because the ‘guy at the store’ told you that a certain spray or bait will work on termites doesn’t make it so. Termite treatment isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ proposition. Different situations require pest control solutions tailored specifically for each situation. To know what solution will work best for your home, it takes the experience and knowledge of a pest control professional.
Are You Willing to Take the Risk of a DIY Termite Treatment?
If you don’t have a thorough knowledge of the chemicals—and the risks they pose—that you use in your DIY treatment, how will you know how these substances will affect your pets, your plants, or even your family? Will you know all the precautions you need to take to protect them?
It may cost more to have a termite expert check and treat your home than a DIY treatment, but when you consider the harm an uninformed treatment may do—it’s wise to reconsider.
Will Your Homegrown Treatment Be as Effective as a Professional’s?
Once you see the signs of a termite infestation, chances are the infestation has grown into a huge population. Because you can’t see them, you may think you only have a few. Invasive termite colonies are never small. Their armies are legion.
For that reason, a DIY treatment will usually never get rid of more than a few termites. It won’t take long, either, before the colony has replaced those and has multiplied further.
DIY chemicals aren’t as effective as the substances professionals use. They’re also not the latest word on termite treatment.
Think of them as over-the-counter medicines. They’re good for a simple headache, but if you have a raging strep throat, you head for the doctor—and effective prescription medication.
Similarly, a DIY treatment is not likely to cure a termite infestation. Termites are like the bacteria of the pest world. Only a potent treatment will rid your home of them.
For a potent termite inspection and treatment without the risks of DIY termite treatments, contact the termite control specialists at Suburban Pest today.
