How do I treat interior walls of my house for termites?

The main type of termite that we have in the southeast is the Eastern Subterranean termite. These types of termites travel underneath the ground, and build a series of termite tubes or tunnels when coming up into homes. Sometimes these termites will come up and invade exterior walls. Other times, termites will come up into interior walls of the home, gaining access through cracks in the slab, or thru the penetrations around the water lines that are coming up into your home.

If termites do come up into interior walls, the good news is that they are treatable. The way that we go about treating these is by drilling a series of small holes into the sheet rock. The holes are usually a little more than 1/8^th of an inch thick, and are spaced about 12 inches or less apart. We drill them in a straight horizontal line, usually directly above the baseboard. Remember that subterranean termites usually start at the bottom and work their way up, so treating them down near the bottom should be most effective. We then inject a termite foam product into the wall. The termite foam has the same or similar types of active ingredients in them, and easily flows into the wall, expanding and filling the voids. This type of product works great for this type of application. It should not be used as a stand-alone product, but rather as a supplement to a complete, exterior termite treatment.