WELCOME TO San Luis Obispo

How to stop termites before they get started?  A few simple tips

On the outside, Sanitation & Maintenance.

• Drywood termite like to enter your home through the joints (where one piece of wood meets another).
•  Keeping the joints water tight with caulking and paint will help.
• fascia, siding, trim, and rafter tails.
• Wooden fences are exposed to the environment every day and are more susceptible to termite infestations than your home is.
  
• Inspect the wood of your fence (once a year), tap it to see if it sounds hallow. 
  
• Try not to connect the fence to your home or break the connection with flashing.

• Don't affix wooden trellises to exterior walls.

• Fix fungus (dry rot) infection at the first signs of damage.
• Dry rot will soften up the fibers of the wood and allow easier access for termites
• Termites need a controlled environment
  
• The faster they can gain entry in to wood, the greater chance of their survival.

• Ventilate crawl spaces and attics to reduce humidity.

• Subterranean termites like to enter through cracks in the foundation, access for plumbing, electrical sweeps, and earth to wood contact.
  
• Remove old tree stumps and wood debris from underneath and around the structure(s).  Trim all shrubs, bushes and other dense greenery away from the foundation of your home. Move mulch away from the foundation as well.

• Don't stack, store or bury wood debris adjacent to your home.

• Keep mulch, wood debris, scrap lumber, sawdust and firewood away from your home. If you do keep firewood outside your house during the winter, keep it raised off of the ground.

• If termites gain access into these items its only a hop, skip and a jump into your home.

• Ideally, wood siding, stucco and foam board should be at least six inches away from the ground.

• Seal all cracks and holes in your home's foundation, which may provide a handy access point for termites.

• Grade soil so that water (including air conditioning condensate) runs away from foundations.

• When building decks/patios use treated lumber in sensitive areas
• Substructure framing, less than 18" off the ground or 48" attached to masonry should be treated by building code.
• If the substructure of your deck is built without treated lumber
• Call us, well give you a free no obligation quote to treat the substructure framing for you. More info

On the inside, Sanitation & maintenance.

• Moisture
• Plumbing leaks, roof leaks, even condensation from windows.
• You provide the moisture, "Mother Nature" will provide the dry rot, termites, rodents and everything else.
  
• it is usually easier to eliminate a water source than a food source. 

We recommend having complete home inspection at least every three to five years for the presence of wood destroying organism.

• Pest control customers get this free with their service
• Non pest control customers pay $75.00 (still cheap)

More information needed, call us 423-5724 or email contact@slopestandtermite.com

Preventive baiting programs for subterranean termites

• Sentricon customers/baiting programs.
• Installing bait for any termite to bring them to your property, is a recipe for disaster.

Preventive treatments for dry rot

Treat with Copper Naphthenate, this will add life to your outside deck or patio.

• REMEMBER it will smell for a couple of weeks and discolor the wood.
• Only apply on outside wood members
• Substructure framing
  

• start by
  

• Scrap the infected areas with a wire brush
  
• the substructure of deck and patio at the joints
• apply a label dictates
• for best results, apply in summer (wood is more absorbent)