I still wonder how termites can get into your home. I guess I'm ignorant about termites. If you have your ICF blocks on a footer/slab, which travels the perimeter of the house, how are the termites getting to the interior? Do you only have an ICF basement and are they tunneling up through the foam to the wood structure, then back down to the basement?

The termites are tunneling through the foam, which they initially accessed below grade just above the footer.  In our case, they tunneled all the way up the ICF wall until they found wood, which was in the ceiling of the garage.

Do any of you have experience with Sentricon or one of the other proactive outdoor termite prevention systems?

We have no experience with Sentricon. We were talking with Terminix about doing the treatment, so we got the sales talk and it sounds great, but then realized that they were assuming we had a Superior wall ICF house. When they realized that it was Reward, they walked away. We are in Western North Carolina and have had no indication that we have a termite problem, we are trying to be proactive. Has anyone identified an exterminating company that will do termite treatments on Reward wall homes? We have a finished basement, so our foam is below grade on 2 sides.

Posted By kba on 12 Jul 2011 09:16 AM
The termites are tunneling through the foam, which they initially accessed below grade just above the footer.  In our case, they tunneled all the way up the ICF wall until they found wood, which was in the ceiling of the garage.

Do you have foam under the slab?  If you dont', then that's what I don't understand.  The basement slab should be resting on the inside edge of the footing.  I know termites are small, but I never thought that they could fit between a concrete slab and a concrete footing.  If this is the case, there's not much hope for a traditional wood-built home.

Termite company personnel told me that a termite can get through a crack that is 1/32" wide. But I do not think they can get through concrete unless there is a crack.

It's not a basement slab, it's a garage slab, and it's outside the envelope of the ICF walls.  The garage slab is at grade, a good bit higher than the footings.

Regarding an exterminator in North Carolina, we used Walt Cooper of Cooper Pest Control in Raleigh.  I doubt that he'd go to the western part of the state, but he might have some recommendations.  He's treated several Reward ICF homes for our builder, Greg Carlyle.

Alton,
My concern is that they could go into the outside layer of foam, up to the wood (window, door), then into the sheet rock.

Posted By Alton on 24 Apr 2011 04:42 PM

Although borate treated EPS may not be the answer to defeat termites, I am happy that someone conducted extensive experiments to determine what would work.  Now instead of saying "borates" can we all say "Deltamethrin"?  I think it is easier to say BLUEGUARD™.

Resurrecting this thread the latest thing for treating EPS foam during manufacture seems to be imidacloprid also known by the trademark Preventol. I have no idea how well it works but it is supposedly very compatible with EPS, does not reduce the foam's strength, every EPS bead is supposedly coated with it, and of course it's deadly to termites. Some of you may recognize that imidacloprid is also the active ingredient in the termiticide for treating soil known as Premise. The Logix TX series has imidacloprid, does anyone have experience with this yet?

We have PolySteel and we just discovered termites inside when we were replaced some baseboards... Going to remove drywall above the infestation tunnels to see if they made it to the ceiling joists...

Sorry about your troubles, JustOneMom. Can you give some additional details, such as: When built? Where built? Type of waterproofing used? Below grade, or ICF blocks on slab-on-grade? Any termite treatment done at any time? What kind? Were the blocks treated with borate or anything else? Extent of damage?

Thanks.

It's hard to believe almost 8 years has elapsed since I made the original post. The answer to my question is more than obvious by now, and it's obvious the industry as a whole has come around to accepting that termites definitely can be a problem with ICF structures. Two articles for those interested: http://www.nachi.org/icf-termite-inspection.htm and http://www.icfmag.com/articles/features/myths_vs_reality.html

Built 15 yrs ago in NM, half on concrete slab, half below grade basement and there were 3 layers of waterproofing materials used, ground was pre-treated for termites. The ICF blocks were, not to my knowledge, termite resistant.

In termite country one must install a stainless steel mesh between the ICF stem wall and ICF house wall. The mesh breaks the EPS and termites cannot tunnel through the mesh. A synthetic parge coat should also be applied to the ICF. This should be a mandated detail in termite areas.

In addition, using termiticide around the foundation is necessary as part of an on-going treatment. Poly vapor barriers should also be used under the slabs. Termites can't tunnel through poly.

Make no bones about it, termites can and will tunnel through EPS foam, borate or no borate treatment, they can and still will tunnel through it.

Lbear, can you please post a photo or illustration of this SS screen and who manufactures it.

One company calls it Termimesh. See: http://www.termimeshusa.com/aboutUs.cfm

Alton provided the link for the product. It is a stainless steel mesh that termites cannot tunnel through.

Can this product be retrofitted into existing walls? Or applied to the exterior of the foam?

JustOneMom, If you call the manufacturer I bet they could give you the info you need. Good luck with the problem - they are persistent! RichM

Posted By JustOneMom on 13 May 2015 07:19 PM
Can this product be retrofitted into existing walls? Or applied to the exterior of the foam?

Not really, this is inserted during the construction phase PRIOR to the concrete pour since the mesh is embedded between the foam on the stem wall and it sits partially inside the concrete core.

To retrofit it would be a challenge. One would have to get to the concrete core in the ICF wall. There should be better alternatives in retrofitting but I don't think this mesh would work on a retrofit.