Bugs as Guests? Orange Oil an option, fumigation may still be needed

February 7th, 2008 by Marian Bennett
Categories: Relocation & Buyers, Sell My Property, Your Home

I learned about Orange Oil today. No, not for aromatherapy, the bundt cake recipe, or anything along those lines. It is for termites. The hottest marketing craze to hit the “structural pest” world has phones ringing off the hook, according to Kevin Palmer of Premier Termite in Half Moon Bay. Why? Because it’s not a poisonous gas, which many of us don’t care to put into our homes if we don’t have to. Homeowners seem to be enthusiastic about this local-use option. Orange oil is a contact spray with the active ingredient being d-limonene. It has to hit the bug to work. It does not spread termite to termite. It will work in some circumstances and not others – only your professional structural pest inspector will know for sure…

Kevin brought us up to date on the most commonly used products around here and the Coastside’s favorite pests – termites and wood beetles. And he had some stories that made a few of us squimish. The most common termites around here are drywood termites, dampwood termites, and subterranean termites. I was going to share pictures but I really didn’t want to spend that much time looking up bugs!

One of the fumigation products being used now is called Vicane. Per Kevin, this gas leaves no residue with proper application. You do need to remove all food, including food in the refrigerator and freezer, and plants. Kevin tells us that factory sealed cans can stay, but boxed or bagged items need to go out of the house. However, some of us do not want to add more of this type of chemical into our home, even if it’s temporary – 3 days is the recommended time to stay out of teh house. Once you return, that’s the time to wipe down and reorganize the pantry, which you’ve been meaning to do for years anyway.

Powderpost beetles are pretty common in our area also. A product used to treat this pest is Timbor. It attacks the larvae, yet they can still come back because there is a 3 to 5 year life cycle. We also learned that older wood is less susceptible to bugs than the newer engineered wood. Whether you have a newer or older home, it’s still a good idea to have an inspection every few years. One house we heard about hadn’t had an inspection for many (10+) years and the inspectors found that under the hardwood flooring, there was barely any subfloor left because the termites had eaten most of the foundation. The house basically had to be rebuilt.

So your options are deconstruction/construction, fumigate, local treatments/orange oil or do battle in combination. Your pest inspector will know based on the type of bug you have and the type of construction on your home.

For sellers, it’s wise essential (in this market) to get this inspection before your home goes on the market. Know what you’re dealing with ahead of time to have the advantage going into the sale process. For buyers, don’t discount a house just because it has a large amount of pest work (which can either be dryrot or bugs). Just know what you’re getting into and use as a negotiating tool if it’s the house you want. Of course, if it’s too much work, you can walk away. Note that in this changing market, some sellers are coming to market with a pest clearance – as in markets past. Susan O’Driscoll shared with us also today that most lenders are not requiring pest clearance but that could change.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 10:58 pm and is filed under Relocation & Buyers, Sell My Property, Your Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Is Orange Oil Effective In Killing Termites? | 3 Oceans Real Estate, A Boutique Real Estate Brokerage Serving the San Francisco Bay Area said at February 11th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
[...] Marian Bennett, a Realtor in Half Moon Bay, educates us about termite remediation as she channels the words of Kevin Palmer of Premier Termite. [...]
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Half Moon Bay/San Mateo Co pest inspector offers incentive to check your property | Coastal Real Estate and Lifestyles said at December 30th, 2008 at 10:57 am
[...] Structural pest control treatment options: Coastside Real Estate and Lifestyles post 2/7/2008 [...]
Bill Mashek said at February 10th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Orange oil is not orange juice. It is a volatile organic compound. A distilled product for the orange rind. i
It will kill fish and it is not 100% safe for children and pets.

Orange oil is a low toxic solvent and will kill termites on contact only (wd40 will do the same). It does not penetrate wood. it is not magic and it is not the best product on the market.

Many of the companies that promote orange oil as a “cure all” for all you termite problems are “green washers” and will charge you as much as or sometimes more than a fumigation.

There are approved devices and less toxic approaches that have scientific, non biased proven efficacy. There are no scientific published reports or imperical data of the efficacy of orange oil for drywood termite control.

See the most compreshensive article published on this;
http://www.birc.org/JanFeb2008.pdf

Bill Mashek
http://www.northwesttermite.com
KEM said at March 5th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Fumigation Gas (Tenting) from past Article Ask the Bugmans Answer: I answer the questions I am asked, and at this time of year there are lots of questions about fumigation versus orange oil. However, you are right and I won’t be writing anything else on this subject for awhile unless something extremely important comes to light. This week something did, and it may be devastating to our environment. (If you have any questions on fumigation or orange oil after this column please go to my Web site, http://www.askthebugman.com.)

A recent study outlined in the Jan. 21 issue of Science Daily, links.sfgate.com/ZFZO, has determined that sulfuryl fluoride is causing damage to our atmosphere. Sulfuryl fluoride (Vikane) is commonly used to fumigate homes for drywood termites. The study, conducted by researchers at UC Irvine, concluded that sulfuryl fluoride is a potent greenhouse gas that remains in the atmosphere far longer than previously thought.

The UC Irvine study estimates the chemical lasts a minimum of 30 years in the atmosphere and may linger for as long as 100 years. Earlier studies had estimated the chemical’s atmospheric life to be as little as five years.

How serious is this? According to the study, the chemical’s annual use in California creates emissions equivalent to the carbon dioxide produced by 1 million cars and California accounts for 60 percent of the sulfuryl fluoride used in the world. If this isn’t bad enough, they are contemplating expanding its use to farming.

Sulfuryl fluoride is not recognized as a greenhouse gas. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies it as a toxin because it’s primarily used to kill bugs. Hopefully the EPA will take another look at this chemical and ban it from use.

If you have drywood termites and you are contemplating getting your home fumigated, please read the article in Science Daily before you commit yourself to anything.

There has been a lot of discussion about the differences between sulfuryl fluoride and orange oil but this study clearly demonstrates that sulfuryl fluoride should be removed from use in California. I think it is very important that the California legislature and Gov. Schwarzenegger read this piece as well. No one can say that orange oil ever destroyed the environment as sulfuryl fluoride apparently does.

There are alternatives to fumigating your home with a greenhouse gas. Contact me and I will give you the names of a few environmentally friendly pest control companies who can effectively control drywood termites using safe products such as orange oil.
Holiday Special from The Palmers | Coastal Real Estate and Lifestyles said at December 16th, 2009 at 11:15 am
[...] Bugs as Guests: Orange Oil an Option – Fumigation may still be needed [...]