Termites on speakers

[vybhav1908]

Hello All,

I recently noticed some termites at the backside of my speakers . Please suggest me something that I can do so that they don't spoil it. It is a brand new house with no old furniture, not sure how they get on it. Please help!!

Vaibhav

 

[gobble]

Hello All,

I recently noticed some termites at the backside of my speakers . Please suggest me something that I can do so that they don't spoil it. It is a brand new house with no old furniture, not sure how they get on it. Please help!!

Vaibhav

I had the same problem with ants and used a quick 1/2 second pulse of HIT spray in panic. Then wiped off the residue after the ants ran away.

What speakers are these? Did you mop the speakers with a cloth lying around the floor? Mine came because the cloth had been lying around a spot covering the ant hole/den for weeks before I used it for a quick wipe.

--G0bble

 

[avidyarthy]

It is only brand new houses which have sporadic termite issues. Old furnitures seldom get termite attacks, unless kept in real humid conditions.

Usage of Bad wood for construction is the reason behind it................ splash the affected part of the speaker with Baygon ... let it soak and then leave it to dry ..... nothing more is possible, I guess.

 

[captrajesh]

Spraying on the speakers is not the solution. Your house is infested with termites, I'm sorry to say.

Termites always come from the ground and through the cavities of the bricks. They usually end up in the electrical switch boxes and travel all over the house through the conduit pipes. The best way to tackle them is to use speciality chemicals at the time of laying foundation and also the pillars. Most builders skip this to save on costs.

Next best alternative is to spray the same chemicals on the brick & mortar wall before plastering. This is the only available option for the apartment buyers. I did this when I bought an apartment some years ago.

Now if you have not done at the time of buying, call the termite experts. They will drill holes all along your apartment walls and inject the speciality chemicals and seal them off with white cement. I did this in an old apartment my mom owns which was attacked by termites.

 

[mandeep]

I thought i was the only one affected by termites in this forum, before this thread, but i think this problem is nation wide.:sad:

My entire HT back wall which was sound proofed with wooden channels and wooden board was eaten by termites and now i have used gypsum board instead of wooden board..

I fully agree with captrajesh "They will drill holes all along your apartment walls and inject the speciality chemicals and seal them off with white cement.", this is the best method to go at it. But these holes filled with water+chemicals, may result in dampening of walls and the paint might come off all along the lower end of the walls.So plan this before getting your walls painted.

Now i am facing the problem of cockroaches, and mice, those little little mice, using mortein products for these.

Soon the ants will start to invade the house.The list seem to be endless.

 

[suresh lalwani]

I live in Mumbai.
there is a paste to guard against "termites". basically to keep the room insect/termite free.
it comes in a little plastic box. the shelf life is very short.
i normally buy a box and use it for about a carpet area of upto 500 sq feet.
you have to make small roundish balls the size of a marble, and place it in cupboards, under drawers, basically anywhere and everywhere. i buy this in mumbai from near the parsi general hospital area.
if the idea gels write back & i will get you the name of the store. it is vegetarian and case you have pets at home, the pets wont be harmed,
try it, you loose rs 90 only

 

[anm]

I too got my kitchen and bathroom attacked by termites. When I was getting my house painted just before moving in, a few people, including carpenters and painters told me termite treatment is not required.
Within a month kitchen was completely taken over, and it was spreading. So we called a pest control company and they came, drilled holes and since then it is peaceful. Since mine is a ground floor, with front lawn, more prone to termites. We now have an AMC and the guy is supposed to come every 3 months. But they also told me that they usually do not attack furniture which is far away from walls.

Please call specialists and get termite treatment done.

 

[srinisundar]

My entire HT back wall which was sound proofed with wooden channels and wooden board was eaten by termites and now i have used gypsum board instead of wooden board..

New guys venturing into HT can take care of this point

 

[anm]

one of my neighbors had loads of woodwork done. It was painful to see him throw away his entire woodwork which was eaten by termites!

 

[suresh lalwani]

sorry,
i did not realise the gravity of the situation,
u seem to have a grave problem on ur hands,
i suggest you get some professional help,
i apologize for "shooting" off so fast
sorry

 

[ShaQ.Blogs]

meanwhile as a quick fix....you get solutions you can use on the wood. I am not sure how effective this is and what side affects exist. They are available at the carpentry shops and shops which sell 'sheets of wood'. Costs around 300 as i just inquired myself a few days back.
Do some research on how reliable these stuff are or if someone here is familiar with it can shed some light

 

[Subcenter2009]

Hi.
I've seen cases of brand new TV / DVD remote buttons being eaten up by red ants. My friend lost his brand new remote this way overnight..2 days after he bought the TV. Are remote buttons sweet tasting to attract these ants and Termites?
Also had problems of Rats and spiders colonising tuned ports of loudspeakers.
Especially rats are dangerous because they can bite and rip and ruin speakers overnight.:cheers:
Cheers and cheer up, guys.. I think a rat trap could be the most effective way to deal with adolescent rodents that are just in the process of getting teeth and they feel like gnawing at everything (like wires and speakers) to sharpen their teeth just like puppies and kittens the diff being the rats are in no way pets and are disease carriers.
I catch a rat almost every night in a trap and if I dont do this, all the electronics in my house would have been ruined long ago just because they breed like mad and have new litters almost every week...MY God!
Rats can and will destroy a flat/ house overnight if they are not controlled. New fellas appear from nowhere it seems.
We need not have a soft corner for rats and we need not feel lousy for eliminating them. They are unwanted pests who have no human reason to exist. You can't have a pet rat.. at least in my book.
Subcenter2009

 

[anm]

I had to finally resort to poisoning rats couple of weeks back as they even cut the trap and escaped.

 

[Subcenter2009]

I had to finally resort to poisoning rats couple of weeks back as they even cut the trap and escaped.

Most poisons are anti-coagulants and they work by making the rat bleed internally and die..eg: Warfarin. But it is a fact that soon, rats change their metabolism and they actually have to eat poison on a regular basis to prevent their blood from now turning too thick and blocking their blood vessels. That means, soon the critters will start looking for poison and will go around looking for it to just survive. That's why there is no beating a good old solid wooden trap.

I also recently saw a trap made of a goooey adhesive. It was meant for the rats to stick to it. I saw its effect the next day when it had caught 1 rat and 3 lizards sticking to it. All seemed to have been poisoned to death by the toxicity of the gum.. Yet I was happy that it seems to be working. But it is rather costly and cant replace the good ol' box trap.:yahoo:

Yours,
Subcenter2009

 

[gobble]

Hi.
I've seen cases of brand new TV / DVD remote buttons being eaten up by red ants. My friend lost his brand new remote this way overnight..2 days after he bought the TV. Are remote buttons sweet tasting to attract these ants and Termites?
Also had problems of Rats and spiders colonising tuned ports of loudspeakers.
...
MY God! Rats can and will destroy a flat/ house overnight if they are not controlled. New fellas appear from nowhere it seems...

Hi
Which Horror movie was these scene from? I will look out for it hyeah:

I think a rat trap could be the most effective way to deal with adolescent rodents that are just in the process of getting teeth and they feel like gnawing at everything (like wires and speakers) to sharpen their teeth just like puppies and kittens the diff being the rats are in no way pets and are disease carriers.

See "Parenting an adolescent mouse, a practical field guide for Humans" ISBN 34957394

I had to finally resort to poisoning rats couple of weeks back as they even cut the trap and escaped.

Lemme guess ...!! This would have been from the movie "The Great Escape"? hyeah:

Most poisons are anti-coagulants and they work by making the rat bleed internally and die..eg: Warfarin. But it is a fact that soon, rats change their metabolism and they actually have to eat poison on a regular basis to prevent their blood from now turning too thick and blocking their blood vessels. That means, soon the critters will start looking for poison and will go around looking for it to just survive.

OMG!! This looks and sounds like a real hollywood blockbuster Horror movie .. or is it for real?!! <Faints!>


--G0bble

 

[olly42]

I strongly recommend calling in the experts they would do the needful and get a AMC set up

 

[santhosh]

Hi SubCenter,
How do you kill the rats after you have caught them? A friend of mine had this rat menace and used to drown them in a bucket of water and then pour the water in the gutter.

Any solution for bat menace? We have bats in the exteriors of our house. They really dirty the walls big time. This portion is not easily accessible and may require scaffolding/tall ladder to get there. So need a solution that will work the first time.

Is the solution as simple as installing a bright light or will installing some device which produces sounds above 20khz......so as to disturb them

 

[avidyarthy]

^^ or get an air-gun and take pot-shots at them .... You knock out a few and the rest would move out themselves ........

 

[Subcenter2009]

Hi SubCenter,
How do you kill the rats after you have caught them? A friend of mine had this rat menace and used to drown them in a bucket of water and then pour the water in the gutter.

Any solution for bat menace? We have bats in the exteriors of our house. They really dirty the walls big time. This portion is not easily accessible and may require scaffolding/tall ladder to get there. So need a solution that will work the first time.

Is the solution as simple as installing a bright light or will installing some device which produces sounds above 20khz......so as to disturb them

Dear Santhosh,
Yes, I drown them.. but I have to be careful to fully immerse the trap in water to ensure the li'l fella is really gone and not just unconsious or acting. Then, I put the dead rat in a plastic cover and throw it out with the morning waste. Then, I wash the trap and bucket fully with water to remove any smell that could put off the next day's rat.

I have the problem of bats in the mango season when huge bats with a wingspan of almost one metre across frequent the mango trees. They fly using a pre-determined route and only in the nighttime..never in the daytime. They feast on the ripening mangoes and apparently get loose motion and splatter the walls they pass on their flight plan. Don't know where they stay in non mango season. Smaller Bats live on Ashoka trees.

BTW, I heard Bats are tasty. I don't want to find out.hyeah:

Yours
Subcenter2009

 

[Subcenter2009]

meanwhile as a quick fix....you get solutions you can use on the wood. I am not sure how effective this is and what side affects exist. They are available at the carpentry shops and shops which sell 'sheets of wood'. Costs around 300 as i just inquired myself a few days back.
Do some research on how reliable these stuff are or if someone here is familiar with it can shed some light

Ask for Shell oil.