Termites in armoire!

[Colin Wollerman]

Help!
I have termites in my armoire!
A couple years ago I built my first armoire. First big case for that matter.
Anyway, while cleaning, my wife came across some tale tale piles of termite ...dirt, dust, gravel, poop, whatever!
Question is; How do I get em out (out= dead) I know there are people to call but is there a home remedy for this?

thanks in advance,
Colin

[John Keeton]

Colin, my bet is for something other than termites. Termites must have moisture, and that is why they live underground and build tunnels to the food supply. Probably some other creature that was in the wood you used. Once it gets through it's life cycle, I would guess that the problem will resolve, but others may have some better input.

[John Coloccia]

Help!
I have termites in my armoire!
A couple years ago I built my first armoire. First big case for that matter.
Anyway, while cleaning, my wife came across some tale tale piles of termite ...dirt, dust, gravel, poop, whatever!
Question is; How do I get em out (out= dead) I know there are people to call but is there a home remedy for this?

thanks in advance,
Colin

Whatever they are, termites or ants, they're in you armoire, which means they're in your house. They didn't just walk in through the front door and search through your house until they found the armoire. They likely worked their way over there. I suggest you call a pro today.

As John says, they could very well have been in the wood also, but these critters can be nasty and troublesome if they migrated from the armoire to they house.

[John Keeton]

Just noticed that Colin is in Hawaii! From my limited understanding, the termite situation there is catastrophic and may well involve different dynamics than what we are accustomed to in this part of the country. A professional is your best bet to determine the source of the problem and suggested plan of attack.

[Colin Wollerman]

Thanks for the input guys,
John, you are right. Termites are a huge problem out here.
We are currently renting a real old house. The owner does not care much so getting them to tent the place will be a rough sell.
I want to put the armoire in the shed along with the lumber for my current project and fog them some how...this sux

[Phillip Marsh]

You can kill them with heat. In Europe they have long used super heaters to warm houses to the point where it kills the termites and also mold and mildew spores. If you can get the temperature up to 130 degrees in a space where you can place the armoire it will kill the critters.

There are microwave units that are not effective for homes but might work with a piece of furniture where you have access to the entire surface area. For myself I would do the heating operation even if I had to rent a bunch of space heaters for a day.