Termite Prevention in Barns...any advice or experiences?

[fergusnc]

So The Little Gray Barn started his reno on Wednesday. The contractor found some (seemingly old) termite damage in the bay with the raised floor...the space we are getting all set to be hay storage....and of course removed and replaced. The Little Gray Barn (will be storage for hay, shavings, tractors) is about 20' from The Little Red Barn (will be horse housing, wash bay, tack room). Long ago, I had briefly wondered about termites in barns but this made me think harder.

Do you guys do preventative treatments to your barns? TLGB will not be accessible to horses, fence will be 8-10' away from TLGB a, but will have hay. TLRB will be accessible on the front but the back and sides will be right outside the fence lines. The barns are on dirt (pole barns). The wood we are adding to build back up into our configuration will be pressure treated wherever it touches the ground, but the rest will be sawmill lumber that isn't PT. The older non-ground-touching wood in the barns (the barns may be as old as 49 years old (not exactly sure when he built them as compared to the house) looks fantastic...super strong, old school, saw mill lumber.

Of course I worry about chemicals near horses, the pond that is 40-50' away (outside pastures), doing all this reno and having barn implode from termites , etc. The house has a great pest control company, and I haven't talked to them yet, but it was pricey getting the house set up with prevention so that they'd cover the maintenance. Thoughts please?

[Suzon]

The biggest thing you can do is remedy all wood-soil contact. Where there is contact, use pressure-treated wood. The majority of termites have to stay "undercover" so they come out of the ground and build tubes up the wood as they eat it. Leaving a sufficient gap between the ground the edible wood goes a long way in protecting it.

[LoisBatiste]

Termite causes damage to your property therefore termite control must be done which involves identifying the species, locating the nest and choosing the best eradication methods. You can also call professional pest control exterminator near West Haven CT or from other places according to your requirement.