[Focus On New Products] Filling The Gap

Syngenta Professional Products has developed Impasse™ Termite Blocker, an innovative product aimed specifically at addressing a targeted industry problem — stopping termites from entering a structure through gaps around utility penetrations and bath traps.

While researchers regularly look at different entry points to try to determine the termite’s regular path into a structure, certain facts remain. Among them — a gap as small as 1/32nd of an inch will allow termites to enter a home or building. And because termites by nature follow underground utility penetration lines like a highway into the home or building, gaps created by the shrinkage of concrete allow termites access from under the slab and into the structure itself.

Impasse Termite Blocker is a pre-construction solution that offers long-term protection in these critical areas.

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Currently, there are not many tools that can stop termites from accessing through gaps caused by shrinkage around penetrations or through bath trap areas. Pest management professionals can pretreat the footprint but when termites reach the foundation by traveling along plumbing pipes and reaching the gap, they may be able to gain access.

Now, prior to the pouring of the concrete slab, pest management professionals can install Impasse Termite Blockers on each utility penetration and bath trap in a matter of minutes and significantly decrease any chance of termites entering the structure along these access areas. Impasse Termite Blocker is manufactured in sizes to fit all pipe diameters, as well as a blocker specially designed to fit all bath trap areas.

According to Dennis Ring, associate professor/specialist in the Department of Entomology at Louisiana State University’s Agricultural Center, protecting these areas of the slab is extremely important in termite control.

"We think that’s a major way that termites get into structures," Ring said. "It’s common for them to go through any opening in a foundation. If you have a million termites in the colony looking for an entry point, over time they’re going to find an entry point. They’re going to find a way in."

A NEW OPTION. With the advent of Impasse Termite Blockers, pest management professionals have an innovative and important complement to existing termite pre-construction treatments. Also, Impasse Termite Blockers do not require a specialist to install. Each can be installed and tightly sealed around a pipe in about 30 seconds; so protecting an entire home can take less than 20 minutes. There is no interruption to the construction process, yet at the same time, there’s additional value-added protection built right into the home or building.

Impasse Termite Blocker is made of a durable, construction-grade polymer with a specially formulated termiticide "locked in" between two outer layers. The active ingredient is lambda-cyhalothrin, an insecticide with excellent efficacy against termite species and other urban insect pests, Syngenta says. Efficacy data shows its unique formulation is 100 percent effective at keeping out termites and it stays in place and remains effective over a long period of time.

The technology developed specifically for Impasse is one of the reasons Steven Hill, president of Brooksville, Fla.-based Steven Hill Constructors, has used the product.

"It’s finally a product we can depend on that won’t let termites penetrate," Hill said. "As builders, it’ll put our worries to sleep because we’ll have protection and I think we can sell it to customers because it takes care of termites long-term."

Impasse Termite Blockers provide pest management professionals and builders with confidence they can pass along to new home buyers because the typical gaps in the slab near plumbing and electrical penetrations will be protected against termites.

"This provides an unprecedented level of termite protection — without long delays in the construction process or a high price tag," Hill added. "Builders have long needed a dependable solution to stop termites from a home along penetrations in the foundation, and installing it is a quick, inexpensive step."

Another benefit of Impasse Termite Blockers is that the termiticide is locked within layers of durable plastic, so it presents virtually no exposure to installers and is environmentally friendly, Syngenta reports.

By sealing in the termiticide, Impasse Termite Blocker is able to help prevent bath traps and penetrations from becoming entry points. Eliminating these points is especially important, Ring said, as termites can enter a home and go undiscovered for more than a year until they swarm. Before that time, they can cause extensive damage.

"We deal with Formosan subterranean termites," he added. "We’ve had structures that have collapsed, structures that were bulldozed in less than 20 years, and some people have treated and repaired their homes so much that they end up defaulting on their loans.

"Today, we have much better tools than we did five years ago."

Addressing critical entry points, Impasse Termite Blocker offers strong, affordable protection from termites entering through gaps along plumbing accesses and provides unsurpassed peace of mind for pest management professionals, builders and property owners.

Editor’s note: Because this technology is so new to the pest management industry, PCT wanted to provide information to the marketplace as quickly as possible. Therefore, the preceding article was developed in conjunction with Syngenta Professional Products and Gibbs & Soell Public Relations.

GAPS OPEN DOOR TO TERMITES

Most people don’t think of concrete as a material that shrinks, but it does. Concrete can shrink and expand in minute amounts over the lifetime of a structure. The shrinkage can cause gaps along plumbing penetrations, making a home vulnerable to termite entry.

Preparation for placement of concrete in residential applications — slabs in particular — includes flattening and moistening the subgrade, erecting the forms that will create the shape of the concrete structure, and setting the appropriate steel reinforcement and other items that will be embedded in the concrete. Once the site is prepared, concrete is placed and consolidated, by hand or through mechanical means. (Proper consolidation ensures elimination of unwanted air voids.) The concrete is finished with tools to achieve the desired look and finally cured to ensure ideal cement hydration and strength gain.

MOISTURE CHANGES. Changes in moisture can affect concrete, forcing it to expand and shrink. Shrinkage caused by moisture changes in hardened concrete is called drying shrinkage.

The level of moisture in concrete is directly affected by the relative humidity of the surrounding air; when humidity levels rise, the concrete will take in more moisture and expand. When the humidity level drops, moisture dries in the concrete, forcing it to shrink.

Another common cause of gaps in residential situations is temperature changes. When temperatures rise, concrete expands; when temperatures fall, concrete shrinks. That is, unless water trapped in the voids freezes; then it will expand slightly.

Precast concrete slabs on ground also are affected by differences in temperature between the outside and the inside of the structure. When one side of the slab is cool and the other side warm, the slab can bend and curl, increasing opportunities for cracking and gaps.

HOW CAN TERMITES BE PREVENTED? Termites can enter a gap or crack as small as 1/32nd of an inch. That is the size of the tip of a pen. Protecting the ground beneath the foundation is vital, but it’s critical to address the entry points where termites are most likely to enter.