A non-repellent perimeter barrier that termites walk through — then carry back to the colony.

Up until 2000, every liquid termiticide on the market was repellent. The chemistry killed termites on direct contact and the surviving colony detected the treated zone and rerouted around it. That meant any gap in the treatment — a hairline crack in the slab, a missed inch of trench, a settled section of soil — became a re-entry route the entire colony eventually found.

Termidor® (fipronil) was the first non-repellent termiticide to gain widespread Florida deployment. Termites cannot detect it. They walk through the treated zone freely, pick up the active ingredient on their cuticles, return to the colony, and pass it through trophallaxis (mouth-to-mouth food sharing — the central social behavior of subterranean termites).

That difference completely changes the math:

• Old repellent chemistry: the barrier stops foragers that contact it directly. Survivors avoid the treated zone. Colony continues.
• Non-repellent Termidor® HE: foragers cross the barrier, return home, distribute the active ingredient through trophallaxis, and the colony itself collapses over weeks to months.

Termidor® HE (“HE” = High Efficiency) is the current formulation, requiring half the water volume of the original Termidor® SC and offering improved soil dispersion in clay and high-organic substrates. It is what we mix and apply on every job.

The protocol assumes continuous open soil against the foundation. Real Pompano homes rarely have that — most have a mix of mulched beds, concrete patios, paver walks, AC condenser pads, irrigation lines, and screened-in pool decks. Each obstacle requires a specific workaround:

• Concrete patios & walks: 1/2-inch pilot bores at 12-inch intervals through the slab, termiticide injected to depth, holes plugged with color-matched concrete patch.
• Paver patios: pavers lifted in a 6-inch border along the foundation, soil trenched and treated, pavers reset.
• AC condenser pads: small soil sections cut around the pad legs, treated, restored. The unit itself never touched.
• Irrigation lines: mapped before trenching, capped or detoured. We do not cut active irrigation.
• Screened pool decks: screen removed in 6-inch sections along the foundation, deck slab pilot-drilled and treated, screen reset.

None of these workarounds reduce the protection level. The Termidor® HE barrier reaches the same depth and concentration regardless of what was above the soil before treatment.

Termidor® HE is the default. Altriset® is the substitute. Altriset® uses chlorantraniliprole — a chemistry that targets the muscle-contraction system in termites (and is selective for arthropods that share that pathway). It holds the EPA reduced-risk classification, has a far lower toxicity profile for mammals and bees, and is approved for application around organic gardens.

The trade-off is speed. Altriset® takes longer to knock down the colony — workers stop feeding within hours, then die over several days — and the labeled residual is shorter than Termidor® HE’s ten-year benchmark. We recommend Altriset® for households with:

• Koi or other ornamental fish in proximity to the foundation perimeter
• Backyard chickens or other livestock
• Extensive pollinator plantings adjacent to the foundation
• Edible gardens within 10 feet of the perimeter
• A homeowner preference for EPA reduced-risk chemistry, even at a price premium

Pricing typically runs $2 to $3 higher per linear foot than Termidor® HE.