We respect the DIY spirit — but some jobs need a different approach.
We get it. You're a homeowner. You like doing things yourself. When something breaks, you watch a YouTube video and figure it out. And when you find termite frass on your windowsill, your first instinct might be to head to the hardware store and grab whatever says "kills termites" on the label.
We're not here to talk you out of being handy. But we do want to give you an honest rundown of what DIY termite treatments can and can't do, so you can make the right call for your home.
When people try to tackle drywood termites on their own, these are the most common methods we see:
Orange oil is probably the most popular "natural" termite treatment out there. It's derived from orange peels, and it does contain a compound (d-limonene) that can kill termites on contact. You'll find plenty of articles and videos online claiming it's a safe, effective alternative to professional treatment.
Here's the reality: orange oil can kill termites it directly contacts. The problem is that drywood termites live deep inside the wood, in a network of galleries and chambers that you can't see. Applying orange oil to the surface — or even injecting it into a hole you've drilled — might kill some of the termites in the immediate area, but it's very unlikely to reach the entire colony.
Borate-based products (like Tim-bor or Bora-Care) are legitimate termite treatments that professionals use. When applied correctly to bare, unfinished wood, borates can penetrate the wood and create a protective barrier that kills termites that eat through it.
The catch? Borates work best as a preventive treatment — applied to new construction or exposed wood before it's painted or sealed. For an existing, established colony inside finished wood in your home, surface-applied borates often can't penetrate deep enough to reach the termites. The paint, sealant, and existing finish on your woodwork act as barriers.
The termite sprays and foams you find at Home Depot or Lowe's are designed to kill insects on contact. And they do — if you spray a termite, it'll die. But that's kind of like killing one ant and calling the anthill defeated.
These products don't penetrate deep into wood. They don't reach the colony. And they definitely don't address the queen, who's tucked away safely in the deepest part of the gallery system, continuing to produce more termites.
The fundamental problem with DIY termite treatment isn't the products themselves — some of them have real insecticidal properties. The problem is threefold:
1. You can't treat what you can't find. Drywood termite colonies live entirely inside wood. Finding exactly where they are requires training and experience — knowing where to look, what to listen for, and how to interpret the signs. A pile of frass tells you termites are nearby, but the colony itself could be several feet away from where the frass is falling.
2. Partial treatment can be worse than no treatment. If you kill some termites but don't eliminate the colony, here's what happens: the colony recovers. It might move to a different part of the wood. The surviving termites seal off the damaged area and keep going. And now you think you've solved the problem, so you stop looking — while the colony continues to grow and cause damage.
3. You might have more than one colony. This is the one that catches a lot of people. You find frass in one spot, treat that area, and feel good about it. Meanwhile, there are two other colonies in your attic that you didn't know about. Without a thorough inspection of the entire structure, you're treating symptoms, not the disease.
We're going to be fair here. There are a couple of scenarios where a DIY approach isn't completely off-base:
But for an established colony in your home's structural wood? That's a different ballgame entirely.
Here's the thing that really concerns us when people go the DIY route: time. Every month that an active colony goes untreated, it's eating more wood. Drywood termite colonies grow slowly, but they grow steadily. A colony that was a minor issue six months ago can become a significant structural concern a year or two down the road.
The cost of professional treatment early on is almost always less than the cost of repairing extensive termite damage later. We've seen homeowners who spent years trying various DIY solutions, only to end up needing not just professional termite treatment but also thousands of dollars in structural repairs that wouldn't have been necessary if the colony had been properly eliminated early.
If any of these sound familiar, it's time to pick up the phone:
There's no shame in calling for help. Termites are what we do every single day, and there are things we can see and assess that take years of experience to develop an eye for. A free inspection costs you nothing and gives you real answers.
No judgment — we've seen it a hundred times. Let us come out and give you a proper assessment. We'll tell you exactly what you're dealing with and what it's going to take to fix it. The inspection is free, and the advice is honest.
Schedule Your Free InspectionOr call us: (727) 488-5657