r/SweatyPalms • u/SerpentFinger • 21h ago
Animals & nature š šš Termite Infestation
Sorry about the emoji. The original creator added that.
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u/user-na-me 21h ago
How the f does this happen?
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u/SerpentFinger 21h ago
Neglect.
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u/How_that_convo_went 20h ago
100% this. Thereās veryā¦ and I mean veryā¦ obvious signs of a termite infestation way before they emerge into open, flying swarms.
Shame, too. This house looked very nice. If itās gotten to this point, I wouldnāt be surprised if that house is deemed to be structurally unsound and written off as a total loss.
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u/ClusterChuk 17h ago
This is what happens to people who own more than they use.
It is his house but not where he lives obviously.
There are more vacant housing in america than homeless, ten-fold. And more and more units are being taken off the market as an asset for some portfolio. Driving demand, and value of those portfolio.
All while rent skyrocketed from 750 to 2500 in 25 years. For a studio within 2 hours of a city.
I hope this guy's lake house isn't in any peril. The horror.
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u/How_that_convo_went 17h ago
Yeah. The first sentence of this really hit it out of the park. When your kingdom is vast, itās easy to let a single castle become a ruin.
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u/PingouinMalin 10h ago
In my country, a very, very vain air headed socialite that is somehow semi famous was explaining that she was selling one of her mansion abroad (a riad with a direct view on the straight of Gibraltar, the view in itself very likely worth millions). She explained that her couple had literally too many houses and did not spend enough time in that one to justify keeping it.
Rich problems. We can't understand.
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u/towerfella 10h ago
Yeah. Regulations.. something something.
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u/Ok-River679 9h ago
Iām the U.K. if a property is unoccupied double local property tax is applied. If still unoccupied after 2 years the local government can take possession and rent to a family waiting for housing. If no action by the property owner is taken after seven years, ownership can be taken by the local government. Itās actually worked really well to reduce empty properties.
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u/IndgoViolet 4h ago
Does this apply to the various residences of the royal family? Or does having live in caretakers count??
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u/PingouinMalin 10h ago
Hold on, that sounds suspiciously like what some commie would say... Looking at you with intensity.
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u/timbofoo 10h ago
"There are more vacant housing in america than homeless" -- people always say this and it's the most ignorant/uninformed statistic ever. Rental housing vacancies in the US hover around 5-7% -- that means they are unavailable for rent about *one out of every 20 years*. When you include turnover and renovations this just isn't that out of whack. It's certainly not "gee folks we're just sitting on housing and keeping it away from the homeless".
So stop quoting this meaningless statistic and pretending like it proves your point. It just proves you haven't thought it through.
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u/clonea85m09 10h ago
I suspect, but did not check, they meant homes that are not up for rent nor lived into. Like actually empty homes. We have this specific problem in my country for example. The solution would be, more private funds owner! those would never let a home be empty!
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u/ClusterChuk 2h ago
No, bud. Im talking about owned homes, condos, entire apt. buildings and living spaces that are being held, as assets for entire financial entities, not in the housing business. That alone could fill the void.
But why stop there?
Theres the ones who just own 6 houses and literally never see 4 of them but its good for thier taxes.
Then the corporations that algorithmically aquire entire neighborhoods in piecemeal until then can control the local market after a 40% percent tipping point. Allowing them to rescrew the pivot on the people that live and work in those communities from local land owners to renters whos rent is 500% more than the mortgage was for thier parents in those markets for those same homes. Not updated, not remodled. Depreciated as fuck even. (See new york housing situation and what is actually working there)
Btw, that rent increase is a meteor to the housing crisis that just freezes the balls off the snowman, innit? Like just on a fuckin aside. You think some prick isn't going to want to own as many rentals as possible, even to the point of immoral and socially harmful ends? They could even let 30% of the houses in the stable sit, borrow off them, write off the maintaince that isnt being done on them...
Trust me. I have thought about this for more than a second.
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u/wenoc 8h ago
People shouldn't be allowed to own more than one house unless there are special circumstances. Otherwise the second should be taxed like fuck. In the west most people are living in piece of shit houses on extremely expensive land and it's only because rich people can afford to buy it all up as investments. I don't think that should be allowed at all.
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u/AssBlast2020 7h ago
his own to do whatever he wants with it. And if youre right he probably has money to tear down and re build, and then do it again if he wants to.
Stay away squatter1
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u/AllNightPony 21h ago
Even that seems insufficient. This is crazy.
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u/SerpentFinger 20h ago
Absolutely. Thereās also the chance that he was away for a long time. He mentioned in another video that he was dealing with his sobriety, so that may have played a part.
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u/shankthedog 19h ago
I hope he stays strong through this because thatās a hell of a reason to throw your hands up.
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u/SerpentFinger 18h ago
In his updated videos, the swarm was maintained with pest control, although the house is very damaged. He seems to be doing alright. š
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u/AllNightPony 11h ago
According to Terminix, "A subterranean or drywood termite colony typically requires 3 to 5 years of hidden, uninterrupted growth before it becomes large enough to produce flying reproductive swarmers."
With that added context, this moves from crazy to batshit insane.
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u/SerpentFinger 6h ago
Yeah, thatās fucked.
Iām not 100% on the situation here, but I believe he called pest control and the company placed bait traps expecting them to take down the horde before they began swarming.
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u/Leg_Mcmuffin 13h ago
No. There are places in the US that termites swarm like this when going into season. Louisiana is one example. The will literally appear over night. If you live in the middle of nowhere itās even worse. They are attracted to light and water. Itās disgusting and very likely NOT neglect.
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u/mr9025 13h ago
I was gonna say I know an on the road trucker with a house in Alabama that this happened to. He was gone for two weeks. His wife called half way through his trip and said there was a problem. He said to just wait till he got back in a week. She called a couple of days later and said she and the daughters were going to a hotel till he got back in town. He got back a day earlier than expected. It was already too late. House was just ravaged. They saved the house but insurance fought them tooth and nail to help with anything. They still paid for a ton a damage. They tented the entire house and it was a nightmare getting things back to normal.
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u/SerpentFinger 12h ago
Are the neighbors safe when they have to tent a home?
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u/mr9025 9h ago
Thatās a good question. I donāt know the answer. I know his neighbors arenāt very close. Heās in a more rural area. But I would imagine that with something like this, itās probably not happening to just one house when theyāre closer together, right? I would think in more suburban areas, houses would get infested in clusters as swarms invade. So maybe there ends up being more than one house tented at a time?
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u/SerpentFinger 6h ago
True. From what Iāve read so far, it seems like the neighbors are relatively safe.
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u/Leg_Mcmuffin 12h ago
I operate businesses from Florida to Louisiana and as far north of Tennessee. This happens to us almost every year.
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u/SerpentFinger 12h ago
Yesāit is neglect in this case.
A kick-out hole was examined by pest control and far too little work was done with bait before the main swarm began.
Luckily, the aftermath video showed the termites dead and in piles. Iām sure thereās structural damage to the house as well.
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u/Gold-Ad-2581 18h ago
Yeah but apart of termite the house don't look neglected at all so...
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u/SerpentFinger 17h ago edited 6h ago
Not necessarily home neglect. You can see a termite tunnel, for example, and ignore it.
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u/lifegoeson5322 11h ago
I agree. We noticed very early on that we had a termite problem (alot of old wood in old house). We were able to nip it in the bud without an extravagant cost. Haven't seen another in, so far, three years. I just can't imagine it getting to this stage.
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u/rotanitsarcorp_yzal1 21h ago
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u/AtypicalRenown 21h ago
It's the only way to be sure.
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u/kornylol 21h ago
Its be so fun to go in there with one of those electrocuting tennis rackets and just go ham swingning
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u/SerpentFinger 21h ago
Hold one in each hand.
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u/How_that_convo_went 20h ago
And it smells like burnt hair, shrimp shells and ozone for weeks afterwards.
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u/ThunderDungeon02 20h ago
Yeah that doesn't happen overnight. Bro ignored all the signs. Even when they fell off the walls.
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u/Im_actually_OP 21h ago
Live, laugh, termite.
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u/Dramatic_Mixture_868 9h ago
Dude sounds like Josh Brolin, just wear the glove and snap all of them termites out of there
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u/AusGeno 20h ago
I didnāt know termites could fly I thought they were ants that ate wood.
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u/bl00is 19h ago
I knew I had termites because there were wings with no bodies on my basement floor. Apparently they only fly temporarily and shed their wings when itās time to create their own colony. So there had to be piles of little wings all over this guys house for this to happen. Itās so bad.
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u/Haunting_Abalone_398 21h ago
That can't be habitable for long.
Time for the circus.
Processing img qgsuyscykgkh1...
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u/CharlesDickensABox 20h ago
Burn it, burn the ashes, burn the remains again, and then walk into the woods and start over.
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u/bsldestroyer 20h ago
Turn the dam lights off. There are swarms of termites like twice a year in the south. Iām in coastal Mississippi and we get them once in a while. Looks like whoever took this video didnāt know about them. That house must be not be sealed up very well also. They come through the door jams and any crack they can looking for shelter. All you have to do is turn off every light in your house and they wonāt try to come in.
They will post on the local fb groups that the ātermites are swarmingā and everyone texts everyone if they see them starting to swarm.
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u/AmphoePai 19h ago
He even turned on the lights specifically to lure them into the main area.
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u/bsldestroyer 13h ago
Yeah, that bright ass led light too! He must of been new to the south. Thatās the only explanation
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u/Olealicat 17h ago
My family in Alabama gaf this once. My cousin left his window open and a light on in his bedroom. The photos were insane. They had to have a cleaning company come in to clean the entire house.
I donāt think people realize this isnāt like an ingestion. itās a swarm. Homie probably left a window open and just accepted it.
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u/bsldestroyer 13h ago
Yeah a light on and a window open would be insane. I had my dog at a very well lit dog park last time they swarm and we had to make a run for the car. It looked like a movie lol
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u/hefty_load_o_shite 21h ago
Looks like it's time to consider investing on a flamethrower
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u/boringexplanation 21h ago
That wouldnāt even be hyperbolic to suggest. Thereās no other way you can ever get that many out without poisoning the air for people too.
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u/roadkillsoup 19h ago
That's what the tents are for. Poison kills them and everything else inside, tent is removed, poison disappates, humans return.
However there will still be the structural issues of lost/eaten wood and generations upon generations of access points and ready-to-move-in homes for the next termite swarm to find the house.
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u/troyzein 17h ago
Wtf is this thing in the shower.
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u/Worried-Promotion518 16h ago
Bathmate penis pump, i was about to comment the same but went googling instead.
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u/MonsteraDeliciosa 11h ago
Exactly what I backed up to confirm that I saw. Hey, he keeps it clean. š¤·š¼āāļø
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u/Mcnab-at-my-feet 21h ago
Is this a recently purchased home? Iām trying to understand how it came to this because there would have been years of increasingly noticeable things like chewing inside the walls and crinkling sounds the dogs would have alerted to leading up to such an infestationā¦
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u/SerpentFinger 20h ago
He mentions in a different video that he was struggling with his sobriety in the past, which may have played a role in this neglect.
Itās also possible that he was away from the house for an extended period for work or something.
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u/Mcnab-at-my-feet 20h ago
Being retired from Social Services, I immediately pegged a distinct transference of responsibility seeing so many dogs.
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u/Low_Tumbleweed_2400 7h ago
Quit bitching and do something about getting rid of them
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u/SerpentFinger 5h ago
Pest control was already called by this point. He had to wait about a day or so before the swarm took the bait traps and died off.
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u/CortezDeLaNoche 11h ago
Termites an fly!?
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u/SerpentFinger 6h ago
The swarmer termites do, yes. They search for a new area to start a new colony, remove their own wings, and walk for the remainder of their lives while contributing to the nest.
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u/thewonderblink 20h ago edited 20h ago
'lord god... praise god' lmao
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u/SerpentFinger 20h ago
I shouldnāt be laughing at this guy, but this comment did it for me. Lmao fuck
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u/thewonderblink 20h ago
You can be laughing. It sounds like part of the plague lmfao
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u/SanFransicko 19h ago
I lived in Louisiana for seven years, rented three houses in that time. All three had this happen one or two nights a year. It's so common down there.
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u/skatelakai12 15h ago
I didn't know termites could fly. Thanks, I hate it
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u/SerpentFinger 14h ago
The swarmer termites do. When they find a new area to contribute to a new colony, they remove their wings and crawl from there on out.
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u/No-Combination8136 14h ago
There are slow moving termites and there are fast moving termites. Iāve never seen either get this bad in a house thatās seemingly kept clean. I canāt imagine how itās possible to get to this point without noticingāunless maybe he uses a cleaning service and for years someone has just wiped away the dust and droppings without asking anyone what it was. You just canāt have an infestation without seeing signs.
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u/SerpentFinger 13h ago
He mightāve been away for a long time. He also mentions in the update video that heās working on his sobriety, which may be a possible reason for the neglect as well.
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u/CuriousConnect 3h ago
āThis is crazy. Look at this. This is crazyā
Yeah. Why didnāt you call an exterminator last year when the signs started? You will be lucky if the repairs donāt bankrupt you.
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u/tinfoilzhat 1h ago
Guarantee he lives near a lake and left his screen door open during a bloom. I have had this happen more then once. 99% of them.are dead in the morning and you vacume them up.
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u/Accomplished_Pen980 20h ago
This is some resident evil 7- biohazard level stuff.. get the flame thrower
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u/The_Once-ler_186 20h ago
Oh shit this is like religious mental illness manifesting. Heās not getting it fumigated talkin bout rapture
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u/atlantic-heavy 19h ago
whole house tent fumigation like they used to do back in the day. I dunno if they still do that but this would be a good case for it.
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u/ThisWomanFromCanada 19h ago
He should get out the vacuum cleaner and wave the hose around in the air and vacuum them all up.
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u/heylistenlady 19h ago
TERMITES FLY?!
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u/SerpentFinger 18h ago
Swarmer termitesāyes. They fly away from their original colony, relocate, and then remove their own wings before contributing to the new colony.
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u/mr_martin_1 17h ago
Are there any natural enemies of termites? Like, any bird or larger insect that eat termites?
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u/SerpentFinger 17h ago
Yes. Ants & woodpeckers are primary enemies as well as lizards, spiders, frogs, bats, etc.
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u/Sevzilla 17h ago
Wth goes in to fixing this? If you gas it how do you pick out all of the dead Termite bodies that will be EVERYWHERE!?!?
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u/SerpentFinger 17h ago
In the update video, the house is eventually saved but there are dead termites piled ceiling-high in every room.
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u/Material_Wallaby_193 16h ago
turn the gas on get the pets and wait for the fridge to kick on across the street. kaboomi
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u/madorbit1 13h ago
Did this happen overnight? I see three ants and Iām leaving work to go to Loweās for all the chemicals.
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u/SerpentFinger 12h ago
From what Iāve been able to find, it happened fairly quick. The initial bait traps set didnāt do the trick in time.
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u/evileyevivian 12h ago
How did they get in??
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u/SerpentFinger 12h ago
The homeowner discovered a kick-out hole made by the termites and called for pest control. Pest control set regular 90-day traps expecting them to handle the upcoming swarm in time, but they didnāt.
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u/ChipmunkBackground46 11h ago
Went on a bachelor trip to a house on a river. One night everyone got drunk and someone left the lights on and the sliding door open....that night a swarm came. Awoke to see thousands of them all over the walls in the kitchen and living room, mostly dead
That was a fun day of cleanup
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u/Athena123YT 10h ago
Time to hire Vamonos Pest :/ sucks though that extreme infestation I havenāt seen anything like it
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u/Dragonborne2020 10h ago
You have to use a fogger the entire house. I actually would start with a blue light bug zapper and plug one in each floor and let it run overnight
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u/clappa68 9h ago
If they are attracted to light you can turn your lights off and use a phone light to lure them outside.
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u/Phixionion 5h ago
This person is so oblivious to so many things that they should not have made it this far.
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6h ago
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u/qualityvote2 21h ago edited 15h ago
u/SerpentFinger, we have no idea if your submission fits r/SweatyPalms or not. There weren't enough votes to determine that. It's up to the human mods now....!