I know there are termites in my backyard. I'd love to kill them all. Should I be looking at Fipronil or Imidacloprid? Can I spray Fipronil over a wide area, or is it strictly for trenching stone structures? I'm going to put in a playground area that will have mulch over a weed barrier. Should I apply sharing under this area? What would be the best way to kill everything there and prevent anything from coming back?

Problem I have is that the playground is going to be wood and in the yard, so kind of hard to barrier treat when they're already in the barrier.

I have had good results with this


https://www.lowes.com/pd/BAYER-ADVANCED-Carpenter-Ant-and-Termite-Killer-40-fl-oz-Concentrate-Termite-Killer/3018795

ABATTBQ11 said:

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Problem I have is that the playground is going to be wood and in the yard, so kind of hard to barrier treat when they're already in the barrier.

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It won't matter. Put a barrier around the structure or each place it touches the ground. The termites don't live in the wood. They have to travel back through the treatment to their Colony. Termidor or the generic Taurus is passed between termites. It's transferable and takes advantage of their social behavior, so you don't need every single one to get it from the structure, even a few will still be effective.

If that's not good enough for you then you can double down and you want to go with BoraCare and treat the structure itself. Not a bad option anyway because it preserves the wood by handling fungus and mold as well. It's good stuff. I've used this on 100 year old barns with active infestations and they are dead after one treatment. It soaks into the wood with a carrier and will remain active.

So I can just apply it to the top layer of the soil beneath the structure, cover it with the weed barrier and mulch, and be good?

ABATTBQ11 said:

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So I can just apply it to the top layer of the soil beneath the structure, cover it with the weed barrier and mulch, and be good?

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I would. But I would mix it in to the top 6" or whatever the instructions are for barrier treatments. If it's one of those wooden structures that has swings, and slides, and a little fort for kiddos, then I would just mix the stuff into the soil beneath any 'point' contacts, like where the swing set legs touch the ground. And then I would dig a trench around the bigger portions that are also on the ground.

Thanks! That's exactly what it is.

It's a pain in the neck, but I had one of these for the kids. I bought it used and rebuilt part is it with treated lumber. Any place that touched the ground, I tried to put concrete blocks under so as to minimize contact and reduce rot. You may want to do that but you'll have to bury the blocks a little if you're worried about kids busting their heads on the corners that stand proud of the ground. Any of the places I didn't add blocks and used ground rated treated lumber had rotted within 10 years.

By then, the kids had quite literally outgrown it and no longer played on it. So I disassembled it and turned the fort into a deer blind instead. Still sad at how quick the kids grew up and away from it.

Anyway, it's a cool thing and they will love it.