We have termites. This isn’t new information, but until we started our garage demo, I had no clue just how many termites.

After a brief moment of utter hopelessness- “let’s tear everything down and build a metal tiny house” – we decided to go to war with the termites. So, to the internet we went.

There is an array of information and it’s like wading through a shipwreck, trying to find something that will work: spray the area with vinegar and lemon juice, sprinkle with tea tree oil, paint with boric acid infused water, or just plain move.

A lot of the websites state that without professional help, all hope is lost. But I’m stubborn. And it’s hard to get professionals out to our rural area.

So, we’re attempting to tackle the process ourselves with a mixture of boric acid sprayed outside and these advanced termite bait stations that are supposedly what the professionals use. We used this handy drill attachment, which will be nice when it comes time to plant some of the established plants in my garden next year.

We’re a week in and it seems like we’re making some headway. The termites we’ve seen on the outside of the garage (having been displaced by us removing the infected wood) hate the boric acid water mixture and we’ve seen a couple in the bait stations, eating what I call the gateway bait. After they’re hooked on that, we’ll swap it out for the real bait . (Affiliate link)

I haven’t ruled out having professionals come help, but they’re still booked months out (as they only come to our area infrequently).

I’d love to hear your (not horrifying!) experiences with tackling termites. What helped? What didn’t? If you hired professionals, did they do anything more than you could have done yourself?