We use term barrier by polyguard. One of the municipalities that we work in mandated we have a physical barrier. Since, we have implemented on all our ICF homes. We build primarily in Tampa, FL and surrounding markets.

I did get termites in my house in Southern Illinois about 5 years ago. My friend also got termites in a window frame in his ICF house. It happens. I'm not convinced your ICF supplier is being completely honest. Anyway, I did have my foundation pre-treated and I do have a pest control company inspect every year. The termites in my house came through the foam in an unknown location, up to a wood door buck (treated), either through the buck or between the buck and the concrete, into a baseboard in bedroom, to a closet wall down to the basement and then to the basement base board, which is where I discovered it. I pulled the drywall off and they were eating the paper off the back of the drywall. The pest company rodded around the outside of the foundation every foot or so and injected chemical. Pretreating the foundation works, but once you backfill you don't have any pretreated soil next to your house. I used mulch for landscaping, but I'm now slowly replacing the mulch with rock. I think the mulch provided a food source, and then they traveled down and into the foam.

Wish we had all this info 16 years ago when building our 2nd Owner builder home but we weren’t sold on ICF then and had little support from ICF industry. Even 6 years ago there wasn’t this many videos when researching for our new ICF home. Some brands had a good arsenal of videos but we found they had little support locally to us. We chose Nudura after finding a kind of close 2 hrs away distributer that was also a builder and providing him with some free labor in exchange for the knowledge. In the end this also gave us free use of his bracing and allot of 3/4 flat stock lumber he reused for each of his projects. We started by gathering enough block for below grade that was manufactured with Prevental in the foam but I believe they have now stopped selling this. We stacked the first 2 rows with this block when doing our mono footer and stem wall pour. When forming our footers we treated soil below and inside and outside of the footer with Taurus SC soil treatment. Once the stem wall and footer were poured we applied Polyguard Term barrier with Shurtac to the exterior and around all penetrations. We then began to backfill and compact inside and outside the stem wall in 6 inch lifts and treated soil along the inside and outside walls. Prior to plastic in our area of Central Florida you have to let the pest control company into your wallet to get a piece of paper for your CO. I’m guessing what they sprayed was a good builder grade 1 to 2 year treatment but once gone we treated entire area under slab with Taurus SC before installing plastic to make sure it was a mix of .08 percent what is required per instructions. When forming for the slab which was designed to cap the entire stem wall foam off from first floor we also placed a 6 inch galvanized flashing into the slab around the exterior perimeter which now sticks out around an inch. From what we read this acts as a break pushing any insects to the outside making them visible. This maybe overkill but at the time a 72 oz bottle of Taurus treatment was only 80 bucks. Term barrier was not cheap but was worth the piece of mind. Once complete and anytime we poured any concrete around the perimeter we treated the soil and then a final treatment after landscaping. One thing we also found was Taurus is now used as a ant treatment and it is what I use every six months to treat the the exterior perimeter of the house 2 ft up the stem wall and two foot of ground away from the stem wall. This is what we did for our area as we are on a heavily treed lot and have found termites all over our property. Looking back now since our house foot print is small at 48 x 36 I would have done stacked CMU block filled with grout then the slab then ICF. We did stack block or our rear porch and it was not that difficult if you put your head down and knock it out. For our interior and roof system we sprayed all lumber with Timber wood treatment and also put Timbor powder on bottom plates of all interior walls. After watching Lake Lot build YT channel I think we would have went with ICF roof deck but again we didn’t see much support for it in our area 6 years ago. This was our process for the area we live in and hope it helps someone planning to build with ICF. I know most people’s version of Owner builder is different and if you plan to use Subs do your research on the process and plan to be onsite watching them as they will cut any corner they can. We have built in New England, Florida and Pennsylvania only to find a lousy Sub contractor is the same everywhere. A good one is so busy you will not be even be on their radar to call you back.

In my opinion ICF is the best way to keep your house save from tornados, hurricanes and more. If you going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house why not have a strong house. This video was very helpful and enjoyed watching it. A little word but great information on thermite barrier.

GREAT STUFF! Appreciate the opinion and factual representations of your presentation.

Buddy recently retired was a State inspector who spent yrs. investigating bad actors in pest control, and his words; the termite guys are THE worst. Said they all cheat, but the injector stuff & timecrelease pods are all crap, only thing that worked at all is something (can't recall the name) spread in a continuous trench around the house - but even done right it doesn't last. Rip out those foundation plantings and get rid of the mulch for starters. Cementing exterior finish sealing tight to foundation waterproofing all of the way to the footing will eliminate their path. Here in coastal mid Atlantic they are very serious and wide spread issue. Warranties & insurance = checks in the mail. They make their money by not giving you any - common sense. And no, more chemicals that only work a little are definitely NOT a solution.

I was looking forward to this video, you didn't disappoint. Thanks.

Awesome video! And that was great info on using sand integrated with the washed stone for a termite barrier!

thanks for breaking this down; building an ICF home here in Florida. This will help alleviate my wife's worries on the termite issue.

It was very good informational video, like the sand backfill. Thank You for the video appreciate it

I'm impressed with the termite barriers. Microscopic mesh that goes around the slab penetrations. The membranes impregnated with the mesh seal air, water and termites in a single operation.

A friend of mine was asking me about this as he was doing research and I remembered you were going to do a video. Sent this right over, good info

Great content, it would be better with a few sketches. I'm in Oz, everywhere there is a termite problem. I have built my own house with ICF 18 years ago in the bush. You must have terminte mitigation in your building plan. We use metal flashing something similiar to what you showed, between the slab and the walls. ICF is not a food source for termites, I think cold joints are only concern. I did a basement, with no termite mitigation, but nothing in the basement to eat. Cheers from Oz

You mentioned the termites having to tunnel 10+ feet to get to a food source. I immediately thought of wood siding products. They would only need to tunnel a foot then they would be into the exterior siding. Even if you use some type of stone veneer or stucco, the mechanism used to create your air gap so the veneer can dry may be a wood/food source. As mentioned in a comment above, the window frame was a food source prior to the roof line. I am concerned about the off gassing of the termicide under the foundation. Radon is bad enough and the leading cause of lung cancer in non smokers. We are now introducing more chemicals under the house that can be lifted by another gas. Treat but also apply a barrier between the slab and earth. Great video, thanks.

what if you don't even use wood in the roof structure? ;-) I've seen someone on here make their roof out of steel and concrete

Well, I did wonder about termites BECAUSE an ICF home in E. Texas got ants which absolutely made their home in the exterior styrofoam and when it was dug up to determine the problem they had gone as far down as 5 feet. This wasn't one colony, there were four (two on one side, one ea on two more sides) and they tunneled 5 to 8 feet across too. The homeowner was not living there since this is a lake house ie: vacation home) on one of the big reservoirs we have here so didn't see the 'mound' of styrofoam tailings at each infestation to catch it earlier. The above ground exposed ICF is covered with mesh reinforced stucco then a peal & stick below ground with but that did not stop the ants. After digging down to strip off all the damaged styrofoam and replace it and the peal n stick he had a company come in and pressure inject some long term poison at one foot intervals from the surface down two feet. And yes, it was without contract / warranty. Note this is three ICF walls sunken into a hillside for the first story and the second story is stick construction. The soil rises to within about a foot of the top of the rear wall. And no I have no idea why the ants liked living in the styrofoam so much.. Easy to dig in and it was warm and dry through the winter??

I like your reasoning.

really informative. Thanks.

FACT; Termites will only travel 9” (that’s nine inches), in any direction. If they don’t find food, they stop. So, if your bottom course of block is solidly connected to you footing, but below grade, you’ll have no problems. The cases where termites have appeared in block, can easily be traced to shoddy construction. Many builders, when initially treating for infestations, DO NOT treat the footing excavation before pouring the concrete. If they did so, you have very little trouble with infestations.

Treated wood as a bottom plate for icf walls is what we use. I am sure that would help to some extent.

Well that leaves it as fuzzy as it was to begin with.

Termites love foam. They use the foam as a super highway and get all over your house in different areas in no time flat. I've seen this is southern louisiana a couple times already, including my own house.

I am personally familiar with the process of discovery that termites “MAY” invade an ICF home. It started in NC/SC in the early 1990’s. I personally talked with the research person who originally was the primary presenter of the termite problem and her report before the NC Builders group, and the NC government inspections people. There is a very interesting story here, and it involves homes in the panhandle of FL to the NC coast.

Great topic but what I walked away with is, 1) always use a combination water/termite barrier, and 2) minimize the use of wood in ICF construction. Termites typically only ascend from the foundation if there is wood in close proximity to earth. Recommend use of visuals and keeping videos under 15 minutes.

Thanks for the info

Hey! Great video! How about ants? Same problem and solutions as for termites? Greetings from Sweden!

26:26 "someone can chuck a jar of termites..." - so funny :) Thank you for such an informative content. I am about to start my dream ICF house on Marco Island, FL. FoxBlocks ICF walls + InsulDeck flat ICF roof. Decided to build a stem wall out of CMU blocks and ICF above that. My architect is telling me about the spike in ICF demand in Florida, but there are very few ICF builders. I am planning DIY, but will need to hire some help for the pour. Thank you again!

Does anyone have any thoughts on parging the entire surface of an ICF wall from the footing to just above grade as an effective termite barrier?

How effective would it be to use comfort board from the footings all the way to the roof for the control of termites.

Also, I'm not so sure about using sand. Sand always seems to be wet and retain moisture below grade. It could be a month of dry weather and I can pull up a paver and the sand will still be wet. Just an opinion. I do think that wire mesh is a good idea. As I'm replacing the mulch with rock around my foundation, I've been putting wire lath up against my waterproofing because mice are gnawing through the water proofing and into the foam in places. I have clean rock from the footer to about 1-2 feel below grade so I'm digging to the rock and placing the wire lath between grade and rock. It's pretty cheap but it's not small enough to control termites. Thanks for posting these videos!

I might suggest that you confer with a structural pest control specialist, i.e. a board-certified entomologist, regarding this instead of construction contractors who rely only on anecdotal information.

I think Nudura offers a boron treated foam

Refresh your termite video please I like your videos thank you for sharing them

Great comments on termites and ICF, I think the Polyguard type barriers are the way to go. You mention you're into cutting-edge technologies, have you done research on using Helix Micro Rebar to minimize your use of tradition Rebar and wood forming framing in your concrete mix pours? Especially in your monopour using FastFoot which itself reducing moisture intrusion into footings and migrating up into the walls. Your thoughts...

concrete bottom and concrete roof no wood and medal doors rubber or plastic base boards and crown modeling but no wood threw the whole house so where do you have to worry about the termites

Happened to my home 25 years ago …

Eps is not. Food source, butt they love to burrow in that nice warm area-think of it like a highway not a refrigerator

Feedback!! In Montana, we have carpenter ants. Same mitigations as for termites? Pls comment🐜🐜🐜

Northeast Texas: how we deal with termites? 😅 we build another inefficient McMansion out of twisted 2x4s when the house collapses on itself 😅 Honestly, the build quality here is beyond subpar. In the town I live, here are the requirements when building a new home- 1. It can't be a camper trailer 2. Minimum 500 square feet 😅 That's it! No code, no inspection...

16 ounce copper sill flashing with a least 4 inches visible to the outside

Ok, but lots of you tubes later… I haven’t seen a single documented case of this hypothetical. Have you? Send a link.

Anyone used Logic treated ICF? Any evidence of success with their TX Series treated with Imadacloprid for secondary layer of protection against termites?

Do you Travel To Houston TX to build ICF?

You are never going to stop nature from entering a home, the most you can do is minimize the losing battle of keeping them out. They will find a way in.

You can build termite traps and the poison the termites! If you live in a termite area and want to protect your house bury your traps and monitor them every month with a temp gun or visual it takes minutes each month. If they are there you will detect them.

Why not just cut the foam away for a foot at ground level?

If you dig a six inch x six inch trench around your outer wall perimeter and flood it with the proper concentration of Termidor non-repellent termiticide solution you shouldn't have any problems with Mr. Termite for at least 10 years, probably more. .

I built an ICF home in 2001. Lived in it for 10 years. The home is in central Florida, which is a hot spot for subterranean termites. There is NO issues with termites and ICF. Subterranean termites get to your wood structure via tunnels built on the outside your home from the ground level. Dry wood termites enter your home by flying into the attic structure. Termite companies can’t certify because they can’t improve on an ICF home.

Termite warranty is about as good as a politicians word. It’s worthless!

Dude thanks for the info but the vide could be half as long if you get to the point.

I’m sorry, but you are giving out bad info about termites here.