Using an outdoor exposure test, which employed a miniature house mimicking a real building, we examined the activities of termites both outside and inside the foundation in residential construction. In the non-treatment spot, termites entered from the sleeve for insertion pipe section of the foundation, passed through the end portions of the PE-sheets, went through the slight gap occurring in the corners of the concrete slab on the floor concrete, and constructed a termite tunnel at the internal corners of the foundation. In addition, the termite tunnel extended over the foundation packing,and the sill, stud, and plywood roof sheathing, showed feeding damages. The adhesion ratio of termite soil on the underside surface of the PE-sheet that was laid on the soil indicated that termites were very active on the entire surface underneath the PE-sheet. In the termite control treatment spot, we found no termite tunnel constructed inside the foundation even 7.9 years after treatment. The adhesion ratio of termite soil on the PE-sheet was half that in the nontreatment spot, and no adhesion of new termite soil was observed. This result shows that termite control treatment was effective in intrusion prevention of termites.
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