Pest treatment under liner

[Chief2505]

So I have a one year old liner that has been leaking for sometime. Like since right after they installed it last year! Fast forward to this year, they come out, fix a leak around the light, find a small hole that was still below the water line. Lots of water under the liner, they pull liner loose, put pump under liner and remove water. They start refilling the pool and 12 hours later the liner is floating all the way up to the waterline. They drain the pool again, pump out the water under the liner again. Go looking and find a big tear in the liner so they fix that. They then go to the deep end and find literally hundreds of pinholes! They say they have no clue what put the pinholes there!

I think I might have an ant or termite problem under the liner. We have no other idea as to what it might be other than ants or termites. They have ordered a new liner to be installed. But I want to put something under the liner before they install the new one to stop the ants or termites. What would you suggest that will not hurt the liner from underneath?

 

[Mdragger88]

Bifenithrin or Taurus sc
There are granular and liquid forms of both.
Taurus (fipronil) is supposed to last 10 years I bought liquid at domyown pest control.
Bifen/ bifenthrin is available at most co ops

 

[Chief2505]

Bifenithrin or Taurus sc
There are granular and liquid forms of both.
Taurus (fipronil) is supposed to last 10 years I bought liquid at domyown pest control.
Bifen/ bifenthrin is available at most co ops

Would I spray the pool walls and floor before they put the liner in? The deep end is 8' deep so I would think I would need to spray the floor of the pool before they put the liner in. The side walls are steel and I am not certain what the bottom or the sloped portion of the deep end walls is made of.
Or would I drill through my concrete patio all around the pool and spray the chemical in there? Similar to what you would do in a garage or patio up against a house.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Mdragger88]

I would venture to say that your initial leak likely attracted your pests. With that in mind, I suspect once you treat the current issue you’ll probably be fine later no matter what method you choose.
Taurus is a non repellent termiticide that is also effective on ants.
termites can eat alot of things but steel isn’t one of them so spraying the steel will likely be of no consequence. I would treat the dirt/sand/vermiculite with it. For it to be effective for subterranean termites it needs to have contact with them and then they spread it to each other without knowing they have been poisoned. There are very specific instructions for maintaining the 10 year soil claims. Aka rodding or trenching.
Sprayed topically its efficacy is not proven to last that long although many people do it. It does have lingering consequences so you should be careful with it especially where children and pets are exposed.

Bifenthrin is a repellent insecticide which will kill what it touches directly but also alert others which then avoid it so it isn’t as effective against a whole termite colony persay. The repellent factor however may be what you want in this situation.
It lasts 3-6 months when sprayed- some concentrations claim 1 year. Hidden under a liner it could potentially be longer.
I suggest you do some research to determine your next course of action. Including determining what the pest was if you can.
Reddit’s termites & pest control subreddits are a wealth of information.

Either one (bifen or Taurus) sprayed topically in the area will rid you of either pest it comes in contact with for now but if it’s termites they may just move somewhere else- especially since they were already disturbed. If you’re already under a termite contract you can have them treat around the pool as well with bait stations etc. for insurance to encompass your pool in the perimeter treatment of your home.
We did our own rodding treatment on our house at our own risk - it had been done previously so it was just removing the plugs and using the correct mix and amounts.
As far as I know doing this to your concrete pool deck specifically is not super common so I cannot suggest you start drilling holes in your deck.

I do however suggest treating your yard and around the pool & house for ants/bugs every 6 months with bifenthrin going forward.

We also use the spectracide termite stakes around our perimeter as a diy solution and replace them yearly.

It’s easy to get worked up over an infestation like this that has caused damage and want to go crazy with every option but do your homework with a level head and then decide which treatment route you want to take based on your situation and what’s involved as each has their pros and cons.

 

[Chief2505]

I would venture to say that your initial leak likely attracted your pests. With that in mind, I suspect once you treat the current issue you’ll probably be fine later no matter what method you choose.
Taurus is a non repellent termiticide that is also effective on ants.
termites can eat alot of things but steel isn’t one of them so spraying the steel will likely be of no consequence. I would treat the dirt/sand/vermiculite with it. For it to be effective for subterranean termites it needs to have contact with them and then they spread it to each other without knowing they have been poisoned. There are very specific instructions for maintaining the 10 year soil claims. Aka rodding or trenching.
Sprayed topically its efficacy is not proven to last that long although many people do it. It does have lingering consequences so you should be careful with it especially where children and pets are exposed.

Bifenthrin is a repellent insecticide which will kill what it touches directly but also alert others which then avoid it so it isn’t as effective against a whole termite colony persay. The repellent factor however may be what you want in this situation.
It lasts 3-6 months when sprayed- some concentrations claim 1 year. Hidden under a liner it could potentially be longer.
I suggest you do some research to determine your next course of action. Including determining what the pest was if you can.
Reddit’s termites & pest control subreddits are a wealth of information.

Either one (bifen or Taurus) sprayed topically in the area will rid you of either pest it comes in contact with for now but if it’s termites they may just move somewhere else- especially since they were already disturbed. If you’re already under a termite contract you can have them treat around the pool as well with bait stations etc. for insurance to encompass your pool in the perimeter treatment of your home.
We did our own rodding treatment on our house at our own risk - it had been done previously so it was just removing the plugs and using the correct mix and amounts.
As far as I know doing this to your concrete pool deck specifically is not super common so I cannot suggest you start drilling holes in your deck.

I do however suggest treating your yard and around the pool & house for ants/bugs every 6 months with bifenthrin going forward.

We also use the spectracide termite stakes around our perimeter as a diy solution and replace them yearly.

It’s easy to get worked up over an infestation like this that has caused damage and want to go crazy with every option but do your homework with a level head and then decide which treatment route you want to take based on your situation and what’s involved as each has their pros and cons.

I have decided that since my neighbor is a bug guy and he inspects my house every year for termites that I am going to call him and hire him to address my problem. That will give me a lot more piece of mind than my guessing and hoping. I am still a bit perplexed as to why the pool company has not mentioned the possibility of bugs eating the liner instead of blaming it on a stick stuck in the robot.

Thank you so much for your time and patience!