Termites in the ceiling
Dear readers,
We have ceilings throughout the house that are made with 'gypsum board', smoothed on the underside and painted white. Looked good until the termites discovered the thin layer of paper around the plaster.
Part of the ceiling has now come down and I am now looking for an alternative to the drywall.
Tiles (suspended ceiling) would be possible, but I find them very ugly.
Thin smartboard from eg SCG (thought the same as cement board) could be done, but the screws can't sink into it properly and so you get a nail ceiling, unless you use a very thick and therefore heavy coating with lime.
I am now looking for options for an aluminum ceiling. They exist in the Netherlands, I don't know them here. Don't know if it's nice in the living room either. And I suspect it's quite pricey.
Another possibility is to impregnate/paint the drywall with a product against termites that you can also apply to wood. But I wonder if that brown color will not quickly show through the white paint in the long run. And whether the effect of the poison does not diminish in the end. Does anyone have experience with that?
So a question, does anyone have any good ideas for a ceiling that is termite resistant and does anyone have experience with aluminum ceilings in Thailand?
For the record, I think the termites are a given, they are too many and are all over the land.
Regards,
Paul
I don't know if it helps you, but we use a service here (at Hua Hin) that sprays in and around our house every month. We've been doing this since the beginning of the year and we haven't had any ants in our house since. We had them everywhere last year. It costs 8000 baht per year.
I hope for your sake that the poison is only harmful to insects.
A major poison attack in the house every month does not seem healthy to me.
I'd at least check what they're using and then do some internet research on how harmful it is to humans.
If your termites are everywhere, you'll need to hire someone to destroy them. Not cheap, but in my opinion the only solution to not have your whole house eaten up.
When we first moved to Chiang Mai, there were beautiful wooden furniture in the garden. Half eaten by termites. We had these removed. Now spray around the house every now and then to keep these gluttons out
I've had drywall for years but without a protective layer and termites don't get in there.
Furthermore, an approach to termites is recommended; they have their house underground and if you can't do anything about it yourself, call the pest control service of the municipality that treats the soil under your house. But it is better not to grow vegetables or fruit or rice in your garden anymore because poison is sometimes used that is prohibited in the western world…..
Dear Erik,
Good advice. We have the same plates and never had a problem.
So my advice on this one.
Yours faithfully,
Erwin
Dear Paul, the only cheap solution is to apply regular fibro cement 6 mm plates, pre-drill them with a widea drill, the size of the head of the screw is +- 8 mm, so do not drill too deep, but deep enough to fit the screw. countersink and then screw in the screw with a battery machine. Done many times, good luck!!
If available: you could try to stretch concrete mesh over the entire ceiling and then plaster it off.
“Smoothed”? How often does that look really nice here in the tropics (or even in NL/BE). Sooner or later, but here really usually earlier, you will see where the seam was tried to “smooth away”. No matter how good that plasterer was. My advice: Treat those ceiling tiles just like tiles where you can still see the seam. Lay them in a neat pattern, just leave a gap between them for play, also with the wall. And especially no more plastering and filling. Gaps closed by what you hang them on, and just screw at neat distances. Then looks “honest”: “What you see is what you got”.
Here in the tropics, of course, no longer use plaster (even the best quality is also insufficiently moisture resistant), but indeed only (fibre reinforced) cement board. Also super fireproof. Make the frame strong enough for hanging, because depending on the thickness it can be a bit heavy. For ceiling, 6 mm max should certainly be sufficient.
Aluminum for ceiling no experience with it, but in terms of sound, imagine that something is scurrying around on your ceiling, even a very small mouse ...
Yes Ton, that would make noise. But I have experience with mice (which I would call rats here because of their size) and you always hear them very well. A cat works wonders by the way 🙂
That cat gets kittens playing and that makes even more noise. My mice are also more like rats, but meant that the smallest ones on Aluminum would already make noise…
I have good experience with plastic sheets from SGC.
Looks like a lath ceiling when mounted.
Great! You can enlarge screw holes in smartboard with a milling head or a thick drill so that the screw head sinks into the plate.
Thanks for the responses!
Eric and Erwin, never seen drywall (think 240×60) without paper, unless you mean tiles of 50×50. Where can you find them? I don't think Global house and DoHome have them.
Vwb poison spraying : There are fruit trees and vegetables are grown. Moreover, the 'puaks' are everywhere, not just at the house and I have seen what an expansive people they are.
You can indeed countersink screws in 6 mm smart(cement) board, but it seems to me to be very heavy. Will see if the hanging construction can be made heavier. Smartboard could then be a solution. Could you smooth it out properly?
Ton: It was a smooth ceiling for 14 years, the seams were covered with tape, never saw any seams.
Of course, the interesting question remains why the termites could suddenly reach the ceiling after 12 years, so there must be corridors somewhere that must now be found.
Adhesive tape is often a thin gauze material, width from 4 cm, which is pasted over the seams.
Then the entire ceiling is plastered.
Sometimes insects crawl further into the house through power lines.
Unscrew wall sockets, etc. and also spray as much as possible into the pipes.
Have your own GRC boards hung on aluminum racks. For complete 244 x 122 plates, also place one slat in the middle. Not just the seams. Can also carry that cat family "in the attic".
By the way, it's great that your ceiling has remained so good for 14 years! My advice was also for situations where not everything is AirCon and not everything is hermetically sealed. Success with one alternative, but I would never do it myself, which is easily flammable plastic.
Dear Paul,
You can simply get these plates at a hardware store.
They are indeed 50 x 50. Had to ask my wife.
Her family got it and placed it for us.
I'm in the Netherlands now and can't check this.
My advice: also ask Thai people about this, they know this.
I too have been informed by her family who are in construction.
Of course they know what is best with the Thai weather conditions and nature.
The last time we also had termites for the first time, but no bite
from the ceiling.
Yours faithfully,
Erwin