Will cellulose insulation treated with boric acid take care of the silver fish in the attic or create food fest?
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| Posted in Energy Efficiency and Durability on
I have had a silver fish problem in my attic forever and have attempted to rid the problem through use of boric acid to no avail. We are getting ready to do energy efficiency measures in the attic. We are going to air seal and insulate and I was thinking about using blown in cellulose which is laced with boric acid. However, since the boric acid has not worked thus far, am I going to exacerbate the silver fish problem by providing a food source? Does anyone know how to get rid of the pesky creatures? Should I use fiberglass blown in instead?
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As far as I can tell from some online research, silverfish infestations are associated with high humidity. (I've never had this problem, so I will defer to any expert who shows up.)
I'm wondering why your attic would be humid. Most attics are very dry. If you don't have a roof leak, you might have air leaks in your ceiling that allow humid interior air to enter your attic.
Boric acid is toxic to all common household insects, including silverfish. The previous applications may not have properly targeted the buggers. Your best bet would be to use cellulose with boric acid. Fiberglass will not prevent insect infestations and encourages rodent infestation.
Regarding the humidity issue...our bathroom did ventilate into the attic until about two years ago. We rerouted them to the exterior and treated the attic heavily around the areas they seemed to be nesting. Yet, our infestation this spring is worse than it has ever been. We have bombed our attic at 6 times the recommended rate and used boric acid but still have silverfish! We do live in a valley which tends to be more humid than other locations and we live in a very humid state, Missouri. Will cellulose make this situation worse? Any other ideas?
It may be the application method, not the product. I learned this from a Ph D Bugologist who is also a decades-long professional bug killer. "Common knowledge": Boric acid is a common product for killing ants; dump it around, and it kills them. "From the Bugologist": However, they don't take it back to the nest, because they die too quickly. This helps little (as was my experience for years). I switched to a synthetic pyruviate (sp), at Doc Bug's suggestion, and in a day the ants were gone, never to return (2 yrs now). I have no idea if syn pyruv will work on silver fish, but I do know you may want to contact a professional bug killer. Feed them poison they can take home w/ them.
Thanks for the suggestions. I will check into a different type of poison.