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Tent Fumigation For Structural Pests
- Expensive, hazardous but sometimes needed -
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Summary: Tent fumigation involves using a poison gas or hot air to eliminate insect and/or fungal pests from a structure. Both methods are expensive and may be hazardous. For some pests, and certain situations, it is the only method available however.
Jack DeAngelis, PhD
OSU Ext. Entomologist (ret.)
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What is tent fumigation?
 Fumigation is a method of pest control in which a pesticidal gas, or sometimes hot air alone, is used to eliminate an infestation of insects or decay fungi. Fumigation is commonly used in agriculture to control insect pests and diseases in the soil and grain storage facilities. Tent, or structure fumigation is used to treat infestations of certain pests that such as drywood termites that are not easily controlled any other way (see What are Drywood Termites?). In this case the entire structure is enclosed within a gas-tight tent made of coated tarp or plastic sheets.
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Tarp-style tent fumigation of a small warehouse. Photo by Art Antonelli
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How is tent fumigation done?
Structures are first enclosed in an airtight plastic or cloth "tent". Pesticidal gas is then released into the enclosure and allowed to remain for a specified time after which the tent is opened and allowed to vent. In recent years techniques have been developed that use hot air instead of pesticidal gas as the fumigant. Hot air fumigation is not available in all areas but is a safer alternative to poison gas fumigation for some applications.
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Clear plastic fumigation tent covering house. Photo by USDA.
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Are there disadvantages of fumigation?
Yes. Fumigation in general suffers from several drawbacks. It is very expensive and must be performed by an experienced pest control operator and it is inherently hazardous, especially fumigation that uses poison gas. Structure fumigation may also require vacating the property for one to several days. And, since it leaves no residual protection behind, structures may become re-infested at anytime after the job is completed.
Despite these drawbacks, fumigation is sometimes the only practical approach that will eliminate an existing infestation of certain insect and fungal pests. The decision whether or not to fumigate is complex but usually comes down to balancing the cost of fumigation, often thousands of dollars, against the cost of additional damage if you do nothing. See Selecting Pest Control Services before making the decision to hire these services.
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Mission: To provide accurate, up-to-date and unbiased information for solving common insect and mite problems around your home, business and landscape using least-toxic methods.
Jack DeAngelis, Ph.D.
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