The owners of a country house in Carignan, on the South Shore, contacted us after discovering carpenter ants in the walls of their basement as well as mice in the bathroom closet. The property, built on a large wooded lot on the banks of the Richelieu River, is supplied with water by an artesian well and has a septic tank. This configuration differs significantly from a house in an urban area connected to municipal networks: the plumbing network is shorter, but the connections with the natural soil are much more numerous and the points of penetration of pests are different. A smoke test suitable for rural properties has been planned to locate all access roads.
Specifics of a property with autonomous systems
In a well-fed house with a septic tank, the plumbing system ends directly in the foundation with no municipal manhole accessible from the street. The smoke test had to be adapted accordingly: the smoke was introduced through the floor drain of the mechanical room, after temporary sealing of the shower drain and the kitchen trap. The technicians of our team in Carignan took care to check the condition of the septic tank beforehand to avoid any gas backflow during the test, a mandatory step when the network is autonomous.
The results were particularly revealing in this rural context. Smoke was detected at the outlet of the underground power cable inlet where the conduit runs under the foundation wall. This entrance, often ignored because it is perceived as a simple cable passage, is in fact a direct entry route from the outside ground for carpenter ants that run along the cables to the heat of the subsoil. Smoke was also found in the joint between the sump pump discharge pipe and the concrete floor, as well as in a freeze crack in the northwest corner of the foundation, the result of a particularly severe freeze-thaw cycle.
Corrective treatments and envelope reinforcement
The electrical conduit correction consisted of filling the gap between the cable and the conduit with an electrically neutral sealing gel and then applying a finishing mortar to the entrance to the wall. The gasket around the sump pipe was redone with a stainless steel hose clamp and a polyurethane sealant cord. The gel crack was injected with flexible epoxy resin, which was able to absorb slight seasonal variations without cracking again, and then a layer of water-repellent elastomeric membrane on the outer side. The caulking of all entry points has been exhaustively documented, with particular attention to areas close to trees where roots can exert progressive pressure on the foundation.
A camera inspection of the house’s drain was also carried out in addition to the smoke test, to check the condition of the pipes in the ground and to detect any displacements caused by the roots. This dual approach, smoke testing and camera inspection, is particularly recommended for rural properties in Carignan and neighbouring municipalities such as Marieville or Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu, where proximity to forest vegetation increases the risk of pipe deterioration. For more examples of our work in this type of environment, check out our Rural Smoke Test Performance.
Seasonal follow-up and long-term prevention
Rural properties require special attention in the fall, when rodents are looking to settle for the winter, and in the spring, when the thaw creates new stresses on the foundation. Nova Extermination offers a biannual visit package for this type of property that includes a visual inspection of sealed areas, preventive replacement of perimeter traps and flashing checks. The homeowners were also given advice on managing the vegetation around the house, including the importance of maintaining a clear space of thirty centimetres between the stored firewood and the walls of the building, so as not to create a bridge between the natural environment and the envelope of the house.