1. Your Home May Already Be Under a Termite Warranty

When you buy a home, it’s often already under a termite warranty. To achieve termite clearance — which is required for most mortgages — a home usually must either be fumigated or receive a comprehensive termite treatment. Those treatments often come with full-structure warranties.

But because the termite companies involved typically work closely with realtors, many buyers never realize a warranty exists. This is one reason many termite companies like working with realtors: there are usually fewer return visits and fewer follow-up inspections.

I recently inspected a home where the homeowner discovered new termite evidence. I always ask customers how long they’ve lived in their home. When he told me it had been less than a year, I asked whether the house had been tented. He said no, so I asked to see the termite inspection report from the home sale. From that report, I discovered he had a two-year warranty. Instead of paying me for a redundant treatment, he was able to call the previous company and have the new areas treated at no cost.

2. Call a Termite Company as Soon as You See Evidence

A lot of homeowners think termites are like mold — that suddenly their entire house becomes infested overnight. But termites usually start in isolated areas.

If you open your cream cheese and find mold, unless you’re my mom, you probably throw the whole container away. Termites are different. You may have only one localized area of activity that can be treated quickly, affordably, and without the hassle of fumigation.

This is also a good opportunity to “interview” termite companies. Have a few companies inspect the home and choose the one that makes the most sense to you.

What you should not do is assume tenting is inevitable and procrastinate until fumigation actually becomes necessary.

3. Doing Nothing Will Cost More

Homeowners usually have three choices when they discover termites:

• Call a termite company
• Attempt to treat the area themselves
• Do nothing and hope the problem goes away

Termites do not magically disappear. The droppings may stop appearing in one area, but the termites are probably active somewhere else — often in a location that’s harder to access.

Instead of dealing with a smaller issue in a less expensive and less intrusive manner, delaying treatment often leads to the need for fumigation later.

4. DIY Treatments Often Make Things Worse

As bad as doing nothing can be, trying to treat termites yourself may cost even more money in the long run.

Most over-the-counter termite products kill only on contact, and termites can often detect the chemical. If the product doesn’t kill them immediately, they simply avoid the area. Killing worker termites is a lot like killing a trail of ants — the colony just replaces them.

I once visited a homeowner with a termite-infested wood-paneled ceiling. I could see every spot where he had attempted treatment. The ceiling looked like a Jackson Pollock painting because of all the water stains, patching compounds, and drill marks. He was facing thousands of dollars in repairs and still had termites.

5. Let the Inspector Decide What’s Necessary

If you immediately tell a termite inspector that you “need to tent,” there’s a good chance you’ll receive a half-hearted inspection.

The inspector may simply measure the house and document the obvious areas of infestation. But that’s not what you want. You want a thorough inspection that identifies every area of activity so that, in the future, you’ll know what evidence is old and what evidence is new.

You also want attic activity documented and old termite evidence cleaned or masked. Otherwise, old droppings may later be mistaken for new activity.

This is especially important because fumigations can fail. It’s rare, but it happens. One of the only ways to verify success is by properly cleaning or masking old evidence so future inspections can clearly identify whether any new activity exists.

And most importantly, you may not need to tent at all.

6. Whether to Tent Is Ultimately Your Decision

Unless your home is being sold and requires termite clearance, the decision to fumigate is yours.

There are legitimate reasons homeowners choose not to tent:

• Fumigation provides no residual protection
• Tenting is a major inconvenience
• Fumigation is harsh on the environment

One of my favorite types of customers is the homeowner who is firmly against tenting. Together, we manage the termite activity through alternative treatments and ongoing inspections. Years later, I’ll inspect the home again and find no new termite activity. The house doesn’t fall apart, and because the products we use remain in the wood, the structure is often more termite-resistant than when we started.

7. A Good Termite Company Should Help You, Not Pressure You

The termite industry has a reputation for high-pressure sales tactics, and unfortunately, some of that reputation is deserved. Homeowners should never feel rushed into expensive treatments they don’t fully understand.

A good termite company should explain your options clearly, answer questions honestly, and focus on solving the problem in the least invasive and most effective way possible.

At California Termite, we provide honest, thorough, and free termite inspections. Our goal is to help homeowners understand what’s happening in their homes and determine the most practical solution possible.

If you think you may have termites, give us a call today.