Six Ways Homeowners Can Invite Termites We recently treated a home in Carlsbad where the homeowner’s front fascia was riddled with nail holes from hanging Christmas lights. Eventually, the wood became completely infested with drywood termites. Unfortunately, these termites weren’t in the Christmas spirit. They took advantage of those nail holes as potential entry points
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Creating Termite Reports My last post discussed the Field Worksheet. That’s what a termite inspector creates during a termite inspection. It is often a crude diagram filled with codes and markings that would make little to zero sense to a homeowner. The California Structural Pest Control Board, the governing body of the pest control industry,
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The Field Worksheet The graph produced by the termite inspector during a termite inspection becomes the foundation of the official termite report. When the graph is drawn by hand, it is created on a field worksheet. The field worksheet consists of two pages. The first page contains spaces for the customer’s name, address, phone number,
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Termite Reports You think you have termites. You schedule an inspection with a local termite company. The inspector arrives carrying a clipboard or a tablet. There’s a greeting, maybe some back-and-forth about your house and its termite history. You show the inspector what’s going on and explain why you called. Then the inspector gets quiet,
Swarming Day Drywood termite swarming season spans from August to November. They swarm on hot and humid days. The number one termite activity that leads to tenting is swarming. After experiencing a swarm, even the most steadfast against fumigation will relent. Apparently, drywood termites don’t celebrate Labor Day. Or maybe they do, and they all
Heat August is the month when most termite inspectors and technicians start questioning their career choices. This has been one of the hottest Augusts I’ve experienced in my fifteen-plus years living in San Diego. But it’s the humidity that has really gotten my attention. If I was ever feeling homesick for Philadelphia, this month’s humidity
No Room to Spare I’m a rangy 6’2″, and many of my customers take one look at me and express their doubts about my ability to circumvent their attics. Most California attics don’t have enough room to stand up in, much less walk around. Most of the time, I need to crawl on my hands
Working Smarter in the Termite Business I consider myself a creative person. Whenever I find a way to perform part of my job more efficiently—whether as a termite company owner, inspector, or technician—I’m eager to adopt it. Over the years I’ve developed a few simple systems and tools that make me more productive while also
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The Hidden Costs of Fumigation When I provide homeowners with quotes for both fumigation and a local treatment with borates, many compare only the upfront costs. Sometimes they’ll say, “It’s not much more to tent.” What they’re often overlooking are the additional expenses that come with fumigation. Hotel Stays You’ll need somewhere to stay for
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Why Aren’t Homes Built to Resist Termites? When homeowners discover termites in their homes, they often wonder why we build houses out of wood in the first place. It’s a fair question. Considering that termites, fungi, and other wood-destroying organisms are constantly trying to consume the very materials our homes are built from, wood-framed construction
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