Happy New Year from A.N.T.T.S = A North Texas Termite Specialist. Well a new year is here and a new year of termite control / inspections are upon us. Every year we see a increase in termite inspections for real estate transactions referred to as a WDI report. Most lenders don’t require them but a fair share still do. If I were investing over a 100k for a new or older home I would for sure want to know if some little critters were eating my investment or how to prevent them ? Both of which you can learn when you have a professional termite inspector come look at the home you intend on buying. When we do a WDI termite report we are not just looking for active termites but also inactive prior termites and conducive conditions. Finding conducive condition can be as important as finding active termites. Some of these conditions can be found on even a brand new home such as form boards left in place, high soil grade from planters boxes etc. Most landscapers don’t really care about the mulch and soil they put around your home they just dump it on the ground and spread it out to look good not thinking about how high on the foundation it is. Most every home I look at has a few conditions that may be considered to be conducive in the eyes of a inspector. Tree limbs on the roof, bushes touching the home, wood siding sitting on the ground and the most common one is firewood stacked next to the home. Take a walk around your home and look for some of these and I’m sure you will see something that needs to be lowered, trimmed or removed. Now to talk about actually treating termites if you do find them during a remodel project or have a inspector come out and termites are found. We are asked quite frequently if we can just treat the spot where the termites are ? The answer is yes! We can do a spot termite treatment and it will be quite effective in that area we treat. With the use of Termidor we can spot treat and be pretty sure the product will not move them to another area due to it’s non-repellency factors. But there is always the possibility that termites have started to attack another area of your home that has not been located yet. They can tunnel up from a hairline crack in the floor or tunnel up from a pipe or electrical entry ? You just never know unless you name is Clark Kent ? We keep hoping for that new tool that will enable us to see through walls and there are a few that come close but not anything as of yet that will let us look into the wall without cutting a hole. So if you plan on owning your home for a long time or just want to do it right the first time we suggest doing what is referred to as a perimeter plus treatment. It’s when you find a active area inside the home and treat that area plus preventatively treat the whole perimeter. When treating the perimeter this includes putting the correct amount of product according to the label by means of trenching, roding and drilling. All of which sound destructive but if given a chance to see a home we treat you would see the whole idea is to leave the home as you found it. Trenching is digging a small trench next to the foundation just enough to hold the product next to the slab. Drilling is on patios where they meet the house and of course you cannot trench that area so we continue our perimeter treatment by drilling 1/2 to 5/8 holes straight through the patio about 12 inches apart then use a rod connected to a hose and tank to pump the product under the patio next to slab joints. Then we plug each hole and cement them to look good and if done right looks like they belong there. In these days of saving the environment I see the spot treatment option as a pretty safe alternative to the full perimeter only because my experience with the use of Termidor and seeing how effective it can be and know it will not move the termites to another area. This reduces the amount of chemical being put out and still takes care of the immediate threat to your home. We then suggest having the rest of the home inspected more frequently. Of course this hurts our bottom line financially but it all equals out in the end we say! So remember look around your home and reduce your chances by removing conducive conditions and have your home professionally inspected often. Happy New Year and a safe 2012.

On January 8, 2012   /   Home Inspections, Pest Control, Termites