Every year, termites in the United States cause millions of dollars worth of damage to homes and businesses. They can cost you a lot of money if you don’t fix or replace them. If you wait a long time to fix a problem, your house or building may need major repairs. Call now for a termite home inspection.
We do inspections based on what the real estate business needs. Our office staff is here to help you order a termite report as easily as possible. If you want to buy or sell a home in Orange County, Inland Empire, or San Diego County, you will need a full termite inspection report. We put together a team of termite inspection experts with more than 100 years of experience between them. Our licensed termite inspectors will go to the property and look carefully for damage and signs of an infestation. Once the report is done, our technicians will give it to whoever comes first: the buyer or the seller. We check both homes and businesses. We want to meet your needs and exceed your expectations.
In Orange County, Inland Empire, and San Diego County, there are two kinds of termites. We see both termites that live in the ground and ones that live in dry wood. Both require immediate intervention to prevent significant damage. Different things, like fumigation, heat, orange oil, or spot treatments, can kill both types of termites.
Termites in Drywood
Drywood termites get their name because they live in dry wood that is out in the open, like support beams, eaves, decks, and roofs. You can tell them apart by their wings and by the fact that in the fall and spring, they gather in large groups. But in Orange, Riverside, and San Diego counties, we see Drywood termites all year long.
Underground Temites
Subterranean termites dig through the ground to get to things like foundations, support beams, and fence posts that are underwater. You can find them by their mud tubes, which are like superhighways for termites, and let them get into your building. The worst thing about these termites is that they can do a lot of damage to your building’s foundation and support structures.
How to Deal With Termites
There are a few ways to completely get rid of termites. After our technicians have carefully looked over your building, they will make suggestions based on what you want and how much money you can spend.
Fumigation
A tent is put over a building for 24 to 48 hours while it is fumigated. Then, Vikane gas is pumped into the building to take out the oxygen. Vikane goes into hard-to-reach places like the spaces between walls, the attic, the eaves, and door frames. After the treatment, our staff will take down the tent and open the building to the air. We will do a careful check of the building before letting people back in. After fumigation is done, the service is guaranteed for 3 years.
Heating
Using heat to kill termites is a fairly new way to do it. Like fumigation, the heat will get into parts of the building that pesticides can’t reach. Heat treatments can be done in a few hours, and the people who live in the house don’t have to leave for more than an afternoon.
Cleaning
Local treatment is good for small infestations or for people who don’t have a lot of money. Our technicians may suggest spot treatments based on what they find after a thorough inspection. For this treatment, you won’t have to leave your house, and if you do have to do something, it won’t take long.
Orange Oil
Local treatment is good for small infestations or for people who don’t have a lot of money. Our technicians may suggest spot treatments based on what they find after a thorough inspection. For this treatment, you won’t have to leave your house, and if you do have to do something, it won’t take long.
Wood Damage From Termites & Building Flaw
Both earthquakes and tornadoes can cause a lot of damage when they happen. We now know what kind of house they are most likely to damage. It turns out that homes and buildings with structural problems are more likely to be damaged by strong forces. After a big disaster, homes that are well-built and well-kept are more likely to be in better shape.
A structural flaw can be caused by a mistake in design or construction, which makes your home less stable. Anything that hurts the wood can also make it less strong. This includes insects, fungi, termites, and carpenter ants. If you don’t stop them, these pests can weaken wood by up to 80%, leaving your home open to a lot of damage. The stronger the force, the more likely it is that the house will be badly damaged, maybe even beyond repair.
Wood that has been eaten by termites can be hidden by a stone column on a porch. The column could break during an earthquake. The column might have been fine if the wood had been in good shape. Make sure your house stays in good shape and is free of bugs that eat wood. Don’t be afraid to have hard-to-reach places opened up so that hidden damage can be checked.
Areas Where Termites Can be Found
Termites think that any wood building looks and smells like a big juicy steak. Even if dirt, cement, or stucco is on top of the wood, these pests can smell it or just look around until they find it. Termites are more likely to cause trouble at certain times. Here are some common trouble spots for termites.
- Termites can get into the wood through cracks in foundations and walls made of concrete.
- Wood that is close to the ground is easy for termites to get to. This includes posts set in the ground, soil pushed up against wood in a structure, concrete porches filled with soil that rest against wood structural members, wooden porch steps that rest on soil, etc. People who fix up their own homes often put up wooden trellises or fences with posts that go straight into the ground. Then, these are hooked up to the house.
- Moisture problems include things like bad grading that sends water toward a building, dripping faucets, and leaking pipes. Termites, which need water to live, are drawn to these problems because they are wet. Bushes or vines that grow over vents and stop air from coming in or going out can also cause problems.
- Termites like extra wood like tree stumps and big dead roots, form boards buried in the ground, wood chip mulching, and firewood stacked on the ground. Pests start out in these places and then get into a building.
These are just a few of the many, many ways that termites can be a problem. Carlsbad Pest Control can do a professional inspection to find these and other less obvious problems that can lead to pests that damage the wood.