i had an inspection and seperate termite inspection before buying this house las august. both were clean inspections. this morning I saw a swarm of termites on a crack near the foundation and the sidewalk (the sidewalk touches the foundation) i started poking in the crack and saw worker termites. I have a hard time believing they are suddenly here when they were not here in august---maybe I'm wrong. we have no evidence of wings or anything inside the house---also no tunnels aroung the foundation/slab. I am calling the pest control people out here, but my question is, how long does it take for the worker temites to show up----did the termite inspector do his job? I am NOT very happy right now. I was going to get the house treated this summer, but now I am freaking out. How much should an average termidor treatment cost for a slab 2300 (counting the garage) square feet. Please help!!!!!!!!!
termites
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I have a friend that just bought a house. The inspectors said everything was OK.
The house was locked up after the inspection and nobody entered it. When my friend moved in the toilet overflowed the 1st time she flushed it.
Plummer found dried cement in the pipes. Later they found cement in every pipe, garbage disposal, washer etc.
Holes were drilled in the heater and in the computer that runs the heat and AC. Slashes in the tubes in the attic that bring the heat and AC to each roon.
It's cost her a bunch, fortunatly a friend and I were able to do a lot of the smaller repairs for cheap. But having the floor and walls chopped up to replace all the pipes was expensive for her.
So what I'm saying is that the inspection is easy money for the realiter but often nothing is checked and the realiter just has to say that the damage was done after the check which stands up in court.
The court sided with the inspection company and not my friend that bought the trashed house.
The house was locked up after the inspection and nobody entered it. When my friend moved in the toilet overflowed the 1st time she flushed it.
Plummer found dried cement in the pipes. Later they found cement in every pipe, garbage disposal, washer etc.
Holes were drilled in the heater and in the computer that runs the heat and AC. Slashes in the tubes in the attic that bring the heat and AC to each roon.
It's cost her a bunch, fortunatly a friend and I were able to do a lot of the smaller repairs for cheap. But having the floor and walls chopped up to replace all the pipes was expensive for her.
So what I'm saying is that the inspection is easy money for the realiter but often nothing is checked and the realiter just has to say that the damage was done after the check which stands up in court.
The court sided with the inspection company and not my friend that bought the trashed house.
Originally Posted By: joel95ex
i had an inspection and seperate termite inspection before buying this house las august. both were clean inspections. this morning I saw a swarm of termites on a crack near the foundation and the sidewalk (the sidewalk touches the foundation) i started poking in the crack and saw worker termites. I have a hard time believing they are suddenly here when they were not here in august---maybe I'm wrong. we have no evidence of wings or anything inside the house---also no tunnels aroung the foundation/slab. I am calling the pest control people out here, but my question is, how long does it take for the worker temites to show up----did the termite inspector do his job? I am NOT very happy right now. I was going to get the house treated this summer, but now I am freaking out. How much should an average termidor treatment cost for a slab 2300 (counting the garage) square feet. Please help!!!!!!!!!
Termite inspections and home inspections IMO are a bunch of [censored] most of the time, and another money maker. You must hire a company with a proven track record, or you're tossing money down the drain. I've uncovered more problems in customers homes over the years than so called Termite inspectors and engineers ever found. Basic stuff too, like a lousy insulation job, improperly installed flashing and roofing, that anyone with any degree of competency would have uncovered.
When I bought my home I paid good money for a termite/carpenter ant inspection because I was unsure of what exactly to look for. Shortly after moving in I decided to bump out my garage. There was a carpenter ant infestation, and destroyed wood that would have cost thousands to repair had I not done the alteration myself. I also had damage to a bathroom that was constructed from part of the garage by the prior owner. I had to totally replace the bathroom. I learned how to detect for ant and termite damage as a result of that. My damage was discovered about 1 month after the so called inspection. If you read the fine print of these inspections they cover the person doing the inspection nicely. So if damage is later discovered and it does go to court most people taking the inspector to court don't have a legal leg to stand on.
To the OP, I have no idea how much termite treatment costs in Texas, in NY it is quite costly. All the treatment will do is kill the termites and stop them from doing further damage. Hopefully create a barrier to protect against more damage. You need someone that is good at damage detection to give you an idea if any real damage was done yet and the cost of repair. Since they come up from the ground I would check for mud trails along cracks in the foundation, and poke around and inspect the sill plate for damage. There is some good info on the WWW that will help.
i had an inspection and seperate termite inspection before buying this house las august. both were clean inspections. this morning I saw a swarm of termites on a crack near the foundation and the sidewalk (the sidewalk touches the foundation) i started poking in the crack and saw worker termites. I have a hard time believing they are suddenly here when they were not here in august---maybe I'm wrong. we have no evidence of wings or anything inside the house---also no tunnels aroung the foundation/slab. I am calling the pest control people out here, but my question is, how long does it take for the worker temites to show up----did the termite inspector do his job? I am NOT very happy right now. I was going to get the house treated this summer, but now I am freaking out. How much should an average termidor treatment cost for a slab 2300 (counting the garage) square feet. Please help!!!!!!!!!
Termite inspections and home inspections IMO are a bunch of [censored] most of the time, and another money maker. You must hire a company with a proven track record, or you're tossing money down the drain. I've uncovered more problems in customers homes over the years than so called Termite inspectors and engineers ever found. Basic stuff too, like a lousy insulation job, improperly installed flashing and roofing, that anyone with any degree of competency would have uncovered.
When I bought my home I paid good money for a termite/carpenter ant inspection because I was unsure of what exactly to look for. Shortly after moving in I decided to bump out my garage. There was a carpenter ant infestation, and destroyed wood that would have cost thousands to repair had I not done the alteration myself. I also had damage to a bathroom that was constructed from part of the garage by the prior owner. I had to totally replace the bathroom. I learned how to detect for ant and termite damage as a result of that. My damage was discovered about 1 month after the so called inspection. If you read the fine print of these inspections they cover the person doing the inspection nicely. So if damage is later discovered and it does go to court most people taking the inspector to court don't have a legal leg to stand on.
To the OP, I have no idea how much termite treatment costs in Texas, in NY it is quite costly. All the treatment will do is kill the termites and stop them from doing further damage. Hopefully create a barrier to protect against more damage. You need someone that is good at damage detection to give you an idea if any real damage was done yet and the cost of repair. Since they come up from the ground I would check for mud trails along cracks in the foundation, and poke around and inspect the sill plate for damage. There is some good info on the WWW that will help.
Now is the time to get a contract.Companies are cutting each others throats right now.Make sure you get a DAMAGE WARRANTY and not a service contract.A service contract will cover zero damage.A damage warranty will cover damage with active termites in it.Read over the contract very carefully if you decide to get a treatment done on the house.A termite treatment in my neck of the woods would run you around $700.00 on a house your size.
Different types of termite treatment. You have contact treatment that will eradicate the termites(short term) and also a residue chemical that kills the colony(best bet). Need to check termite companies and what type of treatment they have. There is a new type here(should also be available up there) that gives a 10 year guarantee or they pay for the damage should ground termites do damage. Here in Hawaii they use a special gravel rock like gravel sand that termites can't break through required by State and Federal buildings. Bad news is it's only found here in Hawaii where it's only manufactured. To expensive to ship to the 48 states. If you do it right these gravel is bullet proof one time treatment end of ground termites.
Also something that is expensive is a stainless steel mesh invented by the Australian. It's bullet proof but from my understanding only Hawaii has used it not in the 48 states.
They use the stainless steel mesh on pipes with the gravel sand. An overkill but don't under estimate termites...they are amazing how they can get through things.
I do know someone who had knowledge of termites that bought some property on Maui, had his own water well(on his property) and decided to have an organic home farm. He bought 2 acres of land. Built his house with solar panels, his own water supply and used the gravel sand and covered it with the stainless steel mesh over it. Wanted no chemicals on his land. His house was bullet proof from ground termites.
They use the stainless steel mesh on pipes with the gravel sand. An overkill but don't under estimate termites...they are amazing how they can get through things.
I do know someone who had knowledge of termites that bought some property on Maui, had his own water well(on his property) and decided to have an organic home farm. He bought 2 acres of land. Built his house with solar panels, his own water supply and used the gravel sand and covered it with the stainless steel mesh over it. Wanted no chemicals on his land. His house was bullet proof from ground termites.
I paid for a WDO inspection on my house that I purchased last year. When we moved in, we decided to paint all the rooms and baseboard/trim. When removing baseboard in a bedroom, I found evidence of termites that SHOULD have been visible by the WDO inspector. When called out, he came back and took pictures of the damage and then their company decided that it wasn't visible, therefore they're not liable.
I could have fought it and I had a real estate lawyer handling everything that offered to deal with them, but I decided it wasn't worth the effort. I fixed the damage myself. I never found a live infestation.
I have since done some investigating on termites. There are places online that will sell you the same equipment that a termite/pest control company uses. You can put out the same inspection ports, use the same poison, etc. These systems usually come with 10-15 inspection ports and instructions, ranging in price of 200 and up.
http://store.doyourownpestcontrol.com/category.aspx?iid=219
I could have fought it and I had a real estate lawyer handling everything that offered to deal with them, but I decided it wasn't worth the effort. I fixed the damage myself. I never found a live infestation.
I have since done some investigating on termites. There are places online that will sell you the same equipment that a termite/pest control company uses. You can put out the same inspection ports, use the same poison, etc. These systems usually come with 10-15 inspection ports and instructions, ranging in price of 200 and up.
http://store.doyourownpestcontrol.com/category.aspx?iid=219
I bought the product from ebay. I let it soak into the ground next to the foundation. Less than $75.
I'm remodeling a house right now that the termite inspector estimated $30,000 in termite damage. After turning the house inside out, much more in depth that he could have inspected visually it only has a rotten deck with $4000 damage. There was no termite damage to the actual house.
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