Termites near you

There is no single American termite problem. The species under a house in Sacramento, a house in New Orleans and a house in Fort Lauderdale are different insects with different treatments, and a program copied from one region is often useless in another.

The Formosan subterranean termite is the reason pest control in the Gulf South is run differently from pest control elsewhere. UF/IFAS reports colonies of several million individuals reaching maturity in five to eight years, and notes that soldiers make up 10 to 15 percent of a Formosan colony compared with 1 to 2 percent in native Reticulitermes colonies, which is part of why the species is described as aggressive. Clemson Extension makes the practical point about scale: one Formosan worker does about the same damage as one native subterranean worker, but the far larger colonies mean more insects feeding on a structure at once.

Two Formosan behaviors change how a job is done. The first is the carton nest, which UF/IFAS describes as a blend of soil, wood pulp, termite saliva and termite feces used to fill voids, and which allows a colony to retain moisture away from the ground. The second follows from it: an aerial colony can in principle survive without soil contact, which undermines the assumption behind a soil barrier. Clemson puts the frequency in context, reporting a Charleston study of 50 infested buildings in which 94 percent were infested from ground-based colonies and only 6 percent by aerial colonies. So soil treatment still does most of the work, but a company in the Formosan range should be inspecting for carton material in wall voids and attics rather than assuming the ground is the only route.

UC IPM sets out the evidence for subterranean termites: swarms of winged reproductives in the spring, summer or fall, the presence of shelter tubes, and evidence of tunneling in wood. Each sign carries a different amount of information, and confusing them is how people either panic or ignore a real infestation.

EPA describes the two main approaches without ranking them. It states that the most common technique for treating termite infestations is the soil-applied barrier treatment, and separately that several bait systems have been introduced to help reduce the overall use of insecticides and their impact. UC IPM describes the liquid side in more detail, noting that liquid applications of pesticides are most often used for subterranean termite control and are applied to the soil either in drenches or by injection, and listing nonrepellent active ingredients including chlorantraniliprole, fipronil and imidacloprid.

Baits work on a different principle. UC IPM describes subterranean termite baits as slow-acting insecticides consumed during feeding and shared within the colony, using insect growth regulators with low human toxicity, and notes that they require professional application for optimal effectiveness. In practice the choice usually comes down to the site rather than to a preference: a slab with plumbing penetrations, a finished basement, a high water table, a well close to the house or a structure that cannot be trenched all push toward baits, while a straightforward crawlspace or an accessible foundation perimeter suits a soil treatment. Baits also take time, because the colony has to find and share them, so a bait program is a monitoring relationship rather than a single visit.

EPA also flags the risk that makes the soil route worth doing carefully. It warns that many termiticides are highly toxic, making it critical to follow label directions with added care, and that improper application of a soil barrier can cause contamination of the home and surrounding drinking water wells. If your water comes from a well, say so before anyone trenches, and ask how the applicator plans to protect it.

UC IPM states the starting point clearly: an inspection by a licensed pest management professional is required before any treatments can be performed, and it notes that the evidence often sits in hard-to-access areas such as crawlspaces and attics. A proposal written without someone having been in those spaces is not an inspection result.

Drywood termites break the soil-treatment logic entirely, because the colony lives inside the wood and never goes to the ground. UC IPM describes the whole-structure options and is precise about what they achieve. Sulfuryl fluoride fumigation treats all infestations simultaneously and has high levels of efficacy if correctly applied, killing drywood termites within several days. Whole-structure heat is the nonchemical alternative, and UC IPM specifies heating all wood in the structure to a minimum of 120 degrees Fahrenheit and holding that temperature for at least 33 minutes.

Localized and spot treatments are cheaper and correspondingly narrower. UC IPM notes their efficacy is highest if the infestation is accessible and exposed and detection equipment is used, and that effectiveness varies significantly depending on properly locating colonies and achieving direct contact with the termites. That is the honest trade: a spot treatment addresses the gallery someone found, and says nothing about the two nobody did. Where a structure has multiple or unlocatable infestations, a whole-structure treatment is the option that matches the problem.

Fumigation is also the part of this trade that is separately licensed. California's Structural Pest Control Board defines Branch 1 as the practice relating to the control of household and wood-destroying pests or organisms by fumigation with poisonous or lethal gases, and Branch 3 as the practice relating to the control of wood-destroying pests or organisms by the use of insecticides or structural repairs and corrections, excluding fumigation. A Branch 3 company is not by that credential a fumigation company, and it is fair to ask which branch will be doing which part.

This is the piece with no real equivalent outside the United States. In much of the country a home sale triggers a wood destroying insect inspection because the lender requires it. The Department of Veterans Affairs publishes a list of local requirements for its appraisals, and states on that page that only states requiring a wood-destroying insect inspection are included, and that if a state is not listed then a wood-destroying insect inspection is not required unless specific issues are noted in the VA appraisal report. The list covers whole states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Texas and Virginia among others, while several other states require it only in named counties. VA also points readers to Chapter 12 of its Lenders Handbook for the underlying requirements.

Some states then dictate the form itself. The Texas Department of Agriculture publishes the Official Texas Wood Destroying Insect Report and states that the form is a prescribed form and no revisions or omissions are allowed, and its Structural Pest Control Service licenses and regulates the pest management professionals who apply pesticides in and around structures. California runs a public record of its reports: the Structural Pest Control Board maintains a Wood Destroying Organism System that lets anyone search whether a specific property has been inspected within the last two years, with copies of the reports available by written request to the board. If you are buying a house in California, that search is a free way to see whether a report already exists before you commission one.

Two practical habits follow. Ask early whether your loan program requires an inspection in your state, because it changes the closing timeline. And where a state runs a report database, search the address before you accept a report handed to you by a party with an interest in the sale.

EPA's instruction to homeowners is short and worth following literally: firms offering termite services must be licensed by your state, and you should ask to see the company's license. There is no national termite license, and the credential that matters is the one issued where the house is.

The categories are specific enough to be worth naming. Texas lists termite control as its own license category, defined as the inspection and control of termites, beetles or other wood destroying organisms, and requires licensing of businesses and individuals that perform structural pest control for hire under the Structural Pest Control Act. California separates the work into Branch 3, wood destroying organisms, for control by insecticides or structural repairs and corrections, and Branch 1, fumigation, for control by poisonous or lethal gases. Because termite proposals often include structural repairs as well as chemical treatment, ask which parts of the scope the company is licensed to perform and which it will subcontract, and verify the license with the board rather than with the salesperson.

Termite quotes vary more than almost any other pest work because the methods themselves are so different. The variables are the species and therefore the method, the linear footage of foundation to be trenched or the number of bait stations to be installed, whether the slab has to be drilled and patched, whether a crawlspace is accessible or has to be worked in on hands and knees, how much conducive moisture correction is included, whether damaged framing needs structural repair and by whom, whether the job is a localized drywood treatment or a whole-structure fumigation or heat treatment requiring the household to move out, and what the ongoing service agreement covers and for how long. Ask for the method, the product and the warranty terms in writing, because a retreatment-only warranty and a repair warranty are not the same product.

LokalMatch is where you start looking. You describe the property once: where you are, what you have seen, whether the house is on a slab, a crawlspace or a basement, and whether this is a sale-driven inspection or a live infestation. Termite and pest control companies covering your area receive the request, and the ones interested contact you. Pros pay for the requests they receive, and homeowners use the service free of charge. LokalMatch does not inspect or treat for termites, does not issue reports, does not set prices, and does not vet, rank or recommend any company, so verifying the state license and category, the insurance and the terms of any warranty is your responsibility.