What if your home was secretly being eaten by an unseen enemy?
It may sound fantastic, but that’s the exact kind of threat that termites represent to your home. And the only way to know whether you have termites to deal with is by scheduling a termite inspection.
But do you know what to expect from this process? Before you schedule your next inspection, keep reading to learn everything about what you should expect.
Termite Inspection: The Basics
Our guide will prepare you for the specific things that will help you prepare for a termite inspection. First, though, we need to review what goes into the average inspection.
In short, the termite inspector will inspect different areas outside your home and inside your home. This includes areas such as basements and crawlspaces. They will also inspect the exterior of your home (more on this later).
The simple truth is that there are many different areas where termites can hide. And the inspector will need access to the entirety of your home to verify whether or not it has a termite infestation.
Preparing Your Home
A good termite inspector will help you move certain things out of his way during an inspection. But if you really want to make the inspection go easier, it’s important to prepare your home ahead of time.
It’s good to remove the clutter from different rooms. This is especially important in tighter quarters such as your attic, kitchen, and bathroom.
If your home has a garage, take the time to move things away from the garage walls. Your goal is to make it easier for the inspector to examine the expansion points of the garage.
Finally, if you have any crawlspaces, the inspector will need to examine them. Make sure you move anything out of the inspector’s way in these areas before he arrives.
Outdoors Inspection
When it comes to termite inspections, most homeowners focus on the inspection inside their home. But it’s important to remember that the inspector will also need to check out the exterior of your home, including exterior walls and your front and back yards.
While the inspector will give the entire exterior a cursory examination, he is going to pay special attention to any wood you have around your home. This may come in the form of attachments (such as a wooden deck) or exterior piles of wood (such as firewood or wood intended for a special project).
Depending on the condition of your exterior walls, the inspector may wish to check for any gaps or crevices in which termites might be effectively hidden.
Making Time in Your Calendar
One of the most common questions about termite inspections is a relatively simple one: “how long is the inspection going to take?”
Obviously, the exact answer depends on the inspector you get, the size of your home, and how many different areas need to be inspected. But most inspections are completed within 30-45 minutes.
This information is useful because you can easily make some time in your daily calendar. In fact, you could reasonably schedule an inspection during your lunch break and be back at the office before your break is over.
Access to Unexpected Areas
We touched on this earlier, but it bears repeating: your inspector is going to need access to the entirety of your home. In addition to accessing your basement and crawlspaces, the inspector will also need to access your attic.
This sometimes takes homeowners by surprise. But one of the reasons that inspectors check out the attic is that they want to identify other threats to your wood aside from termites.
Your attic may contain carpenter bees which are a major threat to wood. And it may even contain ants that are a threat to the wood in your home. Without inspecting the attic, you may never know for sure.
Do I Really Need to Schedule an Inspection?
When you get right down to it, the basic job of a termite inspector is to look in and around your home for signs of termites. Because of this, many homeowners think they can look for termites on their own instead of scheduling an inspection.
However, this is a bad idea for several reasons. While it’s easy enough to spot a termite right in front of you, termites are likely to be hidden in various areas. This is because they hate the light, making it difficult to simply spot a termite with your naked eye.
Additionally, termites may be hidden in mud tubes that are easy for you to overlook. And you can very easily overlook some of the signs of termites that an experienced inspector will be able to quickly identify.
Signs of Termites
As we said before, termites like to hide because they hate light. They also dislike the open air, which is why termites hide deep within your home. With that in mind, you might be asking yourself how an inspector can hope to identify a potential termite infestation.
It all comes down to identifying typical signs of termites. We already mentioned one sign: mud tubes. These little tubes help termites travel from their nest to your home, all while providing the moisture they need to survive.
Another sign is bulging paint. While this can be caused by other things as well, it is typical for termites to release moisture inside your drywall that causes the paint to bulge out.
Finally, the inspector will look for signs of termite damage. While that sounds obvious, it is difficult for the average homeowner to accurately tell the difference between wood that has been eaten and wood that has simply decayed.
Schedule Your Next Termite Inspection
Official Pest Prevention is a family-owned, licensed pest control company celebrating 20 years serving over 100,000 satisfied customers in five area codes throughout Northern and Central California. Starting with a few contacts, and only four full-time employees, our small company has grown into an organization that today employs over 100 people, maintains a fleet of 75 vehicles, and has serviced over 100,000 Northern California households. This tremendous growth has come from loyal customers, who have recommended our work to their friends, family, and neighbors.
We are a full-service pest control company. Whatever your pest problem, we have a solution. Our goal is to make your property pest-free. Guaranteed. Contact us online or by phone (877) 711 2847 – for immediate assistance. Same-day bookings and flexible payment plans available – because pest invasions wait for no one.
