Practical write-ups on identification, treatment, cost and hiring — written for homeowners, not for contractors.
identification
White ants are termites, not ants. The name is an old common term still standard in Australia, and the insects people find are almost always worker termites.
identification
Termite holes are the kick-out holes drywood termites make to push pellets out of the wood: round, under 2 mm across, with hard pellets piled or scattered below.
Termite tenting cost $1 to $4 per square foot on the published price pages I read on 15 October 2026, and most of their whole-house figures for an ordinary house fall between about $1,000 and $5,000.
identification
The termites that infest US houses do not build mounds. A subterranean colony nests in the soil, usually outside or under the house, and a drywood colony lives inside the wood it eats, so the nest is…
identification
Flying termites are swarmers, the winged adult kings and queens a mature colony releases once a year to mate and establish new colonies.
How you get rid of termites depends on which kind you have. Subterranean termites live in the soil and require soil barriers or baits, while drywood termites live inside wood and are treated in the…
identification
Termite damage is wood eaten out from the inside, hollowed along or across the grain and lined with soil or pellets. By the time it shows on the outer surface, the wood behind it is already thin.
identification
Termite larvae, or baby termites, look like tiny, pale, soft-bodied termites with six legs and straight antennae. They stay inside the nest or wood galleries, so a white grub or maggot you find in…
identification
Do termites bite? Almost never. Soldier termites have jaws strong enough to pinch a finger if you pick them up, but they carry no venom and are not known to spread disease to people.
Many companies that sell termite treatment inspect for free. The published price pages I read on 8 October 2026 put a paid termite inspection at roughly $50 to $300, and a home-sale report can add a…
identification
A termite queen is the egg-layer that founds a colony with a king after a swarm flight, staying sealed in soil or wood for life.
identification
Most termites are small, soft, pale, wingless workers with straight antennae and no pinched waist; the ones people actually see are the dark winged swarmers, and soldiers look like workers with a…
A termite inspection in Florida is not required by state law to sell a house. However, when a licensed company performs one for a sale, state law requires the findings on the official FDACS Form…
An FHA loan does not require a termite inspection on every home. On an existing home, an inspection becomes required when the appraiser sees evidence of infestation, or is told of one or of a prior…
identification
Termite swarm season is not a single calendar event. Most subterranean termites swarm in spring on warm afternoons after rain, while other species fly in winter, at dusk, or during summer and fall…
identification
Termite eggs are tiny, translucent white, oval objects laid by the queen deep inside the nest and tended constantly by workers.
identification
Termite wings are shed by winged reproductives, called swarmers, which fly from a mature colony, drop their wings, and attempt to start a new one.
The South Carolina CL-100 is an official Wood Infestation Report recording visible insect damage, decay and wood moisture readings in a home, on one day.
A subterranean termite treatment comes down to two distinct options: applying liquid termiticide to the soil or installing in-ground bait stations.
treatment
Whole-structure termite treatments use either sulfuryl fluoride gas or blown hot air to eliminate drywood termites across an entire house.
real-estate
A termite letter is a written report from a licensed inspector detailing whether a building shows visible evidence of wood-destroying insects on the date of inspection.
Vetting a pest control company means reading its license record and its contract yourself, before you sign either. About half the licensed pest control businesses in California and Florida hold no…
identification
A termite mud tube, or shelter tube, is a covered runway of hardened earth that subterranean termites build so they can travel between the soil they live in and the wood they are eating.
real-estate
Negotiating termite damage usually comes down to choosing between a price credit or seller treatment before closing. Your strongest ask is usually for the seller's treatment contract and past pest…
An orange oil termite treatment relies on d-limonene injected into drilled holes to target localized drywood termite infestations inside structural timber.
Sentricon is an in-ground bait station system designed to eliminate subterranean termite colonies, while Termidor is a non-repellent liquid termiticide applied directly into the soil surrounding a…
identification
A sign of termites is a physical trace the insects left behind, not the insects themselves. Every sign below is worth acting on, and the two you are most likely to find, a mud tube and a pile of…
A localized spot treatment targets drywood termites in a single board, while whole-structure tenting treats the entire building to kill hidden colonies.
identification
A small pile of wood debris on your floor is almost never sawdust. It is insect droppings, excavation waste, or beetle powder, and of the four things that leave a pile like that, drywood termite…
real-estate
A termite letter is a written report from a licensed pest control company stating whether wood-destroying insects or their visible evidence were present at a house on the day of inspection.
identification
Opening a wall during a remodel or pulling back trim often reveals damaged timber with no insect anywhere in it. What sits inside the galleries names the insect, and how smooth the walls are does not…
real-estate
A termite report with findings on it is a record of what one inspector could see, and the form it is written on has no pass box and no fail box.
real-estate
Form NPMA-33 is the two-page wood destroying insect report your lender asked for, and it records what one inspector could see in the parts of your house they could physically get to, on one day.
A termite treatment contract comes at one of three coverage levels: repair and retreatment, retreatment only, or no warranty at all.
A termite bond is the trade's name for an ongoing contract with a pest control company, and most of the things called bonds are warranties from the company itself rather than a financial instrument…
real-estate
A termite inspection in a house purchase is a visual examination of the parts of a building one licensed inspector could reach on one day, written up on a form your lender reads.
A VA loan needs a wood destroying pest inspection when the Notice of Value says it does, and not otherwise. Where that condition appears, the veteran is allowed to pay the fee, which has been true…
Termite home remedies are non-commercial recipes, retail oils, or DIY physical tactics used to kill insects without hiring a contractor.
prevention
Termite prevention is mostly drainage and carpentry. Keep wood at least 6 inches clear of the soil, move water away from the foundation, pull mulch back from the siding, and get rid of the buried…
A can of termite spray kills the termites it touches. It does not control an infestation, and that is not my opinion, it is a distinction the US Environmental Protection Agency enforces in writing.
identification
Termites are insects that eat wood for the cellulose in it; carpenter ants are large ants that do not eat wood at all, but tunnel into it to make a nest and dump the shavings back out.
identification
A swarmer is a winged termite or ant that left its colony to breed, and a pile of them on a windowsill is what most people find first.
identification
Subterranean termites nest in the soil and reach your wood through mud tubes; drywood termites live entirely inside dry wood and touch no soil at all.
real-estate
Termite letter requirements come down to one question: which form does your state require? Some states mandate an official form of their own and accept no substitute.
real-estate
Form NPMA-33 is the wood destroying insect report your lender asked for, the WDI report on your paperwork, and it records the visible evidence one inspector could reach on one day.
real-estate
A wood-destroying insect (WDI) inspection determines whether a home has active termites or past damage before a property transfer closes.
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Termite Registry