Termite Registryinspection
Termite Inspection
A visual and probing examination of the accessible parts of a structure to establish whether termites are present, what kind, and how far activity extends. What counts as accessible is narrower than most people assume.
Termite treatment
This section covers the treatment methods themselves: what each one actually does, what it costs and what moves the price, how long it takes to work, and — the part a company selling one method cannot publish — when it is the wrong call and what to use instead.
The methods
liquid barrier
Liquid Barrier Treatment
A continuous zone of treated soil around and beneath a building, applied by trenching, rodding and drilling, so that subterranean termites die crossing it. The whole job turns on the word continuous.
inspection
WDI Inspection Report (Termite Letter)
The wood destroying insect inspection a lender or a purchase contract asks for, and the written report it produces. A licensed inspector walks the accessible parts of the property, records what was visible on the day, and issues the finding on the form your state or your lender prescribes. It is a transaction document. It is not a treatment, and it is not an assessment of the building.
baiting
Termite Bait Systems
Plastic stations sunk into the soil around a building, holding cellulose laced with an insect growth regulator and serviced on a schedule. They aim at the colony rather than the ground against the foundation.
fumigation
Whole-Structure Fumigation
The structure is sealed under tarpaulins and filled with sulfuryl fluoride gas, which penetrates wood throughout the building and reaches drywood colonies wherever they are, including the ones nobody located.
spot treatment
Localized Spot Treatment
Treatment applied to a specific infested timber by injection, foam, dust, borate, localized heat or electrocution, rather than to the whole structure. Its success depends almost entirely on whether the infestation was correctly located.