My wife and I have a house built in 1939 in Northern California. When we bought it, we were quite fortunate–no structural problems and no critter issues, although our house has a very solidly-built wooden frame and multiple stories.
We’ve had the house for 6 years now, and in the meantime, we’ve had some major renovations done–again, without incident or cause for worry. So how often should we actually have an inspector out to check for termites or other problems?
We haven’t had an inspection since we bought the place and haven’t seen any warning signs, but also don’t want to wait until somethings visibly wrong (when perhaps the most serious damage will have already occurred). Anything else we should think about or consider along this route–questions to ask or frequency of examination? Thanks!
I had our place checked every year before we had any problem and also yearly since. But in our part of PA its almost a matter of “when” and not “if”. If the inspections are free out your way I would say every year or two in the spring or early summer.
I have to say, just to give you some other perspective, the first time I had ever heard of routine exterminator service was on these boards, years ago. We have our problems here (read all the threads about us bitching about our plants getting frozen and all the snow last weekend), but pests isn’t one of them.
I live in the Bay Area and I get service every other month. Of course, I live on what seems to be a gigantic ant hill and have a huge field behind us that has spiders galore (including tarantulas). And then there are the wasps.
So, every other month they come out, knock down wasps nests, make sure nothing looks weird, ask me if I’ve noticed any issues and spray the perimeter. Best $70 I spend.
We used to pay $70 every two months, year round for Orkin to come out. I then discovered a two year supply of the barrier chemicals they use costs $12 at Your Big Box Store.
Different areas have different pest problems. In my city termites are almost unheard of and less then 20 miles away they are a common problem. If you’re worried, have an inspection this year and if there aren’t any signs of a problem you’re probably safe for a while. Or not. In every case things were fine at one point them not fine later.
I would have the inspection and also learn the signs of infestation. Walk around with the inspector and see what areas he inspects then you can keep an eye out for problems yourself.
