[JERRY2KONE]

Do not be fooled my friend. Where is this house located? About the only state that does not have too much termite issues related to housing is alaska, because it is too cold for them to come to the surface 90% of the year. There are termites just about everywhere on this Earth, but some places are better suited weather wise to keep them underground most of the time.

The problem arrises when you aquire an unseen leak somewhere in your home without you finding it. Usually a leaky pipe in the wall, or even a roof leak that drains into a wall and travels down into the structure that is invisible from anywhere outside the wall itself. Once they get a smell of wet wood in your home they begin tunneling up into your home from below. They never surface for you to see them either. They do not like the sunlight. They stay hidden deep in your walls and eat until there is nothing left to eat, or they are poisoned by pest control. Subteranian termites have to have water so they travel back and forth from the ground to your house as long as nothing stops them. They can bring water up from underground and wet your wood themselves as well. Then eat, and return underground. This can go on for many years undetected, and by the time they are found there is not much left holding the house up but paint and siding. This is why it is important to have your home treated up front. By the time I found the damage in my home I had owned it for about 15 years and it had not been treated since it was built, which was nearly 20 years.

Every state varies in cost, but what most of them do now is treat your foundation through the outside wall about 8 inches off the ground every 12 inches by drilling a 3/8" to 1/2" hole on a 30 degree angle through the footer and under the slab. Then they spray poison into each hole soaking under the slab, into the footer and the wall and if your lucky outside the wall as well. About 1 to 3 gallons per hole if they do it right. The more the better. The only problem these days is that the poison they use now is not near as storng as it once was, nor does it last as long either. They used to use "Dursban", which was an oil based chemical that lasted for many years
(20 to 30 years or more). This chemical was outlawed a few years back by the Federal Gov because it was deemed responsible for causing cancer by traveling into our drinking water. It was some pretty nasty stuff. It is illegal now to use dursban at all, and there is a heavy fine if you get caught. They no longer produce it, but there are still some places that have it stored from years back. Its not even allowed to be sold any longer.

Anyway once treated they seal the holes and call it a day. The warranty now a days is that they will cover your structure as long as you pay them once a year to come out and inspect your home for infestation, and treat as needed. If any termite damage is discovered then they pay for the damaged area to be fully repared at no cost to you. Unless the damage is proved to be done prior to their treatment.

I had so much damage to my home I was totally amazed. I had window cills with triple 2 X 4's nailed together and I could crumble them with my bare hands like cardboard. Walls with 75% to 80% of the studs eaten away up to the six foot mark. The only wood that was not eaten was the 2X6 baseplate, and only because it was pressure treated. I never have understood why they just don't use pressure treated lumber for the entire structure. The termites would never touch it then.