On Thursday, February 20, 2014 9:44:02 AM UTC-5, Don wrote:
replying to Em, Don wrote:

nospamblam wrote:



My annual home termite inspection and "insurance" policy has been costing

$125 per year. This year, now that the house has been standing five years,

the exterminator wants to do a $445 "booster" treatment. I thought the

barrier remains intact for many years until the soil is disturbed, so I

asked why the house would need a booster, and the lady said the barrier

has

been breaking down over the five years because of "walking in the yard".

Is

the a bona-fide service they are offering?

-BAM







As with all reviews very seldom does anyone review in the positive.

Let me state some FACTS.

1/ The United States Department of Agriculture states Termites do more

damage in the United States than all natural disasters combined These

include but are not limited to, Fire, Hurricane, Tornado, (all storms)

COMBINED! Again, this is stated by the United States Dept. of Agriculture!

To verify you can call the Dept. of Agriculture in your state.

With these natural disasters you can easily see the damage with the

naked eye, with Termites usually there is no visual signs until there is

damage. A Termite inspector MAY see signs an untrained eye can not see.

That is why he is State licensed. Before he can even take the very

difficult state (FL) test he must have 3 yrs verifiable experience under

a state licensed operator.

So where are these Termites? Usually inside the walls, where NO ONE can

see them. How did they get there? About maybe 20% of the time if you're

lucky thru mud tunnels on the outside foundation, MAYBE. In 26 yrs

experience in the Termite business I've seen, MAYBE 10 mud tunnels on the

outside of concrete block homes, at tops!! I have personally inspected

thousands of homes. The remainder of times they entered' on slab homes

under the tub, shower, cracks in the floor that are invisible due to tile,

carpet, wood flooring etc. Around plumbing pipes, expansion joints where

the floor meets the walls. Do you have these joints? If block home is pre

1980 probably so. Block homes are approx. 20% block, the remainder is

wood!! I have seen at least 75% as many block homes damaged by Termites as

wood homes. If your home is built on a crawl space there are MANY more

unvisible entry points.

So for you that have no termite protection with a TERMITE REPAIR

warranty, (many companies do NOT offer the repair warranty) you're rolling

the dice, good luck!!!

The Dept. of Agriculture has been involved in this a lot longer than

you!! Shop around, and be CERTAIN the contract states you are covered by

a REPAIR warranty.


Aside from the fact the post is 7 years old, he said he has an insurance
policy, but didn't say it was a repair coverage policy. He could just
mean that for his $125
a year they come inspect the house once a year and if evidence of termites
is found, then the *treatment* cost is covered. That's what I have.
And the house is 30 years old and they have never suggested needing any
booster treatment. Might not be a bad idea, IDK. But given that the
best chemicals are no longer allowed to be used, I wouldn't be surprised
that any chemical barrier could be gone in 5+ years. It also depends
on how prevalent termites are where he's located, etc.