Termite Inspections
Test For Termites With A Reliable Home Inspection In Kansas City!
According to estimates by the National Pest Management Association and National Insurance Companies. Termites can cause as much as $5 to $20 billion in damages to homes and buildings in the US each year. Get a reliable home inspection, and learn the truth about your home today!
One of the problems with termites is that their activity and damages can be nearly invisible to most homeowners. People are generally only notified of a termite infestation after repairs or renovations are started or due to witnessing a Swarm. Termite colonies are decentralized (unlike bee hives) and can contain as many as a few hundred to millions of termites each. A single termite is able to ingest as much as 5 grams of wood based materials in a single day.
While the discovery of having termites in your home can be alarming, the simple fact is that if you live in Metro Kansas City your home has either had or will likely have termites at some point in time. Due to this fact it becomes all that much more important to have you home checked for termites on a regular basis.
Yep.
Most banks in our area will not process or approve a loan for a home without a licensed pest control agent completing an inspection on a home. They won’t loan money because they understand the amount of damage that termites can do to the “bank’s investment”.
Nope.
Termites do not hibernate or become completely dormant, even in the coldest winter months. Their activity does have a tendency to slow in these months however they can still be actively feeding on the largest investment you make. Termite swarms typically occur in the spring due to wetter and warmer weather. A swarm in a home is a tell-tale sign of an infestation. A swarm outside of a home is the attempt of an existing colony to expand to new locations.
Call us to schedule your Free Annual Inspection- 913-390-9001
Look for signs of Termite activity in your home. Places to begin your search should include ANY portion of the home where wooden or wood based materials are at, near or below the soil or ground cover. Siding materials that are in contact with mulch or ground cover is the most common condition we find that could become an entry point for termites. It is also the easiest to improve. Other places where activity is common is near entry points to the home. Wooden framed door and overhead door trim and moldings that are in contact with concrete or ground cover are common access points and can be easy to inspect.
The most common and easiest to identify sign of activity is the presence of “shelter tubes” that run from the ground toward the framing of your home. Shelter tubes are typically about the size of a pencil (however if left untreated can become as large as several inches around), they are made of mud and dirt and when found in groups form a vertical vein like pattern on walls. Termites use these shelter tubes as highways to travel between their food- your home- and their colonies in the soil below your home.
Generally speaking termite damage cannot be seen without probing or damaging the shelter tube and feeding areas or “galleries”. Once these areas have been opened you will see dirt/mud and “Frass” that runs parallel with the grain of the wood. Frass is the debris left behind from digested wood products- it is a polite word for termite poop. Wood that has decayed due to moisture or chronic wet/dry cycles will not have anything inside the damaged area and does not have any correlation to the grain of the wood.
Probably not. Carpenter ants and bees will hollow out wood in order to make nests while termites actually consume the wood. The treatment to address this condition is typically much less invasive and less costly than for termites. Keep in mind Carpenter Ants and Bees are also considered Wood Destroying Organisms and will be noted as part of any Termite Inspection we perform.
Wrong. If your home was treated in the past it depends on the type of treatment – bait stations vs. liquid treatment, how long ago the treatment took place and was there any sort of maintenance or warranty service provided as part of the treatment? If you have had your home treated and a maintenance plan or warranty is available this is your best insurance to help prevent future issues. If your home had a liquid treatment, no warranty in place and the treatment was more than 5 years ago it is about the same risk as a home that was never treated. Except it is more likely to have future issues.
No. Well, not effectively. Most pesticides that are effective against termites can only be sold to companies licensed to apply these materials. In almost all cases the tools, skills and methods of treatment cannot be reproduced by most homeowners. Most homeowners would not install their own service panel because if done incorrectly could be extremely dangerous.
Wrong. We only recommend a complete treatment of an entire building based on the instructions and application guidelines of the manufacturer of that specific pesticide. There are some companies that will offer a spot treatment however they typically provide this service without any warranty as they know this can be an ineffective method of treatment. As a company and a service to our customers Metro Property only recommends comprehensive treatments that can be warrantied by the company providing the service or the manufacturer of the pesticide. To be as protected as possible we recommend an always active bait station installation where possible. As with any service the protection is only as good as the product and installation.
Note: The FAQ section above is based on real life experience and research in the Kansas City Metro area only. The observations provided here in are general and include opinion in their scope and should not be relied on as scientific fact.