Termite contracts on house, Good idea?

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Termite contracts on house, Good idea? - Microman - 03-12-2012

Bought this house, it got a termite inspection and passed with a little piece of wood replaced. It had been tented in 2010, and drilled for Ground Termites as well at that time.

That is why it passed easily as the inspection was done by same company.

The lady had a contract to keep a guarantee or something after the treatment, she let it lapse, but guy said that they would reinstate it if I was lucky and pay the annual fee. Thought I heard like 75 for one, and 50 for other, but cant remember.

Not sure what it covers, but is having a contract like that after they do treatment a good idea? or just a ripoff.

I suppose, If in the future I need work, I could have just saved all the money on these payments for some sort of work

Re: Termite contracts on house, Good idea? - Will Collier - 03-12-2012

It's standard to have an annual bond (aka contract) for termite protection. Big dump of chemicals every 10 years or so ($$$), then the same company comes out and inspects annually in between. The annual fee in the off-years is generally around $100. It'll be pretty hard (if not impossible) to re-sell a house that doesn't have a current termite bond.

The usual deal is, if you keep up the contract, the company remains on the hook for repairing any termite damage that pops up in between treatments... but read the fine print. I had one bozo promise a bunch of stuff that was explicitly not covered in the actual contract (which went in the trash, along with the sales dork's card, after I read it).

Re: Termite contracts on house, Good idea? - rgG - 03-12-2012

If you get one, be sure that it is a repair and retreat, not just a retreat warranty. We have the repair and retreat warranty and have had to use it twice. If you have a warranty, they come out at least once a year and inspect for damage. Since most termite damage is behind the walls or under the house, you can have extensive damage before you notice it. Having had some pretty bad damage, even with the house having been treated, I am glad to have the warranty. The warranty is only as good as the company issuing it, so be sure you are dealing with a reputable company and that you read the warranty very carefully to see what is and is not covered.

Re: Termite contracts on house, Good idea? - deckeda - 03-12-2012

Let me be the third Georgian to concur with the above. Smile

Our house is 19 years old and so has had 3 treatments. The first when it was built and the 10-year redo from the original owner, and a redo by us last year.

The garage slab is a prime vulnerability because it basically sits on the foundation, or thereabouts. Not "part of" the foundation, so you have gaps.

But drilling the holes in the slab is risky and could crack the slab. What this means is, if you get the same company to redo the house that the previous owner used, that company will know they are the ones who drilled-'n'-filled, and won't drill new holes unless absolutely necessary.

But if you go with a new company, they won't treat the garage without ... treating the garage, so they'd have to drill a second set of holes. New opportunity for cracks.

Even so, it's not unusual to have new or more holes drilled in the slab later near seen activity.

You can see why that the first company to treat a new house often has that house forever. But it's not a certainty, and Will and rgG may have used different a different company with different methods.

Keep your repair contract paid up and have them come out for the redo ($$$) at that time. If it lapses, they'll probably let you continue the annual inspections but won't of course fix any damage that occurred after the lapse. The approx. $700-$1000 you pay every 10 years is chickenfeed compared to what termites can cost you.

The only gripe I have is the $100 we pay each year to have the dude come out for 5 mins each summer to inspect.

Re: Termite contracts on house, Good idea? - LaserKun - 03-12-2012

Allow me to be the fourth (4th) Georgian to agree. You need a termite contract... I use one with the bait; the man comes monthly to spray for ants, etc., and checks the baits each time, and gives me a written report. I pay $198 per year for the contract, and $45 every two months for the other insect treatment. To me, definitely worth it, plus not only no termites, but also no other crits I don't want, including fire ants (hate them rascals).

Re: Termite contracts on house, Good idea? - DavidS - 03-12-2012

I'll be the fifth Georgian to comment. Not because I need to (the comments above are all accurate), but because I don't want to feel left out.

In Georgia, we say that it's not a matter of IF you get termites, but WHEN. With our old house, we had the Sentricon bait system, later replaced by the same company with the Bayer system. We had to have the garage drilled and treated once for swarmers.

For our current house, b/c we bought it as a new construction short-sale from the bank, we knew that there was the typical, lousy treatment done during construction but nothing afterwards.

I investigated both methods and went for the inground chemical this time around. It also has a retreat and repair bond that is about $100 annually. No problems so far.

Re: Termite contracts on house, Good idea? - graylocks - 03-12-2012

oh, god! i live in georgia. i haven't had a termite inspection since i moved in 18 years ago.

i'm doomed!

Re: Termite contracts on house, Good idea? - deckeda - 03-12-2012

graylocks wrote:
oh, god! i live in georgia. i haven't had a termite inspection since i moved in 18 years ago.

i'm doomed!

Nah, you'll be fine.

As long as you don't lean too hard against a wall.

Re: Termite contracts on house, Good idea? - Michael - 03-12-2012

graylocks wrote:
oh, god! i live in georgia. i haven't had a termite inspection since i moved in 18 years ago.

i'm doomed!

Re: Termite contracts on house, Good idea? - Will Collier - 03-12-2012

Michael wrote:
[quote=graylocks]
oh, god! i live in georgia. i haven't had a termite inspection since i moved in 18 years ago.

i'm doomed!

Me too!

But, we have a concrete wall basement (pretty rare in GA), covered with brick that goes down 2 feet in the ground. The nearest wood is 2 feet off the ground and I wander around the house inside and outside every 6 months or so looking for termite tunnels and/or sawdust. I've not seen any since our house was built 21 years ago.

Here's some info: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Urban/termites/index.htm
Construction of my house is similar to this... and it was also pretty obviously treated with a lot of what the first exterminator I hired to inspect the place called "Kill-Everything-Athon." He looked around my crawl space, pointed out a couple of holes in the cinderblocks where "something" had obviously been applied many years before (house was built in '68), and said, "Look around. There's no creepy-crawlies in here. And this is July in Georgia, man!"

"Wait five years and call me back. Whatever they put in here in the Sixties is still working great!"