More termite questions (Phoenix: how much, vacation home, buyers) - Arizona (AZ) - City-Data Forum

Montanama · 07-18-2014, 11:52 AM

Yes, another termite thread, and yes I searched older threads first!

The bug guy is coming to the house Monday, but we're leaving Saturday, so here I am again asking what's "normal" activity.

We bought this house in May, and the sellers had purchased it the previous October. The state termite report showed that they had an inspection and that there was no visible sign of termites. Our regular inspector also has experience with termite inspection and saw nothing to indicate that we needed a follow-up inspection, so we didn't get one--partly because of many people telling us that even if we had termites there would likely be little damage done, so just to keep an eye out for the telltale tubes. We did tell that inspector that we were a bit concerned about it since the house had been freshly painted inside and out in the past 6 months--this was a big concern of mine at the time as fresh paint covers a multitude of sins--so we were looking for issues.

Yesterday I saw about a 2 inch tube next to the toilet. I wasn't sure what it was, but today it's about 5 inches long, obviously a termite tube. Then as I looked for more I saw several 1-1 1/2 inch tubes next to the window on the wall of a secondary bedroom. I'm not positive they weren't there when we arrived earlier this week, but I didn't notice them if they were.

I don't see any tubes on the foundation outside. Ooops. ETA: I did find the tube on the outside of the house under the window. How fast do these things move?!

So, just curious really since the bug guy is coming Monday (he is out of town today) and he'll do what he needs to do--By the time I'm seeing several tubes on the wall 5 feet up from the floor, does this mean I have a significant infestation?

We had a plumber coming for something else today (because, you know, $$$$), so the bug guy said have him pull the toilet so that the bug guy can treat the dirt in the hole beneath the toilet and replace the seal ring. He was a bit surprised since he's been in the home and never ("NEVER!" There it is again!) seen any signs of termites. Our home watch looks for these issues too and hasn't seen anything--I guess they just happened to appear while we were here. What are the chances?! LOL

I know we'll be doing a full treatment, as the house hasn't been treated since it was built, I think in '97. We should have asked for that treatment with a warranty as a condition of sale--live and learn. What are we looking at here? From other threads I am thinking $700ish? Single level house under 1700sf.

Not the end of the world, it's just always an extra wrinkle to be out of town when all this stuff is being done, and with the progress they've made so far I am certainly wondering how much worse it will be by Monday.

I feel really lucky to have found "my" bug guy, though, as he has been really wonderful to us and so helpful.

Again with the "vacation home" cha-ching, lol. Always something!

Serenity1944 · 07-18-2014, 05:03 PM

One of my neighbors in Phoenix said he bought 20 plugs and put them around the property per directions, got rid of the termites but it took 2 yrs he thought. I had Sentricon bait traps put around. So many people do not put the money out for prevention.

That neighbor had a lot of tunnels running down from his living room ceiling tiles. When he no longer had any termites in the plugs he just continued to spray around the outside of his house.

Since you are seeing tunnels it is best to have the exterminator get rid of them, and keep up maintenance. Frequently check around your foundation for signs of tunnels. There also are natural products you can use for termite prevention as well.

Ponderosa · 07-18-2014, 05:04 PM

Just get it treated and forget about it. No big deal. Termites are hard to prevent but easy to get rid of which why most all have had them or will someday. They come back too. You can pay for a "warranty" or a service contract each year or just wait till you find them and get them zapped again.

I've used Bill's Termite every since I have lived here (long time) and have been generally happy with the service. There is also an Estrella resident who has a company Estrella Mountain Pest Control, I think. Never used him.

Montanama · 07-18-2014, 05:47 PM

Great, thanks for the calming perspective. This is as I thought, but I didn't want to be too cavalier either. I shudder to think how many tubed there'll be by Monday, but he will take care of it I'm sure.
Estrella Mountain Pest Control has been great to us so we'll use them.
I don't know why we thought to check for current and past activity but didn't do prevention. Duh.
Well, lesson learned. Chaching. Again. Lol.

kdog · 07-18-2014, 05:52 PM

Agree with Ponderosa and others that termites are normal, controllable, not to be too concerned about, yada, yada. However, your description at how fast these termite tubes are popping up is surely the worst termite infestation I've ever heard of.

Montanama · 07-18-2014, 08:29 PM

Lol. Naturally!

Montanama · 07-19-2014, 01:26 PM

Three more tubes today on the exterior. Granted they only have a couple of inches to go up the slab, but wow. I thought I had read all the threads on termite activity and was pretty comfortable with what the issues might be. I didn't really understand that they moved this fast. Seems like at this rate we'll have a goin' concern by Monday. Feeling lucky we were here when this happened....well, maybe lucky is not the right word. Bug guy is impressed at their speed but doesn't seem worried, so I guess I'm not either.

Montanama · 07-24-2014, 04:18 PM

So (for those reading all the termite threads, as we did before making our purchase in the Phoenix area), because of our type of foundation the treatment is a little more expensive (access is different)--just under $900 all told with a three year warranty. We were expecting around $700/$750 based on the other threads I've read in the past.

Again, not sure why it didn't occur to us to have the house treated and warranted as a condition of sale--we did have the visual inspection and check the records--I guess I must have thought that since the records were clean since the house was built, that this particular area just wouldn't have them? Can't remember my thought process, but no one recommended we have it treated. There is probably a thread here on C-D that would have steered me in the right direction on that, but I missed it. The bug guy said it's a normal thing to ask for upon sale, and we will certainly be paying to extend the warranty or have it retreated when we sell (depending on how far down the road that is).

Good news is that the chemicals commonly used now are long-lasting, and as mentioned so many times in various threads, this type of termites is very slow to cause actual damage (years of neglecting the issue), even as fast as they appeared to be moving.

Last, the speed with which they appeared to be taking over the house wasn't all that unusual either for the time of year, we're told. The bug guy did say he thinks there must be an active nest pretty close by (they can be 1/4 mile away). Many of the tubes on the exterior which popped up so quickly were empty on inspection--meaning they were exploratory and the bugs decided for whatever reason not to enter the house right there. There are a ton of tubes originating behind the interior window trim corresponding with the location of the earliest exterior tube.

All of this happened within about a week, btw. Both the home watch people and the pest control guy had been at the house just days before we arrived, and the tube in the bathroom (coming up from the soil under the toilet) was moving at a rate of 3" in a day, lol. Quick little fellers. Which again, is no big deal if someone is there to see what's happening.

I suspect this won't be as great for resale as having a clean record, which we'd have had if we would have been smarter about it and treated before closing. But most buyers would request treatment/warranty anyway so I don't think it hurts us too much given how common termites are in Phx.

On to the next learning experience...looking forward to a visit with no surprises in the next few weeks!

Voebe · 07-26-2014, 04:16 PM

I hope this works out well for you. However, the chemicals they use now are in fact not so long lasting as the ones from the olden days. That's why Phoenix is so overrun with termites. I don't get the sense that you got a bunch of comparisons, so I hope you ended up with a good exterminator. Keep in mind that something like a flood or major leak can break down that termite barrier. But, yes, damage is (luckily) slow.