Terminix is it worth it! (house, to buy, new construction)

[marykate1]

Hi,

The house we are willing to buy has Terminix coverage. Do you think it is a good idea to carry on with the service?

They charge around $500 a year.

[snappy]

NO! I paid that much for a couple years but still had ants (in CA) and roaches (in TX). Quit the service in both places and nothing changed. Yeah I still had the bugs but no more than when I was paying to poison my house! Then I moved to another house in TX and no bugs AND no service. Yahoo.

[marykate1]

But if you have termites in your house then Terminix will fix it using the $500 per year payment.

[chris_ut]

You can Google Terminix for many, many stories of fraud by them. Many times they will just come and spray water to save costs instead of chemicals. Often they will say they have removed termites when they have not.

[marykate1]

Hmm! so any alternatives!

How do you protect yrself from termites?

[Poltracker]

You don't. You treat them when you get them. There are 2 different types and it would be costly indeed to protect against both when you may never get them. The best thing to do is to take common precautions i.e. keep mulch/garden beds/ bushes away from side of house, etc.

My parent's house is 41 years old and has never seen a case of termites, mine is older and never a problem because common precautions are taken.

[marykate1]

Thanks!

[Wysiwyg]

I put pieces of wood somewhere easier for termites to find so I will know when to go for extreme measures. I check around everytime I mow the lawn (treat ants normally). for general pest defense I just grab a bag from home depot every now and then.
as for terminix, I'll do everything myself to avoid letting people in my yard without my permission

[icon7]

i do the same thing. I actually took some nice termite friendly pieces of dry wood and bury it the ground about 40 feet from my house. I drill a few holes in it and coat it with termidor. Just enough to make them sick and carry it to their relatives. Works like a champ.

If the home is new construction, use Boracare Borate treatment. It will penetrate the wood. Termites and bugs hate borax. Then spray the perimeter with termidor.

Originally Posted by Wysiwyg

I put pieces of wood somewhere easier for termites to find so I will know when to go for extreme measures. I check around everytime I mow the lawn (treat ants normally). for general pest defense I just grab a bag from home depot every now and then.
as for terminix, I'll do everything myself to avoid letting people in my yard without my permission

[Wysiwyg]

Originally Posted by icon7

i do the same thing. I actually took some nice termite friendly pieces of dry wood and bury it the ground about 40 feet from my house. I drill a few holes in it and coat it with termidor. Just enough to make them sick and carry it to their relatives. Works like a champ.

If the home is new construction, use Boracare Borate treatment. It will penetrate the wood. Termites and bugs hate borax. Then spray the perimeter with termidor.

my termite trap.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...ysiwygwall.jpg

i got some loose wood (not treated) and loose rocks behind that so they have their own environment basically making it a more hospitable area than my house. that also is the street side of the subdivision where they will be more likely to be crawling in from. well atleast thats the plan. I do spread some of that insect granules once a year