Pest Control - termite treatment in N. CA.

Author

termite treatment in N. CA.

davemac

2006-08-27, 5:25 pm

Greetings folks. I have just encountered dealing with termite
treatment costs for the first time. Yikes! I don't understand why it
is so expensive. I have a 2700 sq ft 2 story house on a slab with
maybe a 300 linear foot perimeter. I discovered termite damage on a
front corner of the house under some trees, so I suspect there is maybe
a moisture issue here for whatever reason. It could be the grading
needs to be corrected a bit. The damage is on several sills of the
windows. The outside wall below these windows is surrounded by a brick
ledge which protrudes maybe 1 ft and extends to the ground supporting
itself. It appears the termites may have been coming up behind this
brick and into the sills. There is no damage visible inside the house
in this area.

I had an independent pest firm come out to inspect and bid on this.
They suggested treating the whole perimeter which I agree with. The
back part of the house (2/3 rds of it, 40+ ft) has a pool deck adjacent
to the house, so they would need to drill maybe a dozen wholes in that
area. They would drill perhaps another 1/2 dozen in the brick ledge in
the front of the house below the windows, and also would drill into the
slab on the inside below the windows. The rest they are proposing that
a trench be dug and chemical poured. The quote is ~$3500 which seems
very high to me, but then again, I don't have a lot of experience with
this. From my initial research on the newsgroups here, it sounds like
checmical cost may be $300-$500? I don't even know what they are
proposing to treat with at the moment, but that is something I would
ask them to put in the bid. I am assuming Termidor is still one of the
best options?

I will try to get at least another 2 quotes, but is this a reasonable
bid, or is it on the high side? I don't believe this bid reflects any
repair work on the sills themselves. The work here can't be more than
8 man hrs except for the trenching maybe (can hire cheap labor for that
though). I would think $2000 would be a more reasonable bid? Can
anyone else in northern CA comment on the local costs around here?

thanks,

davemc

bugs@bugs.com

2006-08-28, 3:25 am

Yes that sounds a little excessive however I don't know all the costs
involved by the company treating. They have set expenses that they consider
in their treatments and they may have some very high expenses. I would
recommend you do get some more bids and compare treating options and prices
available to you. However keep one thing in mind cheap is not always good
and good is not always cheap. I am not saying you are looking for cheap and
please don't think I am, I am mearly saying that there will be some
treatments that you really may not want even though they may be rather
inexpensive, and some you may not want even though they are very expensive.
You will know what is right for you and your house when you find it.

If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask them here.

A good price for California should be around the $8.00 per linear foot range
so if that is a fair price you should be able to get your job done for
around $2400.00. I know the prices in Cali are higher than just about any
other state but I am in West Virginia and we get close to that price here so
they should get it out there as well.

The best of luck to you.

--
I wish you all the best
Tim Wise

www.onepest.com
www.askourpros.com

valuepest@gmail.com

2006-08-29, 9:25 am

Does your home sit on a slab foundation? Crawlspace? Basement? These
will have bearing on how much chemical will be required to be used. The
deeper the footing, the more chemical required by law.

There are better ways than drilling everything, but each person has
their preference.

bugs@bugs.com

2006-08-30, 3:25 am

On 29-Aug-2006, valuepest@gmail.com wrote:

> slab foundation? Crawlspace? Basement?

Jeff this brings up a good question that I have never heard anyone discuss
on the many boards we have been on, maybe you have. What kind of
construction seem to be to biggest built in California or have you ever
heard? I would think it would be slabs but who knows?

--
I wish you all the best
Tim Wise

www.onepest.com
www.askourpros.com

gpsman

2006-09-02, 3:25 am

davemac wrote:
> Greetings folks. I have just encountered dealing with termite
> treatment costs for the first time. Yikes! I don't understand why it
> is so expensive. I have a 2700 sq ft 2 story house on a slab with
> maybe a 300 linear foot perimeter. I discovered termite damage on a
> front corner of the house under some trees, so I suspect there is maybe
> a moisture issue here for whatever reason. It could be the grading
> needs to be corrected a bit. The damage is on several sills of the
> windows. The outside wall below these windows is surrounded by a brick
> ledge which protrudes maybe 1 ft and extends to the ground supporting
> itself. It appears the termites may have been coming up behind this
> brick and into the sills. There is no damage visible inside the house
> in this area.
>
> I had an independent pest firm come out to inspect and bid on this.
> They suggested treating the whole perimeter which I agree with. The
> back part of the house (2/3 rds of it, 40+ ft) has a pool deck adjacent
> to the house, so they would need to drill maybe a dozen wholes in that
> area. They would drill perhaps another 1/2 dozen in the brick ledge in
> the front of the house below the windows, and also would drill into the
> slab on the inside below the windows. The rest they are proposing that
> a trench be dug and chemical poured. The quote is ~$3500 which seems
> very high to me, but then again, I don't have a lot of experience with
> this. From my initial research on the newsgroups here, it sounds like
> checmical cost may be $300-$500? I don't even know what they are
> proposing to treat with at the moment, but that is something I would
> ask them to put in the bid. I am assuming Termidor is still one of the
> best options?
>
> I will try to get at least another 2 quotes, but is this a reasonable
> bid, or is it on the high side? I don't believe this bid reflects any
> repair work on the sills themselves. The work here can't be more than
> 8 man hrs except for the trenching maybe (can hire cheap labor for that
> though). I would think $2000 would be a more reasonable bid? Can
> anyone else in northern CA comment on the local costs around here?
>

That sounds reasonable to me... depending...

Any PCO who bids solely on footage is an idiot IME, many other factors
come into play such as the difficulty of reaching the perimeter under
decks and the home's construction. If you have a log home this is one
of the expenses that sometimes rears its ugly head during ownership.

Construction quality also comes into play. In many instances homes
built in the last 30 years are of very, VERY poor quality. Offering a
competitive warranty for treatments of poorly constructed homes has
driven a couple PCO's I know of out of business... at least under that
business name...

Chemical costs matter little, the main expense is warranty and the
chances of re-infestation. Every job is different and offers it's own
challenges.

OTOH, it is my practice to bid high the jobs that I don't want... much
higher than yours so this probably isn't an issue.
-----

- gpsman

davemac

2006-09-03, 3:25 am

The house is on a slab.

Well, I got the perimiter treated with Termidor with a 2yr warranty for
$1050 which seems like a great price to me. The techs were great also.
They really knew their stuff and talked to me about different
approaches to the window sill issue. They opted for injecting foam
into the outsided wall there rather than drilling into the brick veneer
because they thought it could potentially shatter.

dave mc

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