WDO

I inspected a house the other day that had been treated a few years before with a liquid treatment for subterranean termites. Seller disclosed this, and we saw all of the drill marks everywhere so everything was on the up and up. Well, my pest inspector (I always use an outside pest co.) dug up the mulch on the back of the house and found that the entire mulch bead was full of live termites. Also, he found dead termite swarmers inside of the house; so there was live activity somewhere in the structure.

Moral of the story, don’t assume that since the house has been treated you won’t find live termites; stay vigilant for the little buggers!

Excellent post Griffin.

In our area, I would guess that about 30%-40% of the WDI treated structures I find still have some signs of pests present … Intact shelter tubes, mud, frass, live termites, etc. We’ve never considered any signs of “Pre-Treatment” anything but JUST signs of treatment in the past.

[quote=“agriffin, post:1, topic:86455”]

I inspected a house the other day that had been treated a few years before with a liquid treatment for subterranean termites. Seller disclosed this, and we saw all of the drill marks everywhere so everything was on the up and up. Well, my pest inspector (I always use an outside pest co.) dug up the mulch on the back of the house and found that the entire mulch bead was full of live termites. Also, he found dead termite swarmers inside of the house; so there was live activity somewhere in the structure.

Moral of the story, don’t assume that since the house has been treated you won’t find live termites; stay vigilant for the little buggers!/QUOTE

You can bet that as soon as the potency/strength of the chemicals dissipates that the termites will come back.
You can have several separate and distinct “colonies” of termites living in the Yard and/or the trees. As a retired WDO/WDI certified inspector I have seen this many, many times over the last 43 years. In fact it is as predictable as the sunrise.
PS: bringing in a licensed/certified WDO/WDI is a good move on your part. However….if he Missed anything it will fall on your shoulders and in all probability you will be held responsible. Damned if you do! Damned if you don’t!

I wish you the best of luck!:smiley: