Is Termite Prevention a Must?

We had termites in our brick home. They come in around pipes, in weep holes and get to your wood framing. We caught our's early, so we had no damage, but it CAN happen to a brick home!

That said, I don't know about pretreating for termites. If you do decide to do it SHOP AROUND. We got 4 quotes for termites and saved around $400. We got the foam treatment where they stick a tube in around your pipes and fill the cavity up with foam that supposibly lasts a very long time (can't remember how long) we also have traps outside that let them know if we have termites around our house. The foam treatment is less invasive and they don't have to pull up tile or put a hole in your wall like other treatments.

We got a package deal for them to monitor the termites and exterminate other bugs (including treating the yard for fire ants) for $119 a quarter. This is through ABC Pest Control, and we have been very happy with them!!

Yes, termite pervention is a must these days. Yes you have been lucky. If you don't prevent and get termites, it will be much more expensive, trust me. I believe the cost to prevent is around 400.00 depending on who you go with. I would shop around. If you have termite infestation now it gets more expensive and that depends on how bad the damage is and if they are in all your walls. We just bought a house and there were termites in the garage area so we had them treated (not at our cost) so they wouldn't spread to the rest of the house. It is true an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Plus if you ever sell the house and it has termites, you will have to pay for the treatment in order to sell your house.

I don't know if it's a must, but it's a good idea. Termites can be pretty nasty, and can do considerable damage. My Grandfather owned several properties while he was alive, and always had them pre-treated "just in case" he used to say, also he felt it was a sound investment, because by pre-treating he was preventing the potential, and thereby skipping the repair costs.

Hi R..

We have lived in our house for about 5 years and had termites. Our exterminator told us that termites are very active in Texas because of the climate. "Not if, when". Are you building a house? I would think that would be the only reason to pretreat. Ours was an exsiting home. Has he found some activity? We paid about 900.00 to have ours done - they treated the active site and then dug a trench around the entire house. BTW, ours in a brick house to and the termites came in around our plumbing.