Although other problems — radon, asbestos and lead — have taken center stage in recent years, there’s one gnawing issue in a home sale that makes real estate agents very nervous.
Termites.
“Even in a market such as this one, in which anxious buyers will forgo a home inspection, they will not do without a termite inspection,” said Noelle Barbone, manager of the Weichert Realtors office in Paoli, Pa.
Two million dwellings, in every state but Alaska, are damaged each year by termites, with the total repair costs estimated at $2 billion annually — costs rarely covered by homeowners’ insurance.
Termite colonies are composed of thousands to millions of insects, and nests are typically found near the soil surface to about 10 feet below the ground.
For many years, lenders insisted on termite reports as a condition of obtaining a mortgage. But since in most states such inspections are contingencies in agreements of sale, lenders are leaving it up to real estate agents.
These sales agreements have what are known as wood-infestation clauses, covering not only termites but carpenter ants and other wood-boring insects.
If there is evidence of termite infestation, the seller is required to pay to have the problem treated. The repair of the damage is then negotiated between the buyer and the seller.
Usually the buyer will only walk away from the deal if the seller will not take care of the damage, which often can run into thousands of dollars.
Although it is dangerous to generalize, most real estate agents suggest that termite infestation is more common in houses older than 10 years.
An important reason is the change in foundation-construction methods.
Termite infestation requires wood from a structure to come directly in contact with the soil. What home builders have started doing is constructing termite barriers to prevent such contact.
One barrier on the market — Granitgard — is made of stone and looks like very coarse, sharp sand.
Granite is crushed and graded to a specific size and shape of particle. These particles are too big for termites to move, too small for them to go between, too hard to chew and too sharp to push through. They are then packed into all the termite-entry points of a new building — for example, exterior perimeter wall cavities and pipes through slabs.
Termites use their jaws rather than their legs to move forward. According to a study of termite barriers by the University of Ontario, termites are unable to move particles larger than about 1 millimeter in diameter. As particle size increases, so does the size of the space between the particles.
Particles about 3 millimeters and larger provide spaces large enough for termites to crawl through. Therefore, coarse sand particles — which range from 1 to 3 millimeters — can be used as a barrier around the foundation of a house to protect against subterranean termites.
Sand barriers can also be used in perimeter trenches and crawl spaces, inside hollow masonry voids, and around the bases of fence posts, poles, supporting piers, porches, decks and retaining walls, the Ontario study concluded.
Another barrier, Termi-Mesh, is an Australian product made of a noncorroding, stainless-steel mesh. The gaps in the mesh are small enough to prevent penetration by termites. This barrier is used with slab-on-grade construction by placing it on the aggregate bed before pouring the concrete floor pad.
Termite inspections are typically conducted by licensed inspectors, either independent contractors or franchisees of larger firms such as Ehrlich and Orkin.
An inspection usually takes an hour to 90 minutes, depending on the size of the house. One problem is that inspectors cannot report on what they cannot see, so their written determinations include exceptions to areas that are not accessible.
In fact, about 80 percent of the wood in a typical house is hidden from view.
There are fairly obvious signs of termite infestation that even the layperson can see: pencil-thin mud tubes extending over the inside and outside surfaces of foundation walls, piers, sills and joists; the presence of winged (swarmer) termites or their shed wings on windowsills and along the edges of floors; and damaged wood hollowed out along the grain and lined with bits of mud or soil.
The inspector’s trained eye can see other, more subtle evidence.
Grady Glenn, an entomologist at Texas A&M University, said the inspector is looking first for any signs of an active infestation, which include any shelter or mud tubes constructed by subterranean termites on or in a wall that enables the termites to gain access to wooden construction elements (studs, sills, plates, rafters, etc.) from their colony beneath the soil.
“The use of a moisture meter is invaluable in these inspections,” he said. “A nondestructive moisture meter can reveal areas behind the walls that have an elevated moisture content. This moisture can be indicative of a plumbing leak, or water from a sprinkler system, or from precipitation from a roof leak. These all contribute to conditions conducive to infestation by termites, as subterranean termites can utilize the moisture for survival.”
In these instances, an opening may need to be made in the wall to determine if the moisture is simply from some leak, or from an actual termite infestation. The inspector also will use a flashlight, probes and powers of observation to determine the presence of an infestation. It will require inspecting inside the structure, outside the structure, beneath the structure if there is a pier-and-beam foundation and in the attic.
A new tool called a Tertramac can detect the movement of termites or other insects inside a wall, Glenn said. Some people have also used the sensitivity of dogs’ noses, with appropriate training, to detect termites in a structure.
During an inspection, areas checked include the subfloor and roof space, interior and exterior, and the site itself (trees and stumps within several feet of the house).
Termites usually travel inside the timber, forming moist galleries that swell the wood and create a wrinkled surface on the door frame or architrave. Damaged timbers are often paper-thin.
The University of Iowa’s Department of Entomology said subterranean termites have, for the last five decades, been controlled by chemical barriers called termiticides in the soil, around and beneath a structure.
A complete barrier treatment may require hundreds of gallons of termiticide solution. The water-based solution is injected three to five feet into the ground alongside the foundation, beneath concrete slabs (basement and garage floors, patios, sidewalks, and driveways), and within foundation walls.
Pest-control operators use several different termiticides. All are safe and effective when used carefully according to label directions and will remain effective in the soil for five to 10 years.
The second option is termite bait, which consists of a palatable and acceptable food material combined with a very slow-acting toxic substance.
Here are a few ways to eliminate the conditions that will encourage termites:
– Look for conditions such as wood touching the ground or siding that traps moisture and correct the problem.
– Remove tree stumps from around the house.
– Fix leaky plumbing or drainage under the house.
– Stack firewood off the ground and away from your house.
– Don’t let outside faucets drip onto the ground.
