Termites in Richmond
Termites in Richmond, Virginia are uniquely terrible when it comes to our homes. Their natural inclination is to stay underground or in dark areas. You will likely never see them until it is too late.
In the wild, termites will burrow into fallen logs and feed on the wood as they go causing natural decomposition that the forests need to stay healthy. Preferring to stay in warm, moist, and dark areas termites are rarely seen above ground.
Primarily, they consume cellulose, which just so happens to be what the structure of most of our homes are made of. Unfortunately for us, the crawl spaces below our homes are typically warm, moist, and dark; the perfect environment for these critters want and need to emerge above ground.
Surprisingly enough, termites are prone to dehydrating even in our extremely humid environment. When they come into our crawl spaces they build tubes made of mud up the walls of the crawl space to the wooden joists that hold the rest of our homes up. Once they are in, they enjoy a 24-hour-a-day buffet, breaking down the structural supports of our homes.
Okay, but don’t I have insurance to cover this? The most common answer is, “No.” Obviously read through your insurance clauses for your home, but we have found that the vast majority of policies for our clients do not cover termite damage found in the home. Structural damage is one of the largest expenses we face as Real Estate Agents. Replacing a joist can be thousands of dollars per joist and can crack drywall and cause leaks later on within the house.
Fortunately for us they take a very long time to build these tubes and do any real damage. However, when was the last time you went into your crawl space and looked around? I know for most of us, this is a very rare occurrence. This is where termite companies come in to help us out. We have been working with Pest Now for a number of years, and we suggest to our clients that they get them to come out and take a look at their property every year or every other year depending on the condition of their crawl space.
It is a very inexpensive step to keep your crawl space happy and healthy. If a pest company does find termites in your crawl space and catches it before they do any damage, the process to treat the termites only takes a couple of hours. The company will spray and set underground traps to keep the termites away from your property and typically includes a one-year warranty. These companies also have yearly contracts that you can sign up for to eliminate the need to worry. We have found that these are great ways to ensure nothing happens to your property.
