In article , snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com says... :) Hello; :) :) I had exterminators look at my house, because of a small termite :) problem. They gave me a free estimate and the total is going to be :) around $2200.00 for everything including the bait spikes they will put :) in the ground inside and outside around my house which would include :) monthly change-out for about a 2 year plan...does this sound like a :) good price? I don't know anything about this, $2200.00 (or more) seems :) expensive to me. Is there something I could do myself? Could I buy :) these bait/poison spikes somewhere and install them myself? This all :) started when I found mud trials and rotted lumber in my cellar. Thanks :) for any help. :) :)
Sounds like you are dealing with one of the National companies or at least a small guy trying to act like one... check with friends and neighbors and see who they may use and TRUST. You can place out the baits yourself, probably even the same products that the pros use but if you ever sell the home and the evidence of previous activity with no paperwork showing it was professionally treated the buyers may insist on you paying for some more termite work. Here is an example of the failure of baits...
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This home was treated in 2000, maybe 1999, by spot treating the area of activity, then placing out the baits. In the second pic you can see the original tube in the light which is about a fingers width. The termites moved over a few inches and continued on even though there was a bait station within a foot and by the size of the new tube it had been there four or five years. I will usually come across this type of scenario a few times a year when I do inspections for real estate transactions (WDI reports). As another poster suggested have the home treated with Termidor. We have yet to have a call back on any home we have treated with it and that is pretty much the same story we hear from other exterminators around the country. It works totally different from other products out there and it has actually changed the way termite work can be done. In my case I actually charge less for what I charged for termite work 4-5 years ago and the homes are much better protected. And, when doing WDI inspections I have yet to come across a home with termites that had been previously treated with Termidor. Shop around, you will probably find a reasonable price.