One inspection tells us which species, where the colony sits, and what the work will cost. Every treatment option is priced out on paper before anyone opens a bottle of termiticide.
Inspection $0 with treatment quote · Treatment starts at $899
Inspection
from $89
Spelled out so there's no surprise on the second visit.
Soil-dwelling. They build mud tubes up the foundation and feed on wood from the inside out. The most common termite in Central Florida and the one most Lakeland homes see. You don't see the bugs — you see the evidence. Treated with a liquid termiticide barrier or in-ground bait-and-monitor stations.
Live inside the wood they consume — no soil contact. Concentrated in coastal microclimates and older Victorian or Mediterranean Revival homes (Bartow has its share). Identified by frass that looks like coffee grounds, pinhole exit galleries, and seasonal swarms. Treated with localized injection, fumigation, or whole-structure heat depending on how far they've spread.
Identification
If you've seen one of these, you're probably already past the early stage. Two of them together means call us today.
Pencil-thin brown tubes running up the exterior foundation wall or interior crawlspace piers. Subterranean colonies build these as protected freeways. Snap one — if a new tube grows back inside a week, the colony is live.
Tap baseboards, doorframes, and windowsills with a knuckle. Sound wood thuds; termite-eaten wood sounds papery. The damage hides under intact paint until very late in the process.
Small piles of what looks like coarse coffee grounds or sawdust under windowsills, on attic plywood, or below crown molding. Drywood termites push waste out of the gallery — that's the pile you find.
In spring or early summer, you may find heaps of tiny translucent wings on windowsills or by porch lights. Swarmers shed their wings after mating. Wings inside the house means the colony is inside too.
Hardwood floors that have started to blister, or paint that looks water-damaged with no leak to explain it. Termites tunneling just below the surface change how the wood absorbs moisture and expands.
The inspection determines which option fits your colony. We'll explain the trade-offs and quote each method in writing.
01 · Liquid termiticide barrier
Used on subterranean colonies. A continuous chemical barrier is injected into the soil around the foundation. Workers carry the active ingredient back into the colony. Typical residual is five to seven years in Florida soil.
02 · Bait-and-monitor system
Used on subterranean colonies. In-ground stations install every ten to fifteen feet around the property line. Termites recruit to the bait, share it through the colony, and the colony collapses. Lower-disturbance option when the landscape is already finished.
03 · Localized injection
Used on drywood colonies. Small access holes are drilled into the infested members, treatment is injected directly into the gallery, and the hole is patched. Works when the colony is contained. A wider spread moves the conversation to fumigation or whole-structure heat.
Localized treatment
Full perimeter or structural
Whole-structure fumigation, heat, or large drywood jobs are quoted separately on the inspection. The two-year warranty applies to all treatment plans.
A real termite quote starts with a real termite inspection. The minimum on a single-family home is ninety minutes — foundation line, crawlspace, attic deck, garage interior, and every wood-to-soil contact point on the exterior. Species, colony location, and structural risk get logged on a printed floor plan that stays with you.
The inspection is free when you move forward with treatment. If you decide to pass, the inspection runs $189 and the written report is yours — it's useful for insurance disputes, escrow on a sale, or a second opinion from another company.
Our termite work carries a two-year service warranty from the treatment date. If the same colony returns inside that window — same property, same treated zone — we treat again at no additional cost. The warranty renews annually at a flat fee with a scheduled re-inspection.
Only when the colony has reached multiple isolated members across the structure. Most termite jobs we see in Polk County are localized and clear without fumigation. The inspection determines whether you're on that side of the line or not.
Localized work and liquid barrier applications: yes — no displacement needed. Fumigation: no — two to three nights out of the house, with kids, pets, and any houseplants relocated. The treatment plan tells you exactly which path you're signing on for.
Dry rot is fungal damage — the wood darkens and crumbles cleanly when you press it. Termite damage runs along the grain, leaves galleries packed with mud (subterranean) or frass (drywood), and the outer surface usually still looks intact. We can tell the two apart on inspection.
Liquid barriers: five to seven years of residual protection in Florida soil. Bait stations: as long as the stations remain monitored, which is why annual re-inspection is bundled into the warranty. Localized drywood injection: permanent for the colony treated; it does not block new colonies from forming elsewhere on the property.
Same colony, same property: covered. A new colony in a zone that wasn't part of the original treatment: re-quoted. The work order lists the treated zones by name, so coverage is unambiguous. Renewal is a flat annual fee if you want the warranty to continue past year two.
Almost never. Most policies treat termite damage as a maintenance issue and exclude it. The economic move is to treat the colony early, before structural members need replacing. An $899 eradication beats a $12,000 sill-plate rebuild.
Termite inspections take 90 minutes and produce a written report. Free if you treat with us, $189 if you don't — either way, the report is yours.