HELP! Anyone a pest inspector on here?

[bigjohn141]

Ok so here is the situation... I am trying to buy a house and everything is almost complete. The bank sent over a termite inspector today and he found a spot on the drywall of an exterior wall in the garage that is about 1x3ft total and says it is termites. He did say this is the only sign he saw and that he saw no activity in what was left of the little mud tubes. I went over and looked at this when I got off of work and it does look like termites but it just looks like surface damage and I did not see any wings or anything around and it does appear that the made it into the interior wall but I am no expert. Ok so now the kicker. The person told me that they could treat it but they would have to drill holes in the floor (single story concrete slab home) and treat around the house. He said the estimate was $1100! Does he really have to drill holes in the floor since it is concrete? This does not make since to me. Should I just take down the section of drywall and see if it superfical and go from there or should I let him treat it? I just dont want someone trying to scam me into a lot of work that doesnt have to be done. I am getting this house at $20,000 less than what it is worth and the home inspector checked it out and said it is in good shape and the owner is selling in as is conditon so I will have to pay for whatever work is done. Any help or insite, professional or not, would be great. THANKS!

 

[Professor]

There are other treatments that do not require the floor in the house to be drilled. They will trench around the house and form a barrier. They garage is drilled. It is a different type of chemical than what we are used to. We just did the house we sold in September that way. I know a guy you can call. He is honest, but I would guess Elk City would be a bit far.

 

[99'busa]

I can help you. 1. I'll ask my dad about the holes thing cause he does that for Orkin. I have delt w/ alot of the damage aspect in my line of work and previous line of work. On the inside walls close to the floor, push on the drywall with your hand or blunt end of something to see it the drywall is weak or even busts in.

 

[twotonevert]

Almost every house in the northeast part of OK has termites. My house has had them in the past, and I had it treated with Sentricon. I know they used to drill holes in the slab and treat them that way, but only if you have serious activity. You say that the mud tubes were empty? That is good news. Have them set up the Sentricon or whatever their brand is. They bury bait traps all around the house, check it monthly, and report activity in the traps with activity. The installation is about 900 to 1100 depending on who does it, and split with 12 even payments, you get the idea. If you are that worried, get a second opinion from another home inspector at YOUR cost and see what they come up with. Good luck with the home purchase!

 

[99'busa]

at least its in garage. the most demo i would do is the worst area JUST the bottom 3" to see any sill plate damage.

 

[bigjohn141]

Thanks Professor. I am going to call Orkin and a few other places to get some estimates if my bank will allow it.

 

[bigjohn141]

I can help you. 1. I'll ask my dad about the holes thing cause he does that for Orkin. I have delt w/ alot of the damage aspect in my line of work and previous line of work.   On the inside walls close to the floor, push on the drywall with your hand or blunt end of something to see it the drywall is weak or even busts in.

I will go try that right now. Up the wall is till solid but i will see if the sill plate is still there. This place is great!

 

[99'busa]

are there baseboards

 

[bigjohn141]

Almost every house in the northeast part of OK has termites. My house has had them in the past, and I had it treated with Sentricon. I know they used to drill holes in the slab and treat them that way, but only if you have serious activity. You say that the mud tubes were empty? That is good news. Have them set up the Sentricon or whatever their brand is. They bury bait traps all around the house, check it monthly, and report activity in the traps with activity. The installation is about 900 to 1100 depending on who does it, and split with 12 even payments, you get the idea. If you are that worried, get a second opinion from another home inspector at YOUR cost and see what they come up with. Good luck with the home purchase!

It doesnt look that bad for what I can see. I will go get a pic or two. The guy that did my house inspectoion also does termites and he does a very professional home inspection. It is not a very large spot and appears to be no activity so I would just get a pot treatment for now if it would solve the problem. Lots of great info.

 

[bigjohn141]

are there baseboards

It is a 2-3" concrete lip with the wall on top of that. There is a small molding around the bottom that looks in very good shape except for a little spot where it appears they chewed on it but it is still very intact.

 

[bigjohn141]

Be back in a few guys with pics... Thanks for all the help so far!

 

[99'busa]

are there baseboards

It is a 2-3" concrete lip with the wall on top of that. There is a small molding around the bottom that looks in very good shape except for a little spot where it appears they chewed on it but it is still very intact.

 thats what i expected you to say. at the worst spot directly over the molding (by directly over i mean the first inch) that is going to be the weakest area.  imho if THAT area is okay i wouldnt worry about it.   but  since you have that molding you CAN carefully remove the molding in that area and take a jab saw or hand saw or even a utility knife and cut out the drywall JUST UP 3" so when your done you can put the molding back and cover up your cut-out. hint:make your cut-out neat as possible so you can put it back so your molding can still have some sort of backing.  

If your molding your talking about is just a vinyl covebase than all you have to do is glue it back.

Also if it is a vinyl molding take a utility knife and score the drywall at the top of the molding so when you take it off it doesn't tear the paper off the top of drywall

 

[99'busa]

good luck bro. sounds like no biggy at all. congrats on the good buy

 

[bigjohn141]

Ok im back. let me load up a few pics.

 

[Mr Bogus]

Orkin did my shop, they had to drill a series of holes along each wall and pump in some kind of pesticide. When the building was put up, the contractor cut a corner and did not have termite stuff put down (was supposed to by code)

The kicker... this was a pure block building on a cement slab... I put "marlite" splash walls around the inside of the building so that it looked better... fricken termites came through the block somehow and proceeded to eat away at the marlite.. $1200 later it was fixed...

 

[99'busa]

Orkin did my shop, they had to drill a series of holes along each wall  and pump in some kind of pesticide.   When the building was put up, the contractor cut a corner and did not have termite stuff put down (was supposed to by code)

The kicker... this was a pure block building on a cement slab...  I put "marlite" splash walls around the inside of the building so that it looked better... fricken termites came through the block somehow and proceeded to eat away at the marlite.. $1200 later it was fixed...

now that is some frikin crazy termites. I would have never expected that

 

[bigjohn141]

Ok here we go...

This is a pic of the drywall damage, it goes a few inches up under the peg board but this is all of it.



Ok nect is the sill plate. I got to looking and the molding actually sits above it. The only damages is the small section in the middle.



Next is after I removed some drywall and took a look inside. It looks kinda bad in the pic but after I took this I cleaned out all the junk and the stud and top of the sill plate look like they are not damaged much if any. I took a knife and poked around at it in different spots and it is still solid.


View attachment 1292756

All in all I may remove the one sheet of drywall that this damage is on just to make sure they didnt chew it up further up. I check on the two studs on either side of this one and there was no damage at all. At least it is on the one in the middle of the sheet so I just have to take one out if I decide to. Just have to wait and see what the bank says about it tomorow.

Last pic...

This is the front of the house. I have to do something about that blue but its not too bad for my first house. 3 bed, 1 3/4 bath, 1560 sqft, fireplace, two car garage and a patio with a STROM CELLAR.

View attachment 1292757

 

[Mr Bogus]

yea think I would want to make sure of the damage before I invested... I bet the bank wants to know also... make sure you CYA on this....

All I had was like a few of those little "mud" tube things...

 

[99'busa]

okay, that 2nd pic was hard for me to make out but it all looks okay. i wouldnt take ANY drywall out unless it will help you sleep better at night. the damage is always going to be worse at the bottom so if the bottom is cool there is no reason to believe farther up to be worse. it is unusual that this is all that was done though. I would still get the treatment and have traps put out and monitor them yourself. structurally speaking there is nothing wrong. just flake off the loose paint up the wall and skim with some drywall mud (any kind is fine but lightweight is easier to sand) please feel free to PM me if you need anything. you just have some very minor cosmetic probs. easily fixed by ANY homeowner

 

[99'busa]

i can and am willing to walk you through anything. here to help you bro.