My house in Virginia was treated along the entire perimeter for termite in 2005 by the earlier owner using Company A. Then in 2008, there was some termite activity detected next to the attached garage during closing, so the entire perimeter was treated again by the same Company A. They used Termidor and charged $450 for the 300 sq ft perimeter.

Last week, I kept some bags of mowed grass clippings, next to the attached garage and when I removed them after 3 days, I saw live termites in the soil under the bags. I called Company A who came and treated just that area promptly. When I asked them if their treatment had failed, they said that the house and garage perimeter were protected, but since I had kept the bags on the soil, the moisture underneath the bags could have attracted the termites from anywhere.. other parts of the garden, neighbor's lawn, etc. since anyway there are termites in the soil in Virgnia.

When I called a competitor Company B for a second opinion, they said that Company A was lying. Of course, company B wanted my business so I was skeptical of them, but then again, I had no reason to believe Company A were honest either. Company B's point was that Company A had never treated the entire perimeter in 2008 because I should not have seen termites at all last week, and secondly, charging just $450 for Termidor is way too less. Company B quoted $900 for Termidor and $400 for a lesser potent chemical if I could switch to them for the annual contract.

I have no idea who to trust. All I know is that I want my house protected. Any suggestions on how to proceed?

Regards,
K

Stick with Company A. $450.00 is a reasonable price to RE-INSTATE a contract using Termidor's Perimeter Plus@ treatment program. If your house had been a brand new account it would have likely been more expensive.

As far as the treatment, it is designed to keep them out of your house, not your yard.

Edit: You can call the State Dept. of Agriculture for an inspection. Sorry, Commonwealth Dept. of Agr. They will inspect the property and review both your contract and Co. B's proposal.

Stick with Company A. $450.00 is a reasonable price to RE-INSTATE a contract using Termidor's Perimeter Plus@ treatment program. If your house had been a brand new account it would have likely been more expensive.

As far as the treatment, it is designed to keep them out of your house, not your yard.

Edit: You can call the State Dept. of Agriculture for an inspection. Sorry, Commonwealth Dept. of Agr. They will inspect the property and review both your contract and Co. B's proposal.

Hi Catsmine:

Thanks for your reply. There was a typo in my original post. Company A charged me $450 for applying Termidor to 3000 sq ft perimeter; not 300 sq ft.

BTW, I'm up for renewal on the termite warranty and Company A has doubled the annual fee (from $75 to $150)! Plus, I had bad experience with Company A where they came for the termite spot treatment and left a lot of mess around when they drilled the stoop. They said they would send someone to clean it, but no one ever came and I ended up spending 20 minutes cleaning my front porch.

Company B does not require me to apply any treatment treatment. Their annual fee is $90 (exactly what I used to pay when I had them at my old house), and we wouldn't need to worry about the treatment until they find any evidence. I had Company B for 6 years at my old house, and had to use Company A at my new house because the seller paid for it.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks,
K

You obviously like the people at Co. B (no boogie-woogie bugle jokes, I promise) but I would be concerned that they would offer a warranty contract without any treatment records. I'm not even sure if that's legal in VA. but you've built a relationship and that's a tremendous asset on both sides.

Peace of mind is what you're buying, so who can give you more of it? You decide.