Subterranean Termites

Professional Termite Inspections - Protecting Your Investment:

Whether you are a current property owner or considering a purchase, a thorough inspection by an experienced, ministry licensed termite control specialist is essential to protecting your investment and your rights as a purchaser. Termites are more widespread in Toronto and the GTA than most people believe. Damage caused by termites is not covered by property insurance policies. It is essential to have a thorough termite inspection before you buy. When termites are discovered it is the seller’s responsibility to address existing infestations to the structure. Every real estate transaction is different; therefore it is essential to have a very experienced termite inspector who has many years of experience and a good background in construction.

Our termite inspectors also provide a written report outlining potential conditions that may attract termites to your home. These could be wood-soil-contact, damp basements, grading issues and poor crawlspace construction, to name a few.

If a termite infestation is found, a termite treatment is recommended as outlined below;

Chemical Treatment to Infested Buildings:

This conventional treatment requires the experience and expertise of a ministry-licensed technician. The treatment takes approximately one full day and involves treatment of both the interior and exterior of the structure. On the exterior, termiticide is injected into the soil along exterior walls to a depth of 4 feet. In addition, the wall voids are treated by injecting termiticide into the centre of the foundation walls. On the interior, termiticide is injected through the basement floor, beside all walls. Following chemical application, all holes are sealed with latex cement, thus limiting exposure to the termiticide.

Preventing Infestations Before they Occur - New Building Construction:

This treatment is usually done in three distinct phases as the home is being built:

1. Application of termiticide to the footings area before the concrete is poured.

2. Treatment of the basement floors before the concrete slab is poured.

3. Once the backfill is in place, but before any landscaping block work or driveway or concrete sidewalks are poured, termiticide is injected into the backfill next to the foundation wall.

Please call us and ask about the Aetna termite warranty and extended warranty program. It is also very important to contact us when you are planning any renovations to your home; particularly in the basement. We will recommend construction practices and products that will help to deter termites.

Facts About Termites

The subterranean termite Reticulitermes flavipes first arrived in Toronto in 1938 through the harbour near Cherry Street. It is suspected that they were offloaded from cargo ships that arrived from the United States. Since then, termites have spread to areas in the north, east and west. Today, they are established throughout downtown neighbourhoods and also in pockets throughout the Greater Toronto Area including: Toronto, East York, Scarborough, York, North York, Etobicoke, New Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Thornhill, Markham, Newmarket, Pickering, Whitby and Oshawa. They are also established in towns throughout south western Ontario.

Termites live in colonies with a queen, secondary reproductives, winged reproductives, soldiers and workers. Worker termites are sometimes confused with ants, however they are distinguished by their off-white colour. Termites rarely expose themselves to the open air; they remain hidden in mud tunnels, wood or soil. The nests of termites can be decentralized and follow a loose pattern in their movement activity. The colony will forage or concentrate their activity in different locations at different times via a network of extensive subterranean tunnels. In addition, in early spring, winged reproductives, also known as "alates", may leave the nest to form new colonies.

Gary Alpert, Harvard University, Bugwood.org

Gary Alpert, Harvard University, Bugwood.org

Gary Alpert, Harvard University, Bugwood.org

How Termites Invade a Building Subterranean termites build their nests in the ground. They require a highly moist environment in order to survive. They facilitate this by constructing mud tubes (also referred to as "shelter tubes") which help them to maintain hospitable conditions, provide transportation channels to explore for food and link food sources to the underground nests. As you can see from the picture titled Termite Shelter Tube, termites will build shelter tubes on top of concrete and find the most miniscule crack in the concrete to enter your home and infest the wood framing of your house.

While direct wood-to-soil contact is the easiest route into a building, termites can also enter a home through rubble foundation walls, voids in concrete blocks and in the centre of brick walls, cracks and crevices, around electrical wiring and plumbing expansion joints and rigid foam insulation. A common misconception is that only buildings constructed primarily of wood are vulnerable to termites. In fact, any structure whether built from steel, concrete, brick or wood can be susceptible to termite infestations. The damage inflicted to wood is not usually noticeable on the surface since termites avoid exposure to the open air. Consequently, damage can only be seen by stripping away the exterior surface of the wood. Unlike other wood-boring insects such as carpenter ants and powder post beetles, termites do not reduce wood to a powdery mass, or push wood particles to the outside.