If buying or selling is in you future and you haven’t a nodding aquaintenance with the world of Pest Control??your? in for quite? an education. Why should you care? Termites and other related pest control??issues can cost thousands of dollars?to repair. ?If your selling a home or buying one it can effect your bottom line costs depending upon who (buyer or seller) agreed to cover the costs.
Here are a few quick tips to get you started. If your a seller?start ?with a ?reputable inspector. If you don’t know one check with the Structural Pest Control Board. This is an excellent resource of information.
If your a buyer you may search the Board’s Wood Destroying Organism System to see if a specific property has been inspected within the last two years. The Board’s database is very specific so the best results are usually found by entering in limited information, for example, only the building number and zip code. This will ensure that the entire database is checked for the information you are seeking.
As a professional in the Structural pest control industry, may I make the following suggestions:
1. If you are selling your home have a reputable wood destroying pest inspector complete the inspection of your home before you have an offer. This way you are able to gage the impact of possible wood destroying infestation or infections before you agree to terms with a buyer. I have seen instances where the seller negotiated a transaction that made big termite problems a little concern, because they were prepared with information about existing problems and repair/treatment costs.
2. Before your inspection date be sure your home is properly prepared to allow a complete inspection. Do ask the inspecting company if they have inspection preparation guides. If they do not go to my site at the following address for basic instruction: http://www.blackstarpest.com/termite_prep.htm
This way you will get the most complete information from your inspection.
3. Remember you are in control of the areas inspected. For instance, wood decks can be big headaches. If you request that the deck not be inspected, your pest professional will declare your inspection as limited instead of complete, name the party that limited the inspection; and describe in his written report what areas are included and what areas are excluded.
4. The inspection will include a written report of the findings and recommendations and pages of disclaimers and statements designed to clarify the areas inspected and not inspected. Buyers and sellers now need to be aware of the following important areas: the designation box in the first page describing a complete, limited, supplemental, reinspection, report. Also the first page boxes: Subterranean termites, drywood termites, fungus/dryrot, other findings, further inspection. Look for additional pages with statements describing the areas inspected or not inspected, and inaccessible areas; you will know why in later points.
5. Look for section statements in the report. There are three section categories they are as follows: Section 1 is an infestation or infection that must be resolved to receive a certification. Section 2 is a condition deemed likely to lead to an infestation or infection and can be present and still receive a certification. Lastly further inspection items are recommendations to inspect areas not fully accessible during the original inspection and can not be defined as section 1 or 2. A certification can be issued with further inspection recommendations as well; however I recommend that you be very cautious of the further inspection recommendations. Often times the further inspection items contain problematic areas that need attention but are often glossed over because of the following point.
6. A Pest control professional when requested, is required to provide if there are no section 1 conditions are present, a certification statement prescribed by the Structural Pest Control Board. This is for visible and accessible areas only, which were included in the original inspection. Translation: any area that was deemed inaccessible or designated further inspection recommended, is outside of the â??œvisible and accessible areasâ???. That can be a big issue.
Well when I started this I thought it would be a short noteâ??? sorry I took so much bandwidth and your time but I hope it is helpful.
Eddie Peuker , Owner Black Star Pest Solutions