Checking Your Home For Infestation By Pests

As a prospective homebuyer, you need to be very careful about arranging for home inspection for pests, especially if the exterior has wood and brick. One may need to carry out periodical exterior home checking – at least twice a year – to look for pest and/or termite infestation. Most people find pests crawling around their property, whether outside or inside, quite distasteful. These, along with termites need to be eliminated before they get out of hand. Certain termites can damage even metal siding and metal roofing materials.

Pest inspection and damage by moisture should form a very important part of your overall home inspection, while you are purchasing a house. Home inspections will normally highlight these issues and you may need to use the services of the experts to find out the extent of the damage, both exterior as well as interior.

Termite and pestholes can be seen in wooden supports, siding, and under the house. They can cause extensive structural damage to the house. Sometimes, you may not be able to find the damages, as the damages must have been done inside. They can eat through thick walls and wood without showing much damage on the outside. From the exterior of the house, they will bore through walls, wires, cables, and untreated wood, to reach the home’s interior.



The Importance of Home Inspections

Home inspections are important, both for the buyer as well as for the seller. Outwardly, the home you intend to purchase may look excellent – with its neatly trimmed lawns and beautiful landscaping, pristine condition due to the painting, etc. Unless thoroughly inspected by a professional, you may not be aware of the destruction that the pests and termites have wrecked underneath.

Look around for any sign of wood rot. Knocking on the wood panels would give a hollow sound, and a sharp tap may make a hole in the woodwork. Termites that may have invaded the wood could have caused wood rot. Water and moisture may have played havoc with the home you intend to purchase. You need to look around for signs of any mold or mildew. This would adversely affect the wood and the brickwork.

This is where a good home inspector comes in handy. Make sure you use your own home inspector and not the one recommended by the seller or his real estate agent.

Repairing the damage caused by pests and termite does not come cheap, and in certain cases, it may be exorbitant. The cost of pest control may be around $1,500, and the cost of repairing the damage by termites may vary from $4,500 upwards, depending on the severity of infestation. So, be careful.