How to Choose a Termite Company

The right termite company is licensed in your state, identifies which termite you have before recommending a treatment, puts the treatment plan on a written diagram with the product and amount, and backs it with a warranty you have actually read. The cheapest quote is often not the best value, and the most expensive is not always the most thorough. What separates good companies from bad ones is transparency: they tell you exactly what will be applied, where, how much, and what happens if termites come back. This guide walks through the questions to ask, how to compare quotes on equal terms, and the warranty fine print that matters years after the truck leaves.

Part of our Pest Control guide →

In this guide

1. Start by Confirming You Have Termites
2. Know the Treatment Options Before Quotes Arrive
3. Check Licensing and Insurance
4. Questions to Ask Every Inspector
5. What a Good Inspection Report Includes
6. How to Compare Termite Quotes
7. Understanding Termite Warranties
8. Red Flags
9. Buying or Selling a House
10. Prevention After Treatment
11. Frequently Asked Questions

Start by Confirming You Have Termites

Before calling anyone, look for the evidence yourself: mud tubes on foundation walls or piers, discarded wings near windowsills in spring, hollow-sounding or blistered wood, and small piles of pellet-like droppings below wood (a sign of drywood termites). Our guide to the signs of termites shows what each looks like. Flying ants are often mistaken for termite swarmers; ants have a pinched waist and elbowed antennae, termites a thick waist and straight antennae. If it turns out to be ants, carpenter bees or another wood pest, our pest control guide points you to the right fix.

Finding termites is stressful, but it is rarely an emergency measured in days. Termite damage usually progresses over months and years. You have time to get several inspections and compare them properly. Any company that tells you the house is at risk of imminent collapse unless you sign today is selling, not inspecting.

Know the Treatment Options Before Quotes Arrive

The right treatment depends on which termite you have. A good company tells you which species they found and why their method suits it.

Treatment	Used for	How it works	What to watch
Liquid soil termiticide	Subterranean termites (most of the US)	Non-repellent product applied into a trench and rodded or drilled along the foundation and slab penetrations	Product name, gallons applied, drilling through patios and garage slabs
Bait stations	Subterranean and Formosan termites	In-ground stations with a slow-acting insect growth regulator that foragers carry back to the colony	Requires ongoing monitoring visits and an annual contract
Tent fumigation	Widespread drywood termite infestations	Whole structure sealed and fumigated with a gas such as sulfuryl fluoride	Occupants out for a few days, no residual protection afterward
Localized / spot treatment	Limited drywood infestations	Injected foam, liquid, heat or other methods into specific galleries	Only treats what can be found; warranty may be limited to treated areas
Borate wood treatment	Prevention on exposed wood	Borate solution sprayed or foamed onto bare framing in attics and crawlspaces	Only works on accessible, unpainted wood

Subterranean termites are found across most of the country and are by far the most common target. Drywood termites are concentrated in the coastal South, Southwest and California. Formosan termites, an aggressive subterranean species, occur mainly along the Gulf Coast, in parts of the Southeast and in Hawaii. For an overview of how each treatment works, see our guide on how to get rid of termites.

Check Licensing and Insurance

Every state requires termite work to be done or supervised by a licensed structural pest control operator, though the agency varies — usually the state department of agriculture or a structural pest control board. Most have an online license lookup. Check:

• The company’s business license in the termite or wood-destroying organism category, not just general pest control.
• That the technician doing your job is licensed or certified, or works under a licensed supervisor as your state requires.
• General liability insurance and workers’ compensation coverage, with a certificate you can see.
• Complaint history with the state regulator and local consumer protection office.

Membership in the National Pest Management Association or a state pest control association is a plus because it shows engagement with industry training, but it is not a substitute for a license.

Questions to Ask Every Inspector

1. Which termite species did you find, and where? Ask them to show you the evidence.
2. What caused the infestation? Wood-to-soil contact, leaking gutters, mulch piled against siding, crawlspace moisture. A good inspector points out conducive conditions you need to fix.
3. What product will you use, and can I see the label? Reputable companies name the active ingredient and product and will provide the label and safety data sheet.
4. How many linear feet will you treat, and how much product? Liquid termiticide labels specify how much finished solution goes per 10 linear feet per foot of depth to the footing. Ask how they will meet the label rate.
5. Will you drill slabs, patios, porches or the garage floor? Skipping drilled areas is a common way to cut a quote — and a common route for termites to get back in.
6. Is there visible damage, and who repairs it? Termite companies treat termites; carpentry is usually a separate contractor.
7. What does the warranty cover, for how long, and what does renewal cost? Get it in writing before signing.
8. What should I expect after treatment? Swarmers may still appear for a while after a liquid treatment, and bait systems take weeks to months to eliminate a colony.

What a Good Inspection Report Includes

A professional inspection report should include a sketch of the house footprint marking where activity, damage and conducive conditions were found; the areas that could not be inspected and why; the species identified; and a written treatment proposal that matches the sketch. Photos are a bonus. If one company hands you a single line that says “termites found, treat perimeter,” you have nothing to compare against the others and nothing to hold them to later.

How to Compare Termite Quotes

Termite quotes can look wildly different for the same house. Usually that is because they are not quoting the same job. Line them up in a simple chart with these columns:

• Species identified and where activity was found.
• Method: full liquid perimeter, partial liquid, bait, fumigation or spot treatment.
• Product and active ingredient.
• Scope: linear feet, drilling locations, crawlspace or slab, attached structures.
• Moisture or wood repair recommendations and whether they are included.
• Warranty type, length and annual renewal fee.
• Follow-up inspections included.

A low quote for a “partial” or “spot” liquid treatment may be fine for a small, isolated subterranean problem, but it usually comes with a weaker warranty and leaves the rest of the foundation untreated. A bait system quote that looks cheap in year one may cost more over five years once the monitoring contract is included. Compare the total over the period you plan to stay in the house.

Understanding Termite Warranties

The warranty is where companies differ most, and where homeowners get surprised. There are two broad kinds.

Re-treatment warranty

If termites return, the company re-treats the affected area at no charge. It does not pay to repair new damage. This is the most common warranty and is usually renewable each year for a fee after the first year.

Repair (damage) warranty

The company re-treats and also pays to repair new termite damage that occurs while the warranty is in force, usually up to a stated cap. It costs more and usually requires a full treatment and annual inspections. Pre-existing damage is excluded, so insist the initial inspection report documents existing damage clearly.

Fine print to read

• Exclusions: many warranties are voided by unresolved moisture problems, wood-to-soil contact, new additions or landscaping that disturbs the treated soil.
• Inaccessible areas: finished basements, enclosed porches and areas behind paneling are often excluded.
• Species: a subterranean warranty usually does not cover drywood termites, and vice versa.
• Transferability: can the warranty transfer to a buyer if you sell? Is there a fee?
• Renewal pricing: is the annual renewal fee fixed, or can it rise?
• Lapse rules: missing one renewal often ends the warranty permanently.

Red Flags

• Door-to-door salespeople offering a “leftover product” discount.
• Pressure to sign the same day, or a price that drops sharply when you hesitate.
• No written inspection report, no diagram of the house and no named product.
• Recommending fumigation for subterranean termites, or a soil treatment for drywood termites in the attic.
• Refusal to show a license number or proof of insurance.
• A warranty described verbally but missing from the contract.
• A quote far below every other quote with no clear explanation of reduced scope.

Buying or Selling a House

Many home sales, and VA and some other loans, require a wood-destroying insect inspection report, often on the standard NPMA-33 form. That report notes evidence and visible damage at the time of inspection but is not a guarantee. If you are buying, ask the seller whether there is a transferable termite warranty and get a copy of the treatment history. If you are selling, an active, transferable warranty can be a selling point; renewing it before listing is usually cheaper than a new treatment.

Prevention After Treatment

Treatment works best when you remove the conditions that invited termites. Keep mulch and soil several inches below siding and the top of the foundation, fix gutter and downspout leaks, vent or encapsulate damp crawlspaces, store firewood off the ground and away from the house, and remove stumps and buried wood near the foundation. Keep the area next to the foundation drier by directing downspouts away from it. Avoid landscaping that buries the treated zone under new soil or pavers without telling your termite company first.