Guys, I need some help. I’m about to buy a house and the initial inspection showed that there’s a termite infestation within the basement areas of this capecod.
The inspector came in with a metal rod and knocked through some wood boards in the basement, and determined that there’s plenty of termites in the house.
The next step is a more thorough “invasive” inspection where he comes and knocks down some walls if necessary to get a better estimate of repairs.
This is my first time dealing with termites. I really want to close on this house, but this is scaring me away. What do I really need to know about termites? Should I be worried? How can I tell if this inspector guy is really legit and not trying to over-inflate the damages?
I am assuming you are actually there to watch over his shoulder when he does his inspection. If so, you should be able to determine if he is overinflating damages.
I rarely repair termite damage, I almost always fully replace it since there is nothing like termites or previous termite damage (and a host of other things) to scare away buyers.
Get a good inspection and good estimate of repairs. Make a determination if the required repairs are worth you efforts for the profit you are expecting. At the very least, I’d use the termite repairs as a lever to reduce the price even more than the estimated repairs since your efforts at repairing or getting the repairs done plus the added time should be accounted for in you offer. Also, extensive termite damage probably limits the number of buyers interested in the property.
We had a termite inspection by Terminix prior to purchasing our building. That was only $75. They didn’t find anything, but offered to put us on a protection plan that was going to cost us literally thousands of dollars for spraying a “long-lasting” chemical around the base of our building. I can’t imagine what things would cost to get rid of an infestation like you’re talking about. Check around with some local businesses too. We had a termite bond on our house in FL from a regional company. They seemed pretty reasonable.
“I rarely repair termite damage, I almost always fully replace it since there is nothing like termites or previous termite damage (and a host of other things) to scare away buyers.”
When you say you “almost always replace it” are you refering to the deal itself? Meaning you walk away from the deal and on to the next one?
I ask because we’re looking at a deal that seems to have intensive termite problems. I tapped the wood on the outside of the house with my pen and the wood fell off “power like”.
When I say I almost always replace it I mean Pill out all the wood even touched by termites, fully expose all sill plates, hearer boards, studs, etc and then completely replace them, not marry up with a board to reinforce it. But it has to make sense from a profit point of view to do that much work
I received estimates: Replace about 15ft of sill plates and 5 ft of structural beam for approx $3,200. This would require raising the entire home and there may be more damage that hasn’t been detected yet.
I have always done this type of work myself. What is “5 feet of structural beam”? I’ve rarely seen a structural beam only 5 feet long. It sounds like some kind of “patch” to a longer beam.
15 Feet of sill plate is about 1 - 2 days worth of work. Jack up joists till about 1/8 inch off the sill plate. Cut out sill plate. Replace with pressure treated unit. Replace sill plate termite shield. Secure new sill plate to foundation. Jack down house. secure joists to sill plate. I’d estimate between $1500 - $2500 depending on the type of siding, crawlspace or basement, ease of access to sill, etc.
Did the termites get to the floor joists at all or the subfloor or wall studs?
“Patch” to a longer beam is correct. There’s only a small section of the main structural beam that has some weak areas of wood. By weak, I just mean some chipped wood on one side. It didn’t seem substantial at all.
So the estimate seems just about right and I had 2 different contractors come in at almost the same price. It has an unfinished basement so access to the sill shouldn’t be difficult.
I’m now hoping for the bank to approve the new offer. I’ll let you know how the termite work goes. Thanks.
If you’ve got one end of a beam with only minor damage, instead of cutting it out and replacing it, just dig all the damage out and fill the holes with epoxy wooden sailboat repair stuff.