I had a false sense of security about the termite situation when purchasing our home in Cudjoe Key Florida in 2008. We had a termite inspection, paid for the full preventative treatment (over $1K) and went along our merry way to setting up a home. Sounds easy enough right? We thought so...
Well, a few months go by and we find out we are being transferred to Washington D.C. with the U.S. Coast Guard. Really? We just bought this house and planned on being here until retirement! You want us to move again? Promotion or house....we all know the answer to that one. So we rented the house and went on to settle in Northern Virginia for a few years.
The anniversary of our first termite treatment came and so did the bill to renew the contract. Oh, I have to pay you every year? And you do what for that? What we get is a yearly inspection and if there are any signs of termites, they will re-treat the house. Sounds great, we are all about preventative maintenance. The house is made of Cedar after all....
A few years go by, we continue to renew the contract, and suddenly we find ourselves headed back to the Florida Keys. Yeah! We are so excited to be coming back home. We can finally do some of the remodeling we had planned in 2008. So, we paid our third year renewal fee, called to schedule the move and patiently waited to re-start our lives in the beautiful Florida Keys!
First item on the "to do" list was to remodel the kitchen. Thank goodness we did that because when the old tile was removed from the kitchen, the overabundance of those pesky little critters was overwhelming! Come to find out when I called the termite company that they hadn't been there for the yearly inspection yet (this was November and our termite policy renewed in September). The technician had just been out a week prior to demolition of the kitchen because I complained of seeing signs of termite droppings. He quickly sprayed some gel into the hole and went along his merry way. No further probing necessary?! No thoughts of "maybe there are more termites in the house and I better get an idea of what we are dealing with?" Guess not, because until we pulled up that kitchen floor and saw the damage to my house, they didn't seem too overly concerned. So they scurry on over in a rush and realize that the house is infested!
I check my contract and to my horror they don't cover damage/repair due to termites! Really? I could understand if they were detected in the last three years that I had been paying them to "detect" termites in my home, but the level of infestation we had does not occur over night! Where were you over the past three years and why did you not know I had termites?
Moral to the story? 1. Don't let anyone tell you that you don't have termites in your Florida Keys home. They are most likely a fact of life down here! 2. Don't spend your money on a preventative maintenance contract (I was told this a little too late, obviously), get your house tented every 4 or 5 years if you want some peace of mind. You can use the money you save on the contract to help with the cost of the tenting. 3. Always get a termite (and home) inspection before you buy your next home. Make sure they do a thorough job and get involved with what they are doing.
If we hadn't lived four states away, I may have been able to get a handle on this a long time ago. Nothing I can do about the past, so....yesterday we had the house tented! Sometimes you just have to deal with disappointment and take care of it yourself...
I just got a call from the tenting company (a little over 24 hours after they began) that the house is ready for re-entry! I gotta go put away all of the things I had to pull out of the house (fun). Thank goodness for the beautiful weather, gorgeous blue water and amazing people of the Florida Keys! It makes it all worth it....
Thinking of buying a home in the Florida Keys? I can help!
Your housing needs are my priority!
Pamela Stangler, Realtor: Coldwell Banker Real Estate Company
Pamela@CBSchmitt.com, 305-433-1036.
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