by Mike Potter, Extension Entomologist University of Kentucky College of Agriculture

Entomology departments often receive more calls about termites than any other household insect. Subterranean termites are serious pests, whose control is best left to professionals. Termites and termite management services can be confusing, however, and there are more options available today than ever before. Some of the most common termite questions raised by homeowners are answered below.

NOTE: The answers contained in this publication are based on conditions and regulations as they exist in Kentucky, USA. Timing of termite appearance and regulatory/legal considerations may be different in your local area. You may also wish to consult your local cooperative extension agency or government department about specific recommendations for your area.

Q: Why worry about termites?

A: Termites cause billions of dollars in damage each year. They primarily feed on wood, but also damage paper, books, insulation, and even swimming pool liners and filtration systems. Termites can injure living trees and shrubs, but more often are a secondary invader of woody plants already in decline. While buildings may become infested at any time, termites are of particular importance when buying or selling a home since a termite inspection/infestation report is normally a condition of sale. Besides the monetary impact, thousands of winged termites emerging inside one's home are an emotionally trying experience not to mention the thought of termites silently feasting on one's largest investment.

Q: Why are infestations often discovered during March - May?

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Termite Control: Answers for Homeowners | University of ...

Even if you don't have termites, you should have your home regularly inspected. You will generally have to do one if you are selling your house, but all homeowners should think about having them done at least annually.

That's cheaper than doing a full inspection.

How often should I have one?

Annually. Termites are pretty slow to infest and damage a house, but if you have recently had an infestation, you will want to get your property looked at every 3-4 months for awhile afterwards.

Should I do it myself or get a professional?

Unlike many other pests, termites are something that it is usually not a good idea to try to deal with yourself. They are hard to kill, they often reinfest homes unless treatment is done professionally, and they can infest parts of the home that are difficult to inspect. I would not suggest relying on your own skills, no matter how much of a handyman you are.

How much does it cost?

This will vary, but it can range anywhere from $100 to $300. Part of that is based on the home price, part of that is that pest control companies sometimes give what is called a "Termite Bond" - a guarantee that they will either get rid of any termites if they find any or, in some cases, even pay for repairs.

What if I want to do my own inspection anyway?

That's not ideal, but you can still look for a few signs of a termite infestation yourself. Here are a few of them:

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Getting Your Home Inspected - Termite Inspections

Buying or selling a home comes with a long list of fees. Understanding what these fees are and what you can negotiate can make a difference to your wallet. Experts explain what you need to know so you can lower these fees.

This will affect your bottom line, says Cara Ameer, broker associate and Realtor at Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Every seller wants to know, after they sell their house, what they will have left or what they need to bring to the closing table, while a buyer needs to get a grip on how much money they need to bring to closing. This factors into what you can afford.

Fees for buyers and sellers are different by state, and who pays which fee follows local custom. Closing costs for buyers are driven by the mortgage amount, says Ameer, while a sellers fees are determined by the sales price and any debts to be repaid from the proceeds.

Experts suggest asking about fees early in the process, since theres little bargaining power at the last hour. One of the biggest mistake people make when theyre buying or selling [a home] is to wait until the last moment to review the estimated closing cost statement, which spells out every fee for the buyer and seller, and itemizes where each of the fees are directed and what theyre for, says Michael Corbett, Trulia's real estate expert.

Be sure to ask for an estimated closing cost statement a few times during the process, starting with when youve opened escrow. Also, title companies, escrow companies, lawyers and banks may give you discounts. Being an educated buyer or seller is your best savings plan when it comes to knocking down fees, says Corbett.

Once a seller chooses a real estate agent, they will enter into a listing contract with that agent. The contract will state certain fees, like the real estate commission, and will say whos responsible for title insurance, home inspections, roof inspections and the transfer tax, says Zackary Wright, Senior Vice President at Christies International Real Estate. Taxes cant be negotiated, but experts explain those fees that can and give tips for what to look for.

Commissions

The real estate commission is the biggest fee youll pay when selling a home. By law, these are negotiable and there is no going rate, says Ameer. These vary by marketplace and the homes price point. Lower priced homes may have a higher commission rate, but commissions for higher-priced homes can be larger chunks of money.

Ameer suggests asking the agent to look through the multiple listing service (MLS) so you know the commissions for similar priced homes in your area. You dont want to be misguided and offer a lower commission, she says. Offering a competitive commission will help your home get shown to potential buyers.

Thinking that youll save money if you go it alone is a fee myth, says Corbett. When you try to sell a home on your own, youll likely sell it for less, carry the home for longer and still pay the commission when you end up going to the real estate agent in the end. An agent helps negotiate the deal and solves problems that can arise for either the seller or buyer. According to the National Association of Realtors, homes sold by owners sold for $184,000 as compared to $230,000 for those sold with an agent.

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Research Fees Before You Buy or Sell A Home

The company reported a third-quarter 2014 net loss of $4 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, which included a loss on extinguishment of debt of $65 million and consulting agreement termination fees of $21 million in conjunction with the initial public offering, versus net income of $45 million, or $0.49 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2013.

The company reported third-quarter 2014 adjusted net income(1)of $61 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, versus $32 million, or $0.35 per share, in the same period in 2013.Earnings per share and other share data for the third-quarter 2014 and nine months ended September 30, 2014 contained in this release reflect the 41.3 million shares issued by the company on July1, 2014, in conjunction with its initial public offering.

The company reported third-quarter 2014 Adjusted EBITDA(2)of $157 million, an increase of $29 million or 22 percent compared to the same period in 2013. The increase was primarily driven by the impact of higher revenue, operating cost savings and the transition of certain costs to TruGreen Holding Corporation, which the company spun-off on January14, 2014. A reconciliation of income from continuing operations to both adjusted net income and Adjusted EBITDA are set forth below in this press release.

Terminix and American Home Shield both reported revenue and Adjusted EBITDA growth in the third quarter of 2014 versus prior year, said Rob Gillette, ServiceMasters chief executive officer. Based on our strong third-quarter 2014 operating performance, were increasing our current projection for full-year 2014 Adjusted EBITDA to a range of $543 million to $548 million, with revenue projected to be in the range of $2,445 million to $2,455 million.

In addition, ServiceMaster announced today that it has realigned its Franchise Services Group under the leadership of American Home Shield president Mark Barry. Barry will lead both American Home Shield and the Franchise Services Group as group president, though the two businesses will continue to report financial results separately. Marty Wick, American Home Shield vice president of operations, has been named president of the Franchise Services Group reporting to Mark. Mark has done a great job leading American Home Shield and we believe the realignment will allow us to accelerate top- and bottom-line growth of both American Home Shield and the Franchise Services Group, said Gillette. Marty is a strong leader whose process improvement mindset, versatile background and people management skills make him a great choice to lead our franchise businesses.

Preliminary Consolidated Performance

Preliminary Information for Continuing Operations

Terminix

Terminix, which provides termite and pest control services to residential and commercial customers and distributes pest control products, reported a 6 percent revenue increase in the third quarter of 2014 compared to the third quarter of 2013. The revenue increase was primarily driven by improved price realization in both termite and pest control and new product introductions.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 18 percent or $12 million versus prior year, driven primarily by higher revenue conversion and increased production labor and overhead efficiency.

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ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. Reports Preliminary Third-Quarter 2014 Financial Results

It's said that there are two types of homes in South Florida, those that have termites and those that will. Don't wait for a swarm of destructive termites to sweep through your neighborhood, and target your home as their next food source!

It's bad enough that these secretive insects can go undetected and cause considerable and expensive damage to your home, but did you know that termite damage isn't covered by homeowner's insurance?

In South Florida's environment, termite colonies thrive, but you can stop them before they can do their damage, call Hulett for your professional Free Termite Inspection today!

Hulett can help you avoid becoming another costly termite damage statistic. By offering a broad spectrum of effective termite control services and treatments, Hulett delivers targeted results to eliminate termite colonies and establish and maintain a protective barrier around your property.

Hulett's trained inspectors evaluate each structure's layout, then locate all potential sources of termite nesting, and identify penetration points in and around your home. Once your Free Termite Inspection is completed, an appropriate treatment will be recommended from any of the following:

Hulett guarantees if the termites come back after one of their treatments, the problem will be re-treated at NO ADDITIONAL COST to you for as long as your agreement is renewed!

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Florida Termite Control | Termite Control West Palm Beach ...

Termites can eat you out of house and home in a relatively short period of time. In fact, in the U.S. alone, Drywood termites and Subterranean termites cause up to $5 billion in property damage each year!

Proven Termite Solutions has over 26 years of proven performance to meet customer needs in both the residential and commercial communities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Our termite control services have proven to be the most effective in the industry as we have built our reputation on complete termite elimination for both residential and commercial properties.

There are a variety of treatment options available including tent fumigation, soil injection, Orange Oil treatment, local drill and treatment, microwave treatment and many more. Contact Proven Termite Solutions today to schedule a FREE inspection at 800-273-7667.

A termite inspection is a visual inspection of the readily accessible areas of a structure for evidence of termites and other wood-destroying organisms. Common areas of inspection are interior rooms, sub-areas, garages and attics. After the inspection has been performed, the findings are reported so that we may give you a complete and accurate estimate.

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Proven Termite Solutions - Fumigation San Jose - Termite ...

Pest Control Sydney Price List

Pest control Sydney Micropest is unique because all our termite control, termite inspection and pest control specialists have being in the industry for over twenty five years (no apprentices or contractors).We use the latest safe, environmentally and pet friendly technology for both domestic and commercial pest control.

So if you unfortunately have an infestation of termites in your house and you need termite control or you are looking for someone to carry out a termite inspection or a pest control treatment, I'm sure you would appreciate someone with twenty five years of experience at your door step.

This Micropest website is designed to educate you the consumer on how to identify and rectify pest control and termite control problems in your house or building such as termites, cockroaches, spiders, ticks, bed bugs, rats, silverfish, carpet beetle and many other insects that reside in Sydney Australia. Each web page describes the pest identification, pest habits and reproduction cycles.

We are now in September and Spring is here and I have finaly put on my summer uniform.Spring is the best time of year for a pest spray. The rats and possums are still around but I'm starting to get calls for cockroaches,spiders and bed bugs.There has being an unusually high increase in termites and fleas this month. Five very important facts too to be aware of in September are :

1) If you hear noises in the roof do not delay investigating.Rats do like to knaw on electrical wires and have being known to cause fires.

2) Make sure you use regular effective flea treatments on your pets to keep the Fleas at bay.

3) Any signs of German Cockroaches in your house or apartment please do not spray them as you will spread them throughout your abode. Ring a professional and they will bait them with a cockroach bait.

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Pest Control Sydney | Termite And Pest Inspection Experts

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Richard Fagerlund

I will share some amusing bug stories from the past this week. 2014 is my 45th year in the bug business. That is a long time and I have had many, sometimes entertaining, experiences over the years.

Pest control was $5 a month at one time. We charged $15 for the initial clean-out. When we did a clean-out, the customers were required to empty their kitchen cabinets. Then we went in and sprayed all the cabinets where the food and dishes were kept with chlordane. After that we sprayed all of the baseboards in the house with malathion because it stunk and we wanted the customer to know we werent using water. Then we fogged the kitchen with an oil-based pyrethrum using a electric fogging machine.

The roaches would come out of the cabinets and get stuck in the oil on the counters. After that we dusted the attic with DDT dust and then put heptachlor granules around the perimeter of the house. We told the people the stuff was safe and they could put their food back in the cabinets when they dried. I have no idea how many people we made sick in those days but I do know a lot of people who were in the industry that got cancer at an early age. We didnt use any safety equipment back then and we drove cars with all the chemicals in the back seat. And in those days I smoked cigarettes. It is a wonder I am still alive!

Around 1972 or so, I had to go into a crawlspace under a house in Florida. I was working for King Pest Control and needed to do a termite inspection. The house was near a canal. After I made several turns in the crawlspace, my flashlight died and I couldnt see the opening or daylight anywhere.

I started crawling toward where I thought the opening was when I heard a low growl. I never heard a noise like that and thought there was a dog under the house with me. I fished out my cigarette lighter (good thing I smoked in those days) and lit it, and discovered I almost crawled over a 6-foot alligator sleeping under the house. Needless to say, I dropped my lighter and crawled in the opposite direction as fast as I could. It only took a few minutes to see daylight coming through the crawlspace opening. I told the lady I couldnt find any termites, but she had an alligator under the house.

Actually, I dont know if she had termites as I never finished the inspection. She said the alligator lived under her house when it wasnt in the canal. She just forgot to tell me.

About 25 years ago, I was working for Orkin in Albuquerque. We got a call about a cockroach infestation in a uranium mine in Grants. I had never heard of cockroaches infesting a uranium mine so I volunteered to check it out. When I got there, they dressed me in some funny clothes and took me down the mine in a wooden box they called an elevator. It was run by pulling on a rope. We went down a very long way, got off in a dark tunnel and could only see because of the helmets we wore with flashlights attached. The took me to a break room. Imagine a break room in a uranium mine! They had some folding tables and chairs covered in plastic, I guess, to keep help keep them clean. I looked under the plastic and they were indeed infested with German roaches.

Apparently somebody brought them from home in a lunchbox and they liked the break room (stupid roaches). I told them I would send someone out there to take care of it. Then we went back up the elevator. I asked the fellow if I could smoke a cigarette. He said that was bad for my health. I said hanging out in a uranium mine is good for your health? He thought for a minute and told me to light up and then he bummed a cigarette. In 45 years, that is the only call I got for roaches infesting a uranium mine. Not a common problem.

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Bug business has had its entertaining moments over the years

Inspect-All Services founder Marty Lunsford, center, stands with his two sons, from left, Brian and Brandon Lunsford, who took over the family business eight years ago. (Special Photo)

In their 20s, single and with no children, Brian and Brandon Lunsford took a break from the daily grind and traveled down to St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands to live and work. Brian, who left his job as a television producer for Fox 5 Atlanta, and Brandon, whod been employed at his fathers business, waited on tables four days a week at a little diner called Chilly Billys to help pay the rent.

They lived in a house overlooking the Caribbean Sea and did their fair share of rubbing shoulders with the stars at happy hour (spying celebrities like country music singer Kenny Chesney).

But over those several months the ambitious brothers also took time to reflect on the course of their lives. Each held a degree from the University of Georgia, and they knew they wanted to be entrepreneurs. They also knew that although their fathers home inspection and pest control business had not grown over the years, it had potential.

After several calls home to dad, the pair hatched a plan to take over the family business.

We knew the company had some value left, but we also knew it needed to be overhauled and started from scratch, said Brian Lunsford. Dad was on board and the rest is history.

Inspect-All Services recently celebrated 30 years of operation in Conyers and the east metro area, due in no small part to the efforts of the Lunsford brothers who bought the business from their father several years ago.

It took off and they did a great job, said father Marty Lunsford, who now works for his sons as an inspector.

Inspect-All Services, located at 575 Sigman Road in Conyers, provides pest control services including termite, pest, rodent and mosquito control; home inspections; radon testing; mold sampling; and infrared thermal imaging.

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Conyers' Inspect-All celebrates 30 years of operation

Subterranean Termites

Of all the pests that can cause problems for you and your home, termites cause the costliest and most extreme damage. Highly destructive creatures, they can consume a homes wooden elements from the inside without the homeowner even realizing there is a problem. Regular termite inspections are an important part of home maintenance in this part of the country. To help preserve the quality and integrity of your home, there are some questions you should be able to answer on this topic:

As the name suggests, Subterranean Termites live underground, forming massive colonies which consume wood and convert it to fuel. Constantly searching for new sources of food, they sometimes target wooden structures such as those found in home and commercial construction. Residential and commercial structures offer vast supplies of food to support a colonys growth. The total number of individuals in a colony of subterranean termites may be more than a million termites, so you can imagine just how much damage a subterranean termite colony can cause.

Subterranean Termites travel from their colony to your home through shelter tubes, also known as mud tubes. These shelter tubes may be visible on any surface near the ground, such as: slabs, foundation walls, floor framing, etc. Finding these tubes is an indication that subterranean termites have been or are currently present. They indicate at the very least that a professional inspection is necessary.

Signs of termite activity also include visual identification. While you might never see a queen, you might very well see other termites such as workers or swarmers. Workers are small, white insects which are blind and very sensitive to heat, cold, and dry air. Workers are responsible for building the mud tubes. Swarmers, or winged termites, are reproductive termites; their purpose is to leave the colony and start a new colony in another area. Seeing workers or swarmers is a definite sign of termite activity in your immediate vicinity. If you see either of these signs, do not wait! Call us for a termite inspection immediately!

NOTE: flying Ants are often confused with Subterranean Termites. Here are some helpful tips to help you tell them apart: Termites have a thick waist and ants have a narrow waist.

Along with Subterranean Termites, there are other wood destroying insects that we inspect for and help control: Powder Post Beetles are small brown or black beetles that are indiscriminate; they infest both moist and dry seasoned woods, and both hard and soft woods. Because of this, they can damage the structure of your home as well as wood floors, furniture, and cabinetry.

Old House Borers are another species of beetle reaching up to an inch in length. Unlike Powder Post Beetles, Old House Borers only infest softwoods. They are typically introduced to a home during construction and are particularly common in log homes.

Like other wood destroying insects, Powder Post Beetles and Old House Borers can be controlled but only if properly identified during professional inspections; annual infestation inspections are recommended.

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Charlotte Termite Control & Termite Control Monroe ...