Termite tenting vs spot treatment
Tenting kills drywood termites in the whole house but leaves nothing behind. Spot treatments cost less and only reach the termites someone found. How to choose, and what to ask in Florida.
Florida has two kinds of termites that matter to a homeowner, and they are treated differently.
Drywood termites live inside the wood they eat: attics, door frames, furniture. You see their droppings, small hard pellets, piled under a kick out hole. Subterranean termites (including Formosan termites) live in the soil and travel up into the house through mud tubes.
What tenting does
Tenting is fumigation. The house is sealed under tarps and filled with a gas that reaches every piece of wood, so it kills drywood termites you haven't found as well as the ones you have. You leave the house for a few days, and food, medicine and pets go with you or into sealed bags.
Tenting leaves nothing behind. A house can be infested again by the next swarm, which is why many companies sell a yearly termite warranty after a tent.
In Florida, fumigation needs its own FDACS license category. Of the 3575 licensed companies listed here, 720 hold the fumigation category and 221 say on their website that they tent houses. Many companies sell tenting and hire a fumigation company to do the work; homeowners in Tampa, Orlando and Sarasota threads name the same few fumigators doing jobs sold under other brands. Ask who will tent your house.
What spot treatment does
Spot or local treatment means drilling and injecting a termiticide, foam or orange oil into the galleries someone found. It costs less and you don't leave home. It only reaches termites in the treated wood, so it works when the infestation is small and well mapped. Homeowners who were sold yearly spot treatment for a spread out drywood infestation report the termites kept coming back.
Subterranean termites are not tented. They are treated with a liquid barrier in the soil (Termidor is a common product) or with bait stations (Sentricon is the best known). A bait station contract covers subterranean termites only, not drywood termites.
What people pay
Prices depend on the size and roof of the house. Homeowners on Florida subreddits posted tenting quotes from under $900 to $3,400 for single family homes, with several quotes for the same house often far apart. Get at least three.
Questions to ask
- Is this drywood or subterranean, and how do you know?
- Do you tent the house yourselves, or who does?
- After the tent, what does the warranty cover: retreatment only, or repairs too?
- Does the warranty cover drywood, subterranean and Formosan termites?
- What is the price per year to keep the warranty, and does it renew on its own?