### ?…ask the Bugman

Green Pest Management | ID your Bugs | Animal Issues | Natural Living
Bug Bites

# Home Inspections

Posted by askthebugman ⋅ November 11, 2011 ⋅ 15 Comments
Filed Under Home Inspection, House Ants, termites, Wood destroying Insects

If you own a home, it is a good idea to hire an independent professional pest inspection service at some point. The home should be inspected for all wood destroying insects, including subterranean and drywood termites, long-horned wood borers, metallic wood borers, powder post beetles, bostrichid beetles, anobiid beetles, wood boring weevils, carpenter ants, acrobat ants, odorous house ants, velvety tree ants and carpenter bees. All of the ants mentioned can cause very minor damage in some instances in homes but they should be noted. A competent inspector should be able to diagnose an infestation of any of these groups of insects by examining any exit holes in wood or any wood frass found in the area.

Most household pests you can control yourself but wood destroying insects can be difficult. In some cases if you have a crawl space under your home you can get an insect prevention treatment done which would include termites and other wood eating insects. This can be done without using toxic pesticides.

How is the inspection performed? The inspection is a careful visual examination of all accessible areas of the building to determine the presence of wood destroying insects and other pests. This includes inspecting the outside of the structure and the crawl space, if one is present. It should also include the inspection of permanently attached storage sheds, decks, porches, etc.

The inspector should indicate all visible evidence of wood destroying insects and any conditions conducive to an infestation. Conducive conditions would be wood making direct contact with the soil or wood or paper products stored in the crawl space.

A good inspector will not only be able to determine if you have an existing infestation of a pest, but should be able to help you solve the problem without contaminating your home with pesticides. Some companies would recommend spraying the inside of a home before you move in to kill any pests present. I believe that spraying pesticides for unknown pests is a foolish idea and may endanger your family and pets. Pesticides are not safe under any circumstances and should never be used in your homes. There are very few pests that are so insidious that they require the application of pesticides in the home. There are safe alternatives to control any household pest. The periodic use of pesticides around the outside of the home is okay and should be all that any pest control company does on a routine basis. They should never use pesticides in a home (or commercial building) unless there are extenuating circumstances that require it.

How do you pick a company to do an inspection for your home? Most companies that do termite control also do these inspections. It would be better if you can hire someone who isn’t with a termite control company to do the inspection, someone who doesn’t have a vested interest in finding termites or other wood destroying pests. If you would like a reference for someone who can help you with these inspections, please let me know and I can recommend several people. I also will do independent Inspections for home owners if you live in New Mexico.

Advertisement

### Share this:

- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
- Click to print (Opens in new window)

### Like this:

Like Loading...

### Related

## About askthebugman

I have been in the pest management industry for over 40 years. In that time I have used almost every pesticide available to control so-called “pests”. With this experience, I have learned over the years that the pesticides we use are far more dangerous than the pests we are trying to control. As a result, it has become a passion for me to improve the quality of life for humans and the planet, by assisting people to not only become more educated and aware of their environment – but also by learning to manage their home and business with a sustainable and healthier approach to tending to unwanted infestations of bugs. Please enjoy my blog posts, check out my publications, utilize my services, or simply stay in touch if you have a bug question…
View all posts by askthebugman »

## Discussion

### 15 thoughts on “Home Inspections”

1. I want to order the new book - your site offers exactly no help in doing that . . . so . . .
   Question: How do I order the book?
   Question: Can it be purchased on line?
   Question: Can I download the book on line?
   Question: How many pages in the new book?
   Since it apparently cannot be ordered on line . . . .

   Question: I would like to order it by telephone - do you have a telephone number?
   Question: Can I order it via telephone?
   Comment: Please send me and email with a telephone number - we will order the book by telephone.
   Kypta@sbcglobal.net
   Kypta@sbcglobal.net
   Many thanks.
   PS How do I submit this note to you? Something like a box labeled “submit” would be nice.

   Posted by Linton S Kypta | March 20, 2012, 2:01 am
   Reply to this comment

   - Occasionally we take books down to work on website, but the book you are referring to should be back up this week. If you want, you can always just send a check for the book amount to me at 1890 San Acacio, Las Cruces, NM 88007 and I will email you a copy of it.

     Posted by askthebugman | March 20, 2012, 2:07 pm
     Reply to this comment

2. Yes, I would like to get help in finding someone in my area that could help, that does not have a vested interest in discovering pests. I live in zip code 94939 (Larkspur, CA)

   Posted by Chuck Kellner | May 3, 2012, 8:45 pm
   Reply to this comment

3. What kind of chemical is used to get rid of carpenter ants? How do you treat for carpenter ants found beneath a water heater in a closet in the middle of a home built on concrete slab.?

   Posted by Cynthia Ming | March 12, 2013, 6:31 am
   Reply to this comment

4. Ceiling fans come in various designs, designs, form, and sizes.

   A ceiling fan is both a functional and beautiful accessory
   to a room in a home. While it is easy to get amazed by
   these advancements in the ceiling fan domain, it is not surprising at all - when one considers the competition.

   Posted by replacement ceiling fan blades | June 6, 2013, 6:23 pm
   Reply to this comment

5. But every friend keeps peetering out just like dieting while
   pregnant me. Then the cycle starts all over again. What things can I do differently next week?
   They are there I do not recommend trying to lose weight without having to focus all your efforts on dieting while pregnant, supplementing, and exercising regularly.
   Foods with a low glycemic diet than just helping diabetics.

   These oils help to keep you motivated. You need every vital vitamin and nutrient to keep you motivated.

   Posted by hot tub repairs devon | July 3, 2013, 10:31 am
   Reply to this comment

6. I live in Albuquerque Nm and have a problem with ants & recently have noticed what looks like ants with wings. Could you do a home inspection? Tom Breen maineiac123@cs.com 2/18/14

   Posted by Tom Breen | February 18, 2014, 8:12 am
   Reply to this comment

7. Wow, wonderful blog layout! How long have you been blogging
   for? you make blogging look easy. The overall look of your web site
   is great, as well as the content!

   Posted by Suzanne | April 14, 2014, 3:51 am
   Reply to this comment

8. Very nice blog post. I certainly appreciate this site.
   Thanks!

   Posted by Deena | April 30, 2014, 5:33 am
   Reply to this comment

9. After checking out a number of the blog posts on your site, I
   really appreciate your way of writing a blog. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back in the near future.
   Please visit my website too and tell me how you feel.

   Posted by tee inspector | August 22, 2014, 6:11 pm
   Reply to this comment

10. Very soon this web site will be famous among all blogging visitors, due to it’s fastidious articles

    Posted by commercial carpet cleaning machine reviews | August 26, 2014, 1:21 am
    Reply to this comment

11. Greate article. Keep posting such kind of information on your blog.
    Im really impressed by it.
    Hi there, You have performed a fantastic job. I’ll definitely digg it and in my view recommend to my friends.
    I’m confident they will be benefited from this web site.

    Posted by phen375 uk side effects | September 15, 2014, 2:22 pm
    Reply to this comment

12. Asking questions are truly pleasant thing if you are not understanding
    anything totally, but this paragraph gives pleasant understanding
    even.

    Posted by new health care devices | October 15, 2015, 9:13 pm
    Reply to this comment

13. Nice post!! Thanks for sharing info.

    Posted by Laura | April 7, 2016, 7:57 am
    Reply to this comment

14. Having puffy cheeks could possibly be annoying to some individuals, so I actually
    have laid out some ideas for you to implement in the present
    day.

    Posted by aged care nursing tips | August 17, 2016, 5:34 pm
    Reply to this comment

### Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Enter your comment here...

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Email (required) (Address never made public)
Name (required)
Website

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change )

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out / Change )

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out / Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

Notify me of new comments via email.

Notify me of new posts via email.

Δ

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

- Follow
  Following
  - ?...ask the Bugman
  Join 219 other followers
  - Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
- - ?...ask the Bugman
  - Customize
  - Follow
    Following
  - Sign up
  - Log in
  - Copy shortlink
  - Report this content
  - View post in Reader
  - Manage subscriptions
  - Collapse this bar

%d bloggers like this: