Well, the news is good. Or possibly bad. We misunderstood when we talked to an exterminator on the phone, and spent the weekend before he arrived spraying the wood in our basement with an over-the-counter termite killer and ripping out all of the moldy, hole-riddled wood and drywall ourselves. When he came to inspect the house a few days later, he could tell by the “sand tracks” on the walls (in the photo above) that we had the dreaded Western Subterranean Termite. That’s bad. However, he could find nary a sign of any termites in our basement or anywhere else in the house. That’s good. But — and this is the “possibly bad” part — we really shouldn’t have done anything to the termites ourselves. Had they been alive and wriggling when the exterminator arrived, he would have treated them with a solution that they would have carried down into the ground where the rest of them lived, and eventually it would have knocked all of them out. Because we took matters into our own hands, it’s uncertain whether we managed to kill the termites ourselves, or if we’ve simply driven them underground, only to reappear again later. We did learn some interesting things about discouraging termites and other pests from invading your home, and also about some of the environmentally friendly ways to get rid of them. Read on to find out more. –Mary T. Click the link to read all about it! (more…)

Ah, the pleasures of owning your own home. Planting your favorite trees in the yard. Refinishing the hardwood floors that were once covered with wall-to-wall carpet. Discovering that your basement walls are infested with termites… That’s the last thing we were expecting to find underneath that little damp spot on the wall of our finished basement. When we cut a hole, we found that the studs were riddled with both mold and large, hungry termite colonies. Weekend plans were scuttled as we learned what we could and then removed as much of the drywall and framing as possible. We’ve talked to a local “green” exterminator who is coming tomorrow to assess how bad things might be — do we have Pacific Dampwood Termites (bad) or Western Subterranean Termites (worse)? If we have Dampwood termites, chances are the rest of the house is safe, but we’ll have to figure out how to fix our drainage issues if we ever want a finished basement again. If they’re the much more destructive kind, we’ll have to see what our options are. Rest assured, I’ll share the updates with you. –Mary T.