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CL100 [Real estate inspections]

These inspections are performed at the request of the buyer prior to the purchase of a residential or commercial property.

The CL100 report is a vital inspection, we inspect the residence for all wood destroying insects and wood destroying fungi. The inspections include the interior, exterior, attic, crawl space and garage.

The CL100 report is often mistaken as a termite letter or termite inspection only but it is much more than that. We have to report termites, powder post beetles, old house bores, carpenter ants, carpenter bees, moisture readings and moisture problems in the crawl space, fungi in the crawl space and fungi or rot damage.

These inspections should be performed by an expert with years of experience, at Patriot Pest Management our inspector has 25 years experience in the pest control industry and is also a licensed contractor so he can determine when damage is reported if the damage is structural damage and the extent of repairs needed.

 

Termite inspections:

In the upstate of SC the only termites present are subterranean termites. These termites live under ground which requires them to build shelter tubes from the ground to there source of food [your home]. During these inspections we inspect the interior of the garage walls, the interior walls of the residence, the exterior walls and the crawl space or basement for any signs of the shelter tubes or damage.

The biggest mistake homeowners make is not having their homes inspected yearly. Even homes that have been treated for termites can experience a reinfestation if the treatment fails. Inspecting the property yearly will catch the problem before extensive damage is done.

Another mistake homeowners make is thinking slab homes are safe from termites when in fact slab homes are harder to detect termite activity and usually damage is done before the termites are noticed. In slab homes termites gain access thru the plumbing pipes, cracks in the slab, expansion joints and the exterior walls. In crawl space homes we can detect termite activity usually before the damage is extensive because of the distance the termites have to build there shelter tubes before reaching the wood substructure.

 

Pest Control Inspections:

Our pest control inspections include inspection of the kitchen cabinets, bathrooms, laundry room, garages, all window and door frames, the crawl space, attic and exterior of the residence. During these inspections we report insect activity and the locations found. We inspect for roaches, ants, spiders, camel crickets, mice, rats, fire ants, pantry pests, wasps, yellow jackets, fleas, ticks, carpenter ants, carpenter bees, millipedes, centipedes, earwigs and other insects that may want to call your home there own.

 

Treatment:

Our quarterly pest control service includes an interior, attic, crawl space and exterior treatment on the first visit with exterior service only quarterly unless you are having a problem inside. Should a problem arrise between the quarterly services we come back for free.

 

Fire Ants:

Are fire ants taking over your yard? have you spent alot of money buying fire ant stuff from lowes or home depot and still cannot get rid of them, call us today, we will treat the entire yard one time and eliminate them for a year guaranteed.

 

 

 

Moisture problems:

Do you have a mildew smell in the house? It could be coming from the crawl space, most of the time if there is a moisture problem in the crawl space it will affect the interior causing your windows to sweat, mildew smells in the house, mold, and could be a health problem for your family. We do moisture inspections in crawl spaces to determine if there is water getting under the house during heavy rains, we check the moisture levels in the wood in the crawl space to determine if moisture is rotting the wood in the crawl space, we check to make sure the crawl space is properly ventilated and we inspect for plumbing leaks. The moisture readings in the crawl space should be between 10% to 20%, anything over 20% is a problem and readings over 28% means the wood in the crawl space is actually rotting and will allow major damage to your home.

One of the biggest problems we find is homeowners close the foundation vents in the winter and forget to open them in the spring, this elevates the moisture in the crawl space sometimes causing structural damage because the crawl space must have ventilation to keep the moisture levels down. Crawl spaces are like a refigerator, if you put food in the frigerator then unplug it what happens, everything rots and mold starts to grow. The same thing happens in the crawl space if not properly ventilated.

Patriot Pest Management installs french drains, sump pumps, vapor barriers and automatic temp vents to control moisture problems in crawl space.

 

Ants:

There are a number of ants that like to invade our homes, the most common are the sugar ants or ants that like sweets, jelly, candy, soda etc, they trail from the exterior of the home thru cracks in the walls, electrical outlets, windows, doors, plumbing pipes or any other access they can find searching for food and water. Ants have become the number one pest for homeowners in the last few years, many homeowners spend hundreds of dollars buying do it yourself products before giving up and calling us.

During our inspection we locate the source of the problem or where the ants are coming from, we treat the source, then we treat the entire foundation wall, we treat a perimeter around the home, we treat all the plumbing pipes, door frames, window frames and crawl space. 98% of the time we have eliminated the ant infestation in one treatment.

The worst ant infestation we have ever seen was a home on lake norman in NC, the ants were nesting between the insulation and the subfloor in the crawl space and i mean the entire crawl space. When we pulled down the insulation the subfloor was black there were so many ants. We had to remove all the insulation from the crawl space and treat the entire floor system in the crawl space but we got rid of the ants. Dont let the ants get this bad before you call us, we can eliminate the problem usually in one treatment.

 

Spiders:

We have two very dangerous spiders in south carolina, the black widow and the brown recluse. We see the black widow alot in crawl spaces, firewood, and heavily wooded areas. If you think you have one of these spiders DO NOT GO NEAR IT, call us, these spiders can be deadly if not treated emedietly.

As part of our spider treatment we sweep all the webs down around the exterior of your home, in the garage and window frames. We treat the exterior heavily and all the window and door frames to eliminate access inside your home.

 

Bugs and health related issues:

Do you know that many insects and rodents carry diseases that can harm your family. For example ticks spread lime disease, mice can carry numerous diseases, roaches have been proven to affect ashma and also carry other diseases. Fire ants can been deadly to anyone with allergies, the black widow spider and brown recluse are deadly.

 

At Patriot Pest Management we not only provide a pest free home for our customers we also protect the health of our customers and their families.