When you suspect that you have those tiny, wood-eating freeloaders on your property, you’ll naturally wonder how long it takes to perform a termite inspection. After all, you’ve got work, family, and personal commitments to attend to. Knowing how long the process takes can help you fit the process and requirements into your schedule, or make it work around your daily agenda.
To understand how long this particular inspection normally takes, let us look at a few factors that affect how fast it gets done.
Skill and Knowledge
If the inspector you’ve hired is operating locally, they’d do the job faster than, say, someone who’s just new to the area. Their knowledge on pests commonly found in your area will certainly come in handy in getting the inspection done faster.
Similarly, bringing in a team of established inspectors will likely get you the same swift results. Credit is mostly on their experience and knowing what to tick off the comprehensive checklist list so they can go through the entire inspection more efficiently.
State of the Property
In most cases, inspecting an old house will take more time and effort compared to assessing a newly built structure. The same is the case for a heavily renovated property. A careful and thorough assessment is needed to be sure that the newly remodelled property has become totally free of gnawing issues.
Also, the complexity of the asset can factor into the length at which the inspection can be done. If it incorporates unique architectural designs and features, checking those will certainly consume more time compared to more standard building layouts.
Extent of the Infestation
Once the property you want inspected has a history of infestation, it could potentially take the best part of the day for the technician to determine the extent of pest activity. This would be determined by how invasive the inspector can be and remember the bigger the place, the longer the inspection will take.
You don’t need to worry if the inspector takes longer than expected to accomplish the assessment, though. After all, you want them to be as thorough in their investigation rather than breeze through their checklist. So if the inspection gets wrapped up in less than half an hour, ask if there were any areas that weren’t checked. In some cases, a blocking fixture or locked access can stand in the way of them doing a comprehensive job.
Unique Circumstances
You can have a termite inspection done for a house you’re about to buy. Pre-purchase inspections, to the uninitiated, typically take around a few hours (1 to 2 hours in some cases) to complete.But, of course, it will take longer to complete the inspection the bigger the property is.
For properties with management systems in place (for subterranean termites), the inspection can be done a whole lot faster. More so if the structure in question has been inspected on a regular basis prior. In certain cases, 45 minutes to an hour will suffice for subsequent inspections.
What Else You Should Know About Termite Inspections
Besides the factors we’ve talked about previously, there are a few more things to remember when you’re concerned with the length it takes a termite inspection is done.
Inspectors check every nook and cranny, literally.
One reason it takes so long for an inspection to be completed is that the technician checks every part of the home that people often pay less attention to. These places, called “sub spaces,” typically include the subfloor area, roof space, garage or any sort of crawl spaces, etc.
If you want their job done sooner, you can help out by clearing these areas before the inspector comes over. Throw out or keep away any item that you think will only stand in the way of the inspection’s completion.
Inspections aren’t limited to interior spaces.
Termite inspections will cover different parts of the property that is being checked, searching for solid evidence on the type of infestation the property owners have on their hands. Because the subsequent report has to be thorough in its findings, the assessment phase will have to leave no stones unturned as well.
An inspection will start from investigating exterior features all the way to the interior or vice versa. Either way, you can expect the technician to cover as much ground as they can—literally—before they come up with a definitive conclusion. Problems like infestations aren’t best left to second guesses, after all.
Termites play a good game of hide-and-seek.
The most accurate inspections typically take time to conclude and that’s primarily because of one simple fact: termites are so good at staying hidden.
Because termites have fragile exoskeletons (and they know it!), they’re very careful about what they expose themselves to. For the most part, these uninvited guests stay away from nooks with sufficient air flow and bright lights. With these pests burying themselves deep inside wooden fixtures (or features), it’s difficult spotting them with the naked eye. In most cases, the inspection is done with the aid of specialised tools and devices.
Stop Termite Infestations No Matter How Long It Takes
Although the length by which a termite inspection is done can play a significant role in you choosing which team to bring over to your property, always remember that efficiency is only half the battle. The other, more important half is efficacy.
What good is a termite inspection report if it isn’t thorough in its assessment? Surely, you’d rather have a meticulous report sent to you later instead of getting the job done haphazardly just so it fits into your hectic schedule. For the most part, you’ll have to give inspectors as much time as they can possibly have to check every crawl space that is potentially hiding those sneaky termites. Otherwise, you and your real estate asset could be in for a world of hurt.
When you want a termite inspection done for a current or prospect property, call us! Leave the job in our capable hands and you’ll get your investment checked efficiently without compromise.