Florida is termite country
Northeast Florida gives subterranean termites everything they want: warm soil, moisture, and wood. Colonies live underground in the hundreds of thousands and tunnel up through hairline cracks in foundations. Drywood termites skip the soil entirely and live inside the wood itself — furniture, beams, attic framing. Both are active in Jacksonville all year, and both do their damage quietly. Jacksonville also deals with Formosan termites — an aggressive subterranean species that builds huge colonies and swarms on warm, humid nights in late spring and early summer.
Most homeowners find termites by accident: a mud tube on the foundation, a pile of shed wings on a windowsill after a spring swarm, wood that sounds hollow when tapped. By the time the signs are obvious, the colony has usually been working for a while. That is why the inspection matters more than anything else we do.
What our termite inspection covers
We walk the full perimeter looking for mud tubes, damaged wood, and moisture problems that invite termites. Inside, we check baseboards, door and window frames, crawl spaces, attics, and garages. We look for the signs most people miss: blistered paint that looks like water damage, tiny piles of drywood termite pellets that resemble sawdust, doors that stick for no clear reason. Then we tell you plainly what we found — and what we did not find.
How it works: termite treatment
For subterranean termites, treatment targets the colony, not just the termites you can see. That means treated zones in the soil around the foundation and targeted applications at entry points, so foraging termites carry the treatment back to the colony. For drywood termites, treatment goes directly into the infested wood. Either way, the goal is the same: eliminate the colony, not scatter it. That is why we tell people never to spray termites with household insecticide first — it splits the colony and makes professional treatment harder.
The honest part about cost and timing
Termite work is priced by the job after we see it — the size of your home, the type of termite, and how far the activity has spread all matter. The inspection is free either way, and the plan we give you is written down before any work starts. What we will not do is pressure you: termites are serious, but a high-pressure sales pitch is not how serious problems get solved.
Spot a sign? Do not wait.
Mud tubes, shed wings, hollow wood, or mystery sawdust piles — send the form below or call (301) 679-9193 for a free termite inspection.
Formosan termites: Jacksonville's heavy hitters
Most people have heard of subterranean and drywood termites. Fewer have heard of Formosan termites — and in Jacksonville, they matter. Formosans are a subterranean species that builds enormous colonies, sometimes numbering in the millions, far larger than native subterranean colonies. They eat aggressively, they can establish above-ground nests where there is enough moisture, and they swarm on warm, humid nights in late spring and early summer — often drawn to porch lights, which is how many homeowners first notice them.
The treatment approach for Formosans is the same family as other subterranean termites — soil zones and entry-point treatment designed to reach the colony — but the colony size means thoroughness matters more, not less. If you see winged termites swarming at night around your lights in May or June, do not sweep them up and forget it. Call. Night swarmers in Jacksonville are Formosans until proven otherwise.
What termite treatment day looks like
For subterranean termites, treatment day is mostly outdoors: establishing treated zones in the soil around the foundation and treating entry points like slab edges, pipe penetrations, and bath traps. There is no tent, no moving out, no drama — you go about your day. For drywood termites, the work is targeted to the infested wood itself, which we locate during inspection. Either way, we walk you through exactly what we did and where before we leave, and the written plan tells you what to watch for afterward.
After treatment, the colony does not die overnight — foraging termites carry the treatment back over days and weeks. That is by design: a treatment that only killed the termites we could see would leave the colony intact. We schedule a follow-up to verify activity has stopped, and we tell you honestly what long-term monitoring looks like for your home.