Wood Destroying Insects  

Commonly called pest inspections, the full term is wood destroying insect inspections.  They are usually demanded by the mortgage companies.  It is important to note that all home inspectors (not only the ones at Finial) are not looking for mice, wasps...or any other garden variety pests - even though we all commonly use the term "pest inspection".

We are looking for insects that will destroy the house.  Hence the reason such a test is required by a mortgage company.  The do not want to guarentee a loan for a house that is slowly being eaten/destroyed.  On some occasions a mortgage company will acccept a recent WDI inspection if the house had a recently offer with inspection.  If "pests" are found it is usually up to the seller to pay for remediation or else the mortgage company will not issue a loan.

During the inspection we first look for pests around the parimiter of the house.  During hotter months finding ants camped out on the door stoop (saying "hi wer're right here") is not uncommon.  Though it may seem silly to call out a house for ants found on the exterior and not on the interior, all home inspectors are required to follow the criteria of the National Pest Management Association.  It is their NMPA form 33 that the mortgage companies require us all to use. 

We also look for signs of previous remediation on the exterior fo the house.  Termite bait stations or holes drilled into concrete walkways or patios.  The holes are a sign of a treatment precedure known as rodding.  We then procede into the basement and check all header and rim areas to furher look for damaged wood, termite tubes, signs of chemical dusting and additional holes from interior rodding.  We do the same in accessible areas of the attic.  We also keep an eye out for signs of dead insects around windows and floor edges.

Signs of damaged wood will often be a red flag to the mortgage company, and they often will require an engineer view the wood to verify that the damage does not have a significant effect on the structure or foundation.  Even when damage is listed as minor the mortgage company will still require such and it is the buyer who is forced to foot their bill.  Engineers like getting $500 for walking into a asement looking at a single joist with some carpenter ant damage and saying "No problem here...where's my check."