So this new house I live in has termite bait stations. If you don't know what they look like do a quick google search. The pest person wanted to inspect and I said yes. Seemed like a good idea. Guy walks around opens them up, doesn't even take the bait cartridges out, says everything OK and charges $300. As he is leaving I am thinking. $300 to walk around my house and open up some ground level lids, not even take the cartridges out and replace the bait, just a looking. Hmmmmmm.

I did some online research and it isn't rocket science. There is a fancy spider tool to get the lid off for $40 and you can buy the Trelona cartridges online at diypestcontrol or domyown

I have no idea when those cartridges were replaced last so I ordered them and will set up a schedule to maintain them myself.

A house had mice.

Called one company who sealed a crawlspace exterior area and still saw one a month later so called a new company and entered a 18 month contract I think maybe close to a 100 monthly.

Called the city when the contract ended to get a second opinion and also because some neighbors had roosters.

City checked my land and when they were leaving I overheard them talking to ea other about how absurd and egregious the contract I had...

Exterminaters came once a month to add more bait to the existing without removing the old bait.

I did get a second contract for spiders and misc bugs as well as lawn treatment for fleas etc.

I canceled that contract after a few months.

At this time I want the house treated again for spiders and misc bugs that may be attracted to the basement and crawlspace.

I also want a lawn contract for weeds altho

When I buy a house I have my guy come & inject Termidor around the perimeter of the building - and treat underneath if it's a crawl.

It's been working well.

Supposed to last (up to) 10 years. Once & done.

He frowns at the bait stations.

DJ has it the way I would.

You can do the Termidor (also a generic version) yourself. It isn't hard to do, but you need to follow the proper procedure.

The poison is slow acting. The termites take it back to the nest and slowly poison them all.

I am sure that eventually a new nest could move in. They have a specific range but I guess they could break off and new ones could move farther out.

The bait stations are less work but look bad. Also, as soon as someone sees the bait stations they think about the place having had termites.

Since you have all the free time now you could do the work yourself. Better yet, hire a kid type to do the digging and drilling for you.

All of this is IF you have termites now. Chances are slim that they have returned.

You can get set up with a contract where the bug guy comes out maybe yearly to re-inspect. My opinion is that if it was done right to begin with you will not have termites now.

Inspect the place and be sure there are no significant damages.

My daughter's last place had them. I was going to handle it myself but I knew it was not her forever home so I hired my bug guy to do it. That paperwork helped when she sold her house last month.

I am NOT a pest specialist, although I am a pest to a lot of people. Make sure that you do not have to be licensed to do this on your own place. I do not do anything for other people unless I own the property. (Ok, my father and my kids are exceptions)

Side note, the Tremidor is also great for carpenter ants.

My thoughts have always been that bait stations work as long as the termites find them. It's not like they smell the bait.

Whereas if you do it the other way you have a ring of poison around your house. You only dig down like six inches. Sure that can be a pain, but the stuff lasts for ten years and it only takes one stream of termites to kill the nest.

I don't understand the logic. Let's attract terminates on to your property so we can poison them. Why not attract them to the neighbors down the road instead. Their house looks yummier than mine does.

They are not attracted to the property. They send scouts out looking for a food source. When one is found the scout returns to the nest, says hey guys follow me to the buffet.

Then when they are all walking around filling up on wood, making mud tunnels and partying like it's 1999 they are also collecting the poison, which they take back to the nest.

It is all hit or miss as to if they even find your place. But they don't have TV to distract them so they keep looking until they latch onto something.

*Disclaimer: I am not a pest professional. I have not had schooling or training in this area. I know a little from real life experiences, internet sleuthing and talking with my own licensed pest professional.

Had not considered all the sand.