Hi,

First time coming to this site. I'm buying a house and option period is running out soon. I need some help. Termite inspection found carpenter ants (in one place, both outside the wall as well as inside in the same area, inside are dead bodies, no other places in the house). I'm lost on what I should do: buy or not buy this house. The inspector did say it's common in the area, maybe 1/3 of the house would have it. But I looked at quite a few houses disclosure and didn't find any house has it. I'm concerned it's going to affect my resell.

Thank you!

Did your pest guy say how much treatment would cost? Here in Ohio it's fairly inexpensive, and they are usually easy to treat. You'd have to disclose most likely on a future sale, but as long as it's taken care of, they usually are not that big of a deal.

They actually usually don't nest in a house, but in a tree, shed, or garage, where there is some kind of dryer or dead wood available. They go into the house food and sometimes water. No matter how many bodies are seen, the nests are usually someplace else. I've had my own personal experiences with the evil little things.

Just my humble opinion and not to be taken in place of legal or a licensed pest/termite person.

Carpenter ants tend to be easily taken care of w/ a pest control service. Esp. if you have a year to year contract. Only a couple hundred bucks a year, usually. Worth it, cause the treatment covers all bugs, including spiders, not just ants. talk to a pest control service to be sure.

If you are in your inspection period, request that the seller have the home professionally treated at their expense. If you are borrowing to purchase, your lender may require it be treated to issue a "clear" pest control certificate.

You can always spot those little buggers, by the little tool belts and hardhats!

Thanks for all your reply! I'm in TX and quoted fee is $150ish for one time treatment and up to $400-$600 a year covering quarterly treatment. Financially it's OK. Just concern over the resell or if any big damage already being done in the previous years. It's a 10 yr old house, btw.

So seems like all votes here saying we should continue the purchase? Do buyers usually request a purchase price reduction for that reason (considering more difficult for buyers to resell later)? We most likely will move forward, want to request things in our rights but not bring forward things that are not reasonable.

Wow...$400 - $600 a year? Our pest control companies charge under $300 for your basic home (of course the fee goes up if the house is oversized...)

It probably shouldn't be difficult to resell if you disclose that the home is under a regular annual pest control contract for maintenance and prevention...and if you keep it up...that should be a selling point rather than a deterrent (of course it would be a deterrent to folks who are into "organic" or something.)

I don't have the pest company come here often - we don't have them on a yearly basis. In almost 16 years of living here, we have had the pest company come out maybe 4 times - the first time was for fleas (we bought the house not knowing it was infested!) and the 2nd time it was for hornets. 3rd time we had an ant infestation that Terro could not take care of. The last time was for mice but we decided it was better to trap them than give them poison and have them die inside. LOL.

We live in the country - it is expected that there will be bugs and mice...that's why we have pest control services and Victor Snap Traps (the ONLY kind that work=Victor!) Go over everything with your home inspector though, and note that this is strictly my personal opinion...not giving you any legal advice at ALL.

thanks, very helpful!

If you are concerned you can hire a licensed contractor to go in and open up some walls to see how extensive the damage is and if they have caused any structural damage.

I would see if the seller could take the expense. Something like aunts shouldn't be a deal killer.

You've never met my aunts, they are deal killers fer sure.

Thank you so much for all of your response!!!

It turns out this seller is original owner and has been employing a pest control company service for the past 10 years since they moved into the house (or maybe 1 year after he moved in). So we are thinking the inside wall damage should not be too bad, decided to take it. Seller will do treatment before closing. I called that pest control company (a well known one in the area), they confirmed over the phone seller did use them for the past 10 yrs for quarterly treatment.

We still have some days left before closing. So if any additional feedback anybody has, we still like to hear. Thanks again, this is a good forum!

My uncle was worse!

I've had good success with Terro ant killer products. Orange and white package, sold lots of places.
Far better than the other ant trap products that you see out there. With Terro you'll actually see the ants going in and eating the stuff, unlike the other brands where you never see an ant near it.
Of course the pest guy will tell you he has something "special and better" that he uses but it'll cost you a hundred times more.
Good luck.

When termites eat your house, you don’t notice a thing. You don’t hear a thing, you don’t see a thing—you’re house stands there, silent and staid, while you and your family happily go about your days, without a care in the world—until your house crashes on top of your head.

I'll have to find this Terro stuff. Those little common bait traps just haven't worked for me. I spray the exterior of my own house with pump spray bug killer - works fairly well. Although, those carpenters ants seem more resilient. I've had them off and on but I haven't seen any damage and I've been in my house for 16 yrs (orig.owner). Of course, that doesn't mean my porch posts are okay! The house is okay. Now, after typing this, I better go out and knock around those posts to see if there's anything hollow inside. I've never discovered where they come from or where they are going. I'm too busy fighting ground-nest bees.