Here's How Much Termite Damage Repair Will Cost You

As you walk around the exterior of your home, you may notice a pile of sawdust a few feet from the structure. Look closer, and you may see small critters moving around the area, coming from your home. Those could be termites. Most people should not ignore termite presence as a colony of them can cause a significant amount of damage to the home. Termite damage repair costs typically range from $500 to $3,000 nationally, though various factors will impact this. That includes the extensiveness of the damage that typically worsens as time goes on. Since termites can be very aggressive, hungry pests, you probably don't see all of the destruction they've caused throughout the home until you have a formal inspection completed.

What's more important, though, is to realize that if the damage is not repaired, these pests will continue to eat away at your home's wooden structure, creating significant structural damage to the foundation and walls. Over time, this can lead to much higher costs for repair, and it may even make your home unsafe to live in.

Before you can fix the structural repairs to the home itself, it's necessary to treat and rid the property of termites. Bringing this infestation under control may be possible using several methods. This could include a micro treatment, which is best for smaller infestations. It can be applied as a barrier around the exterior of the home, covering an area of about 50 linear feet, and works to stop the termites from accessing the home. This method is the least expensive option, costing around $300. A more common way to get rid of termites is the use of a liquid perimeter treatment. This method also creates a barrier around the exterior of the home that deters termites. 

The more effective option for larger infestations is the use of heat treatment. It can be more expensive, costing $1 to $4 per square foot – with the average U.S. home at about 2,000 square feet, this means it'll cost most people a few thousand dollars. This option creates barrier protection outside of the walls as well. Fumigation and tenting may be necessary for some homes where the termites are scattered throughout the property.

Once the pests are under control, the next step is to fix the damage they've created. Termites will eat the wood structure of the home and any wood products within it. Over time, they can develop huge colonies under the house, eating as much as a pound of wood per day. It can take between three and five years for these colonies to mature, and hopefully, you've caught the damage before that.

The repair work needed will depend on many factors, though. This includes the location of the damage, how extensive it is, and the type of repair. The amount of wood eaten by termites plays the biggest role here, but they can also cause cosmetic damage, including discoloring flooring requiring replacement. Cosmetic damage is usually easier to repair and can be fixed with board replacement, repainting, or sanding. If the foundation of the home has significant damage, it will take more work to remove the damaged beams and joists and replace them with new material. The type of flooring may also matter, with hardwood floors costing more to replace, for example, than laminate. The only way to learn the termite damage repair cost here is to call in a professional to provide an inspection and estimate.