[Bonanza]

Originally Posted by RErmer

I have to agree with those who think extermination contracts are necessary. I've lived in Florida since 1978 and can't imagine taking the risk of living here without these services. For example, we never saw any termites in our house in South Florida, yet when we were having some remodeling done involving removing a wall the contractor discovered that termites had eaten away ALL of the studs. I think the walls stayed up only because it was an old house with plaster, not Sheetrock! Those repairs were extremely expensive. After that, we had to have the house tented for treatment, and we gladly paid the annual inspection fee so that there were no issues when we sold the house.

Also, while bugs have been here before us, I still choose not to share my home with them.

I assume your house was pretty old when you had the termite problem (since you mentioned the walls were plaster). In a previous post, I did say that at some point, every house in Florida will have some kind of termite issue. While I am against contractual spraying for no reason, in an older home, it is a good idea to have a periodic termite inspection.

If you didn't pay for an annual service for say, 20 years, and then had to have some sort of termite treatment, it still would be substantially less expensive to have the treatment than to pay every year for the service.

Reread my previous post. No bug problem ever in a 25 year old house. A slight termite issue after 25 years that cost $350 to treat.

You make it sound like your current house would be overrun and infested with bugs if you didn't have a service contract with someone. Nothing could be further from the truth.