I just found out that we have termites swarming… In. Our. House! It’s been storming really heavy over the last few days, alternating with sunny patches, and the fucking bugs started swarming. They’re getting into our sunroom. To, you know, swarm. IN MY SUNROOM!
I’m so grossed out. I’m pretty good about bugs overall; I’m not afraid of them or anything. I can handle spiders and bees and worms. I try not to kill them, because I just think killing living creatures in general is bad karma (wg, you fucking hippie). Even after that time I took a swig of water in the middle of the night and a spider washed into my mouth, I still pick up most bugs and take them outside. (I did have to consciously repress that memory, though. It was just creepy. And I was pregnant at the time.)
But there are certain bugs that REALLY skeeve me out.
Cockroaches
Fleas
Termites
They’re just fucking disgusting. And mosquitos are pretty gross, too.
I’ve got exterminators coming tomorrow morning. Now I need to go huddle in the bathroom and feel vaguely nauseous. FUCK!
– wg
Any chance you can blame the previous owners for not disclosing a termite problem? It’s only been a few months, right?
Yuck! Anyone in your neighborhood having their house treated for termites? The little buggers like to migrate elsewhere when they see the tents coming.
Don’t you have to have the house tented to deal with termites? That’s a real pain.
BTW I hate the flying, Buick-sized cockroaches we get here in Florida worse than any other bug on the planet.
I get the heebie-jeebies just thinking about them so I’ll stop now.
Wasn’t a termite inspection part of the house inspection before you purchased? I know our inspector found termite damage and the owners had to have the house treated for termites, plus had to have some of the floor joists “sistered”.
And … oh… gross. Just gross. I hope they’re gone soon!
i’d use the word even if i didn’t have flying termites.
that’s plain horrible!!!
The exterminators were here today and HA! no more bugs! Karma schmarma… I’m glad the suckers are dead. (There, I said it!)
Thanks for all your sympathy and shared disgust. To answer everyone’s questions…
We did have an inspection when we bought the house, but these are subterranean termites and you can’t tell if you have them unless they swarm or you find tunnels through wood. They don’t leave droppings. Therefore, most inspections don’t offer a warranty on these type of termites.
Termites are also native around here so if you’ve had them once you’ll probably get them again in about 7 years. It looks like the previous owners did replace a lot of wood in the basement so they probably had already done treatment and structural repairs at one point and we were due again.
Luckily, since these are underground bugs we didn’t need tenting. The exterminators dig into the ground all around the house and basement and inject pesticide. (It’s like botox for the house!)
I did find out that one of the neighbors just treated for termites, too, a couple weeks ago. (The exterminator narc’d them out.) I’m wondering, as a courtesy, should I tell my other neighbors about the swarm?
We had the subterranian type when living in AZ. Found the suckers little “mud trails” going up the side of the house and then noticed the next door neighbor had 3 times as many as we did. We did our houses at the same time, but the exterminator said had they treated when they first spotted them they wouldn’t have migrated over to us. {sigh} I’d mention it to the neighbors you’re “neighborly” with… as a courtesy.