Termites!

We should have guessed. It's Arizona, after all. 

It's not that I haven't looked for them. I read a few years back that they build little brown tunnels coming up from your foundation to an egress point - or several - into your home. Wood, yum yum. Wet wood, of course, since dry wood is too hard. Go figure.

When we cleared the books out of the library, there were a few clusters of tunnels with accompanying damage in the book page edges which faced the wall. Sometimes they were on the bottoms as well. Nothing to show from the outside, until you happened to pick up a damaged book. Since the books mostly were already read, just saved for... something or another, we rarely actually pulled a book off the shelves. So before the book sale, there were several shocks waiting for us. All the books were inspected, and about three bagfuls went to the landfill. The little brown tunnels were there, all right, but on the inside, not the outside of the concrete block walls.

Earlier this week I called an exterminator company. I had to work up to doing it. I'd searched online, trying to find out what was involved. (Could we do it ourselves as somebody suggested? NOPE!) I looked at likely prices, which ranged from "Ulp" to OMG!!! I had to pair those with estimates, sight unseen, for a bathroom restoration also needed before putting the house on the market. Then weigh the room in the savings and credit budgets, vs. the likely profit from the home sale. 

The fellow from the most recommended company came out today. I pointed out the rooms we knew termites were in. It wasn't just the library, as they'd been chewing up the floor molding in Steve's room, adjacent to the library, and their presence discovered when he pulled out a small dresser to put in our next garage sale. 

Theoretically they're sleeping now. It's winter. I got some actual facts from the company rep this afternoon. They don't sleep here over winter. They don't need to avoid frozen ground because we don't have any. They will be in the house, or actually under the house, hanging out with their queen. Right now the fact that it just rained over an inch in the last three days should mean that they are active and looking for moist wood in the house or wherever they can find it. 

Typical construction here means they have adapted to take advantage. These basement-free houses are built over concrete slab framework. Think of that as like a picture frame. Inside that is another slab of concrete which the house is actually sitting on, with a break line between the two. That's where the termites get into the house. Their home is under it. Little crevices between the two give them egress, and there is always egress. They are tiny things. with tunnels about the width of a number 2 pencil lead.

How the exterminators address that is from the outside of the foundation, all around the house. They dig a trench, put their applicator in under the slab at a downward angle, and spray the dirt. Then repeat every so often so they get full coverage all around the perimeter. If they find signs that termites are up in the attic crawl space, they go up and dig around there and treat that too. (That's not a extra charge. I checked.) Then the termites move around in the dirt that's treated, seeking water, and the chemicals get all over their bodies. When they return to their colony, they get groomed, and the groomers get groomed, and so on and so on, until in about a month all the colony has been poisoned. 

We and the state both get a document that it has been done. The guarantee goes with the house, and an inspection and new treatment if necessary are available for a very reduced fee on an annual basis. 

They'll be back to treat the house on the 1st of February. We just have one thing to do first, in that week. Or should I say, Richard does. Both the patio and carport need to have everything cleared away from the outside walls by three feet so the exterminators have room to get in, drill, and spray. 

I only have doubts that it can be done in a week. We'll see. If it doesn't happen, there will be consequences. I promise!