Termite inspection and treatment step by step: what happens, how long it takes and what to prepare

The surveyor goes through the house one room at a time and looks closely wherever timber meets a wall or the floor, and into corners that are damp, closed in and seldom walked past. Every trace is photographed. At an UpClean survey the sequence covers timber floors, ceilings, the base of the walls, door frames, built-in cabinets and service shafts.

The search does not stop at the spot you reported. A mud tube in the living room, one of the soil runways termites build to travel under cover, may be a single branch of a colony that is active in the kitchen cabinets or on the floor above. The adjoining rooms and the far side of the wall are therefore usually examined as well.

The inspection has to settle how far the termites have got and from which direction they enter the house. Your part is small, but it changes what the surveyor can see:

• Leave the mud tubes exactly as they are, with no sweeping and no spray in the days before the visit.
• Point out every place where you have seen termites, and any spot that has leaked or stayed damp.
• Say when you first noticed them, what you have already tried yourself and what repair work the house has had recently.

Subterranean termites nest in soil and come in along mud tubes, so the plan has to deal with what rises through the floor slab and the base of the walls. Drywood termites spend their whole life inside one piece of timber, so attention goes to that item of furniture or that timber component. A wrong identification leads to the wrong method.

Fine wood powder with no soil points to woodworm, not termites; the procedure is different and belongs to another service. If you are not yet sure that the house has termites at all, read about the signs first, so that you can describe what you have found accurately.

Termites in Saigon houses: the signs

How to recognise each kind of trace and check the house room by room before the survey.

Woodworm treatment

For fine wood powder and small round holes with no soil.

Treatment at the source is a chain of work meant to deal with the whole colony and then to confirm that the colony has stopped. One spraying visit does not do that. Providers divide the chain in different ways, but a complete one always opens with a survey and closes with return checks. The usual division has six steps.

The times below are the ranges commonly met, given so that you can plan the household's days. They are not commitments. The timetable that counts is the one written into the plan for your own house.

No single method fits every house. The provider weighs the species, the position of the nest, the way the house is built and whether it is lived in or empty, then chooses one approach or combines several: bait and bait stations, spot treatment, a barrier at the floor slab and the base of the walls, or separate treatment of a timber item. The guide to termites in Saigon houses, linked above, sets out when each is usually chosen.

Combination is the usual answer once termites have spread through several rooms or storeys: one method deals with the colony while another blocks its way back. For a home that is lived in, bait and stations are often considered because little is sprayed in the living space. The final choice still depends on the species and on where the nest lies, and it should come from the provider after the survey.

Preparation keeps the visit short and cuts unnecessary contact with the product. The provider sends its own list in advance; these are the requests you can expect.

• Leave the mud tubes and the termite spots as they are. No tidying and no spraying while you wait.
• Clear the way in: pull furniture away from the base of the walls, and take some of the contents out of the lower kitchen cabinets and built-in wardrobes in the affected area.
• Put food, dishes and children's things in a closed place, or move them to a room that is not being treated.
• Say in advance if anyone at home is elderly, pregnant or very young, or has a respiratory condition or an allergy.
• Arrange somewhere for pets to stay. For an aquarium, ask the provider how it should be covered.
• In an apartment, ask building management how outside work is registered and during which hours it is allowed.
• Have one adult present to open the rooms and receive the re-entry instructions.

The result depends partly on whether the treated points are left in peace. While treatment and monitoring continue, avoid the following.

• Going into the closed-off area before the stated time. This applies to pets as well.
• Opening, moving or wiping a bait station to see what is inside.
• Washing the points you were asked to leave, where the product has to stay in place to keep working.
• Adding a shop-bought spray to an area that has been treated.
• Filling, painting or panelling over the points being monitored before you have confirmation that activity has stopped.
• Drilling, chiselling or renovating a treated floor or wall base without giving notice, which can affect the warranty.
• Waiting to see whether it passes when someone feels unwell after the visit. Take the person into fresh air, contact a medical facility and tell the provider.

The end of the treatment visit does not mean that the colony has stopped. Treatment counts as complete when several checks in a row record no live termites, no new mud tubes and no more bait eaten. Only then is it time to repair damaged timber, fill gaps and repaint.

Three documents mark the way from the survey to that point. In the long run, keeping the house dry and looking over the places that once had termites after each rainy season remain necessary.

At UpClean the sequence has five steps, shown below. UpClean's own pest-control technicians carry out the treatment. Up specialists, UpClean's identity-verified and trained staff, cover and protect the rooms, watch each working point and clean when the visit ends. UpClean has declared its eligibility to provide pest-control services as required by regulation; the declaration and product information are available on request.

The enquiry, the quote, the booking confirmation and the Up Report can all be in English. If you want a specialist who speaks English in the home, say so when you book; if that cannot be arranged, you are told beforehand and supported by phone or message. You receive the specialist's name, photo and contact number before every visit, which is what an apartment building asks for when outside staff have to be registered.