Termite control in District 3 — old villas, lane townhouses, timber mezzanines

Addresses here have changed more than once. Vo Thi Sau ward was created from wards 6, 7 and 8; on 1 January 2025 ward 10 was merged into ward 9 and ward 13 into ward 12; and on 1 July 2025, when the city replaced districts with wards (the local administrative units) under Resolution 1685/NQ-UBTVQH15, the whole district became three wards. Write the address as your papers show it and we will match it.

Xuan Hoa, Ban Co and Nhieu Loc are all on our regular rounds, 07:00 to 20:00 seven days a week; the survey time is fixed when you call.

Xuan Hoa ward

The former Vo Thi Sau ward and the remainder of old ward 4: old villas and garden houses on streets lined with mature trees, with premium apartment projects along Dien Bien Phu among them.

Ban Co ward

Old wards 1, 2, 3 and 5 and part of ward 4: multi-storey townhouses packed into lanes, many extended several times and divided by floor for letting.

Nhieu Loc ward

Old wards 9, 11, 12 and 14, along the Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe canal: townhouses, old apartment blocks and apartments side by side, many homes doubling as shops.

District 3 is regarded as holding more old villas than any other district of Ho Chi Minh City: the classification reported by Ashui in 2022 recorded nearly 230 here, out of roughly 350 classified citywide. Tuoi Tre (March 2025) adds 38 apartment blocks built before 1975. Their louvred shutters, window frames, staircases, mezzanine floors and timber furniture all feed termites once a wall is damp.

Renovated townhouses are exposed too. VnExpress (2018) described a District 3 family whose single-storey house with a mezzanine had been raised to two storeys. A few years on, wardrobes, a study desk and the timber kitchen cabinets were hollow inside though their surfaces looked intact, and it took several rounds of treatment to end the problem. The architect quoted noted that termites also destroy paper and seat cushions and pass through walls.

The University of Florida's guide (UF/IFAS) says the Asian subterranean termite needs moist soil or a steady supply of water, travels inside mud tubes, which it builds from soil, and can form secondary nests in voids within a structure. District 3 townhouses stand wall to wall, so the usual way in is the foot of a shared wall that has seeped through many rainy seasons, or an old pipe leaking inside it. Look at:

• Louvred shutters and timber window frames in villas: wood crumbling from the bottom sill, paint coming away in patches.
• A mezzanine floor or timber staircase in a lane townhouse: hollow underfoot, crumbs of soil dropping to the ground floor.
• Wardrobes, kitchen cabinets and desks against a wall: lines of soil on the back, a door grown noticeably light.
• Bookshelves and boxes of papers long in store: holes eaten through the paper, soil mixed in.
• Large trees and planters in a villa's yard: mud tubes climbing from the soil to the house wall.

Our guide to termites in Saigon houses

The signs in more detail, what treatment involves and the questions to ask before agreeing to it.

Our technicians decide the method after the survey: localised treatment, bait, treatment of the ground slab, or more than one. What your Up specialist, the UpClean staff member assigned to your home, does depends on the house:

Old villas with a garden

The technicians inspect the yard, tree bases, flower beds, outbuildings and garage as well as the house. Shutters, mouldings and timber floors are photographed as found, and nothing is drilled or lifted without your written consent.

Lane townhouses with a mezzanine

Part of what is stored on the mezzanine is cleared before the appointment and the floor below is covered to catch wood dust. The narrow passage stays clear, with tools stacked in one place.

Houses altered several times

The original house and later additions usually meet at mortar joints and expansion gaps, which termites follow easily. The technicians trace along them, and each treated position is marked on the plan in your Up Report.

Apartments in old blocks

If termites come from a shared wall, a service shaft or the common stairs, we recommend telling the neighbours and the block's management team so the inspection can go wider.

Homes with a ground-floor business

Shops and offices can be booked for early morning or early evening, between 07:00 and 20:00; stock and files are covered or moved for the time being.

No price list fits every house: a few mud tubes behind a kitchen cabinet are a different job from a villa where termites have spread from the garden into the timber floor and staircase. So the survey is free and the all-inclusive quote is written, giving the method, the areas, the re-entry time (the period a treated area must be kept clear), the return inspections and the warranty conditions. Any change needs your written agreement. What goes into it:

• Floor area, number of storeys, and whether there is a garden.
• How many places have termites and how far they have spread between floors and rooms.
• The method proposed and the number of return inspections.
• The timber furniture, flooring and shutters to be treated, or taken off for access.
• The covering, moving and cleaning done by your Up specialist.
• The warranty period that goes with the method. Read it in the quote before you confirm.

Most houses in District 3 have no building management, but houses sharing walls along a lane call for tact with the neighbours. In the district's apartment buildings, registering contractors and declaring people and tools is usually compulsory. Before the day:

• Tell us where to park near the house: many District 3 lanes take only motorbikes, and the team carries its compact equipment in by hand.
• Have a word with the adjoining household if the treatment point is on the wall you share.
• Clear part of the mezzanine and the timber cupboards to be treated; put food and crockery away in closed cupboards.
• Arrange for older relatives, small children, dogs and cats to stay in another room or at a relative's home for the re-entry time written in the plan.
• After the visit, leave treated positions and monitoring stations as they are until you are told otherwise.

Return inspections follow the dates in the quote; we send a reminder and record the result. In between, simple habits help:

• Clear leaves, rotten wood and dead branches from tree bases and from flower beds against the villa wall.
• Repaint and maintain timber shutters at regular intervals; replace decayed timber at the sills.
• Deal early with seepage at the wall base, on the roof terrace and round pipes: termites go where it is damp.
• Stand timber cupboards clear of the wall, and each rainy season check their backs and the foot of the stairs with a torch. If you are renovating, ask us about protecting the ground slab and new timber before the finishes go on.
• To book, send photos of the shutters, mezzanine floor or cupboard you suspect to 0968 726 135 on WhatsApp or Zalo, with your address as your papers show it. We offer two or three survey slots, and nobody presses you to confirm the plan that follows.
• You are told beforehand who is coming, with name and photo. On the day the technicians follow the plan; your Up specialist, identity-verified and trained to the Up Standard, goes through each room and the garden, cleans and puts everything back.
• Your Up Report, by WhatsApp or Zalo, shows each position treated, the monitoring stations, before-and-after photos and the next inspection date.
• If something is damaged, tell us within 24 hours with photos. We compare them with those taken beforehand and take responsibility under our policy where our specialist is at fault.
• Moving or cancelling costs nothing with 24 hours' notice or more; inside 24 hours the fee is 30%.