ATTENTION HOMEOWNERS!
Are You Thinking About Getting A New Roof Or Having Your Home Painted?
It’s springtime and many homeowners in Orange County are doing home improvements. Unfortunately, many of these homeowners are not going to do their improvements in the proper sequence and are going to wind up losing thousands of dollars. That’s why we say:
This May Be The Most Important Report You Read This Year!
Let’s say you’re going to have your old roof replaced. Here are just a couple of the pitfalls a homeowner may face if things are not done in the proper order:
- In our experience, 9 out of 10 homes that we inspect with new roofs have had these new roofs installed over old rotten and termite infested wood. This means that if the owner wants to replace the damaged wood at a later date, portions of their brand new roof may have to be removed. This will result in substantially greater cost and may void the warranty on their new roof.
- Many homeowners fail to address their home’s termite problems or painting before installing a new roof. And, many of these owners are going to be very upset when they find out that termite crews and painters are going to have to walk on their new roof and may cause damage. The damages are probably going to be minor if the roof is made of composition shingles. But, if it’s a tile roof, the damages could be significant. If you’re going to have your home painted, here is a point that you really need to consider;
Most Of The Painters In Our Area Seem To Be In A Big Hurry To Finish The Job So They Can Get Paid Quickly. It’s Sad, But Most Painters We’ve Seen Paint Over Everything – Including The Old Rotten And Termite Damaged Wood.
That means that in a very short time, the paint will start flaking off in these damaged areas and your new paint job will be ruined. It also means that if you do decide to repair these wood damages at a later date, much of your new paint job will be thrown in the trash and all of the repaired areas will have to be re-painted. House painting is expensive. Why then, would you want to pay to have it done twice?
How You Can Save Thousands Of Dollars When Doing Home Improvements And Prevent A Lot Of Headaches:
Call Termite Terry at (949) 631-7348 or click on order form and have your home inspected before you start any work. Areas that need repairs will be noted and if termite treatments are needed, you’ll learn of the different options you have available.
Schedule your work in sequence so that you don’t wind up doing the same work twice. If you’re not sure about the order, call us at (949) 631-7348 or click on order form and we’ll be glad to assist.
Here is a typical schedule we suggest for homes that are being re-roofed:
- Call Termite Terry and order a termite inspection so that you’ll know what is needed before you start the project.
- Have your roofer remove the existing roof and have our carpenters replace all damaged wood as needed.
- If a fumigation or termite treatment is needed, do it now.
- Have all the wood trim and exterior painted as needed.
- Last, have your roofer install the new roof.
By doing things in this sequence, no one will need to go back on the roof again and your home will be set to go for another decade!
For homes that are being painted, we suggest the following schedule:
- Call Termite Terry and order a termite inspection so that you’ll know what is needed before you start the project.
- Have our carpenters replace all damaged wood as needed.
- If a fumigation or termite treatment is needed, do it now.
- Now, it’s time to paint.
- f roof repairs are needed, always have a roofer do this as your last project. You don’t want anyone walking on the roof after this!
Every situation is different, but this schedule works pretty well for most homeowners and you’ll save yourself a bunch of headaches and money, too!
Are you getting ready to start your home improvement project? Call us at (949) 631-7348 or click on order form and we’ll schedule an inspection at your convenience!
Rave Reviews!
The service and personal attention I received from D.J. was exceptional. I had a rat problem and called several companies.
D.J. came out and did a thorough inspection. He was able to show me exactly where their entry was and he blocked it off.
Good news? The rat was caught the first night so I called D.J. and asked if he would dispose of it first thing in the morning. As promised, he came by early and removed the rat without even waking me.
He followed up by coming by each week to check the traps. D.J. then repaired the hole in my attic and called it a successful mission.
I would highly recommend D.J., as his integrity, expertise and professionalism exceeded my expectations.
-Tracy Buck,, Costa Mesa.
I wanted to write this letter to tell you how pleased I am of your service. You and I have had the opportunity to work on several projects over the past 5 years and you have always shown a high level of professionalism.
Our latest tenting project was on an older rental property. You were very thorough and gave me a more favorable report than I was expecting. That kind of honesty goes a long way.
The tenting went as smooth as silk. Everything was well coordinated with our tenants. All questions were thoroughly addressed and the scheduling was exactly as planned. Your attention to detail meant a great deal to the tenants as well as myself. As an added bonus, no roofing tiles were broken. Very impressive!
Thanks again for all your help. I would highly recommend your work to anyone!
-Sidney Wu, Property landlord, Irvine.
Hotel Mattresses Infested With Bed Bugs
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of stories about bed bugs and a lot of those stories have been about problems with hotel mattresses. Places with high occupancy, such as hotels, are where bed bugs thrive. This epidemic has gotten so bad that a registry has been created to list highly infested hotels.
What Are Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs are small, reddish/brown insects and the adults are about 1/16″ long with a flattened/oval shaped body. They are parasites and prefer living off the blood of humans. In the absence of humans, they will also feed on a variety of birds, guinea pigs, poultry and rodents. Homes infested with bed bugs can often be recognized by their distinctive “buggy” smell, an odor that has been described as “obnoxious sweetness”. Infestations can also be detected by blood stains on walls or linens and by spots of excrement.
Hotels are a hotspot for bed bugs because of high occupancy and a large number of travelers coming from all areas of the world. What makes it so difficult for hotel managers is that they can have a completely bed bug free room today, but if one person rents a room and brings bed bugs in with their luggage, that room can become infested with bed bugs that very day. And, if you stay in that infested room, chances are you’ll take bed bugs home with you as a parting gift.
TripAdvisor.com’s List Of The 2010 Top Ten Dirtiest Hotels
- Heritage Marina Hotel, San Francisco Ca.
- Days Inn Eureka, Eureka Missouri
- Tropicana Resort Hotel, Virginia Beach, Va.
- Super 8 Virginia Beach, Virginia Beach Va.
- Quality Inn, Stroudsburg Pa.
- New York Inn, New York City, NY
- Parisian Hotel, Miami, Fl.
- Capistrano Seaside Inn, Capistrano Beach Ca.
- Desert Lodge, Palm Springs Ca.
- Continental Oceanfront Hotel South Beach, Miami Fl.
Bed Bugs Are By Far And Away, The Toughest Pest To Get Rid Of!
If you have a problem with bed bugs – Don’t procrastinate. Call us today for a complimentary pest audit at (949) 631-7348 or click on order form.
“Entomologist are being bugged again by erroneous pest control advice that’s been popping up all over cyberspace like ants at a picnic. This information has been floating around the internet since 2007, but seemed to regain momentum starting in December of last year”, said Wizzie Brown, a Texas AgriLife Extension Service entomologist in Austin.
When you see this message on the web, you’ll see that they are touting this as “an environmentally friendly cure for fire ants“. They suggest that you poor two cups of club soda directly in the center of the fire ant mound. By doing this, they tell us that it will displace oxygen and suffocate the ants. They say the entire colony and queen will be killed within 48 hours. They also state that club soda will leave no toxic residue, won’t contaminate ground water and won’t indiscriminately kill other insects or harm pets.
“What they don’t say is that the treatment is ineffective, unless you happen to drown a few fire ants in the process”, said Brown.
Brown ran a field test in 2009 on the effectiveness of club soda as a fire ant mound treatment and found that it didn’t work. She said, “Observations and statistics from the trial showed no evidence of any type of control as a result. Pouring club soda onto a fire ant mound did not lead to the ants dying a horrendous death; it did, however, produce lots of impressive bubbling action.”
A report of the field trial will appear in a future edition of the Urban IPM Handbook, published annually on the Texas Imported Fire Ant Research and Management Project Web site, http://fireant.tamu.edu.
“As researchers, we can’t recommend, endorse or encourage practices which replicated field trials show to be ineffective”, she said. “Fire ant baits are still among the most effective methods of fire ant control. Besides, in larger areas, treating individual mounds is never as effective or useful as widespread broadcast treatment.”
If you have a problem with fire ants and are looking for solutions that really work, call us for a complimentary pest audit at (949) 631-7348 or click on order form.
April Is National Jazz Appreciation Month
The National Museum of American History has designated April as National Jazz Appreciation Month. April was chosen because jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Gerry Mulligan and Tito Puente all celebrate their birthdays during this month.
Jazz originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities of the Southern U.S.. In 1808, almost half a million Africans had been brought to the U.S. to work as slaves. Most of them came from West Africa and they brought a lot of their tribal musical traditions with them. By the early 19th century, many black musicians learned to play European instruments, especially the violin, which they used to parody European dance music in their own cakewalk dances. European-American minstrel show performers in blackface started copying that type of music and made it popular around the world.
After slavery was abolished, the freed African-Americans were able to start finding work in entertainment playing for dances, minstrel shows and in vaudeville. Black pianist found opportunities to play in bars, clubs and brothels. This is when ragtime music developed.
Many consider jazz a product of the melting pot in New Orleans. By the beginning of the 20th century, that city was awash in blues music, ragtime and native brass band fanfares.
Jazz has spawned many subgenres over the years, from Dixieland in the early 1910’s, big band swing in the 1930’s and 1940’s, bebop from the mid 1940’s, Afro-Cuban and Brazilian from the 1950’s and 1960’s, jazz fusion from the 1970’s and acid jazz in the 1980’s.
People play jazz all around the world today, but no matter how you slice it, jazz is a truly American style of music that has played an important role in our heritage.
Don’t Get Soaked When You Buy A Home!
Not long ago, a couple bought a home here in Orange County. They were so happy to finally get the home of their dreams, but today, those dreams have turned into a giant nightmare. “Why did this dream become a nightmare?” you ask. Take a look at this:
- An termite inspection was performed on this home in January that had a long list of items that needed correction. Note: The buyer never saw a copy of this report.
- In March, that same inspector issued a BRAND NEW termite inspection report that said that the home was in perfect shape and that nothing needed to be corrected.
- The new owner buys this home in March, moves in and discovers almost nothing had been done. And, he discovers a huge list of problems that were never mentioned in any report. That’s when he decided to call us.
In our termite inspection, we found that the other company had failed to inspect the areas under the home’s a raised foundation. Those areas were found to be flooded, had no ventilation, there were huge subterranean termite problems, soil grading problems, foundation problems, etc.. A licensed contractor was called in to evaluate and estimate what it would cost to correct the soil grading, foundation and ventilation problems. His estimate was close to $80,000.00!! The other company said that the wood deck was in perfect shape, but we found over $15,000 worth of damage still present. On the exterior, we found another $3,800 worth of damage. An expensive lawyer has been hired and they’re probably going to court. But, how long will that take and how much more will it cost??
Ladies and gentlemen, this does not have to happen to you and can easily be prevented by calling us before you buy a house. Don’t get soaked! Call us at (949) 631-7348 or click on order form and we’ll schedule a termite inspection at your convenience!