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The first quote arrives as a single number with a date on it, and everything that matters is hidden inside that number. Two companies can look at the same house and quote amounts that differ by a factor of three, and neither of them is necessarily trying to cheat you. They are proposing different work, with different guarantees, on a building neither can fully see.
This page does not tell you what termite treatment costs where you live, because that figure moves with region, house size, foundation type, species and how long the colony has been eating. It tells you how the number is assembled, so that when three quotes land on your table you can see which one is expensive and which one is merely large.
The scale of the problem, in public figures
The EPA puts it plainly: every year termites cause billions of dollars in structural damage, and property owners spend over two billion dollars to treat them. That second figure is the one to sit with. It is money spent on stopping the insects, not on fixing what they already ate. Repairs are almost always a separate line, a separate contractor and a separate conversation with your insurer, which is itself usually a short conversation.
What a liquid barrier quote is actually counting
The most common treatment for subterranean termites is a soil-applied termiticide: a continuous treated zone in the soil around and under the building. UC IPM describes it as pesticide applied to the soil in drenches or by injection, using non-repellent actives such as fipronil, imidacloprid or chlorantraniliprole.
The quote is built from four things.
- Linear feet of foundation. The perimeter of the building, measured. This is the base unit of almost every termite quote, and it is why a long, low ranch house costs more to treat than a compact two-story of the same floor area.
- Drilling. Anywhere the treated zone has to pass under concrete, the crew drills, injects and patches: a slab, a garage floor, a patio, a porch, an attached walkway. Each of those feet costs several times a plain soil foot.
- Access. A crawl space you can walk in is cheap to treat. One with eighteen inches of clearance, ducting and standing water is not. A finished basement means interior drilling and furniture moving.
- Volume of termiticide. Labels specify application rates per linear foot and per foot of depth, and the label is the law. A deeper footing means more product, legitimately.
Ask any bidder for the linear feet they measured and the number of drilled feet they assumed. If two quotes disagree wildly, this is almost always where.
What a bait quote is actually counting
A bait system is a different economic animal. Stations containing a cellulose matrix with a slow-acting insecticide go into the soil at intervals around the building, and the colony carries the active ingredient home.
The price has two halves:
- Installation, priced per station and by the number of stations the perimeter needs.
- Monitoring, an annual fee for the visits that check, refill and replace the stations.
The second half is not an optional extra. A bait system that nobody inspects is a row of plastic discs in your lawn. UC IPM is blunt about the trade-off: bait systems can be effective, but they may take several months or even years to control the problem. That is a fair price for less pesticide in the soil, as long as you know you are paying it in time.
The guarantee is half of what you are buying
The EPA’s guidance on hiring a company says termite work is customarily guaranteed for one to five years, and it lists the three questions worth more than any discount:
- What exactly does the guarantee cover?
- Is there a yearly inspection charge, and how much?
- Is the company responsible for structural damage if the treatment fails to control the infestation?
That last one separates two products that look identical on a quote sheet. A retreatment guarantee means that if the termites come back, they treat again at no charge. A damage or repair guarantee means they also pay to fix the wood.
Companies price accordingly, and many exclude damage entirely, or exclude it unless you keep paying the annual renewal, or exclude any part of the structure the inspector could not reach and noted on the original graph.
Read the exclusions before the price. A cheap contract with a long list of inaccessible areas is a cheap contract for a reason.
The cheapest quote and the most expensive quote frequently describe different buildings. One inspector crawled the whole space and found a mud tube behind the water heater; the other stood at the hatch. Before comparing prices, compare the two diagrams of your house that came stapled to them. If one has no diagram, you do not have a quote, you have a price.
Drywood termites are priced completely differently
If you have drywood termites, forget linear feet. These colonies live inside the wood with no soil connection, so the decision is between localized treatment of the galleries somebody found and whole-structure treatment of everything, including the galleries nobody found.
UC IPM sets out the trade directly: whole-structure treatments have the advantage that they should eliminate all infestations, even hidden ones, while localized methods vary with how accurately the infestation was detected. Fumigation with sulfuryl fluoride is the whole-structure standard and gives high levels of efficacy if correctly applied. Whole-structure heat is the other, and it has a published specification you can hold a company to: all wood in the structure heated to a minimum of 120°F and held there for at least 33 minutes.
Whole-structure work also has a cost that never appears on the quote, which is that you and your pets leave the house for days and take the food with you.
The part of the bill nobody quotes
Three things routinely surprise people after the contract is signed.
- Repairs. Sill plates, joists, subfloor and trim are a carpenter’s job. Get a structural opinion before you agree what the damage is worth.
- Conducive conditions. Many companies will not warranty a house that keeps feeding termites, so the quote comes with conditions: fix the leak, remove the wood-to-soil contact, correct the grading, lower the mulch. Those are your contractors.
- Renewals. The annual fee that keeps the guarantee alive, for as long as you own the house.
How to buy this without getting taken
- Get three inspections. UC IPM recommends obtaining at least three structural inspection reports before deciding. Free inspections are normal.
- Ask each one for the linear feet, the drilled feet and the species they found. Those three facts make the quotes comparable.
- Check the license. Firms offering termite services must be licensed by your state, and the EPA advises asking to see the company’s license.
- Ask for the product label for whatever they intend to apply. A reliable applicator will hand it over.
- Read the guarantee before the price, specifically retreatment versus damage, the renewal fee and the inaccessible-areas list.
- Refuse anything sold at the door. The EPA warns against companies that sell services door to door or target elderly people living alone.
Related reading: The Termite Inspection Before You Buy a House and Which Termite You Have Decides the Treatment.
Questions people ask
Why are termite quotes so different from each other?
Because they are usually for different work. The main variables are the linear feet of foundation measured, how many of those feet need drilling through concrete, how accessible the crawl space is, whether the method is a liquid barrier or a bait system, and whether the guarantee covers structural damage or only retreatment.
Is a bait system cheaper than a liquid barrier?
Not usually, and it is priced differently: an installation charge plus an annual monitoring fee that continues for as long as you want the system to work. It uses less pesticide, but UC IPM notes it may take several months or even years to control the problem.
Does the termite company pay to repair the damage?
Only if you bought a guarantee that says so. The EPA advises asking directly whether the company is responsible for structural damage if the treatment fails. Many contracts cover retreatment only, and repairs are a separate contractor's invoice.
How long is a termite guarantee?
The EPA says termite control work is customarily guaranteed from one to five years. Ask what the guarantee covers, whether there is a yearly inspection charge, and what happens to the cover if you skip a renewal.
Where these figures come from
- Termites: How to Identify and Control Them US Environmental Protection Agency · epa.gov
- Choosing a Pest Control Company US Environmental Protection Agency · epa.gov
- Subterranean and Other Termites Management Guidelines University of California Statewide IPM Program · ipm.ucanr.edu
- Drywood Termites Management Guidelines University of California Statewide IPM Program · ipm.ucanr.edu
Figures last checked September 2026.
