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Forget Zika.
Exterminators and pest control firms in the region have something even more pressing, and pestering: termites.
The summer termite season, say several bug and pest company executives, has exploded. Multiple companies on the Gulf Coast report being booked out on homes and commercial buildings through Thanksgiving or beyond. “It's definitely crazier than last year,” says Brenton Cloud, with Cloud Termite and Pest Control.
There are several reasons for the spurt. The real estate rebound is one factor; more sales equal more inspections, which in turn could mean more termite discoveries. An even greater factor, says Vic Valentine, president of Arrow Environmental Services, is an increase in rain and humidity. Arrow Environmental Services is a unit of Sarasota-based Environmental Pest Service, one of the largest pest control firms in Florida. “We've had an abundance of moisture and things have just taken off,” Valentine tells Coffee Talk.
One of the more common kinds of termites in Florida is drywood termites, which usually build a colony inside wood of homes. An infestation of drywood termites, in most cases, requires fumigation. That's the whole deal: a tarp, a sealed up home or building and Vikane gas treatment. The process can cost about $3,000 for a 2,500-square-foot home.
At Cloud Pest Control, which had about $1.1 million in sales in 2014, the extra-busy season has turned what's normally a one- or two-week wait into eight or 10 weeks. Cloud has hired a few people, piecemeal, to address the rush of business, and has some crews working weekends.
He's also prepping for 2017. He plans to bring on a new crew of people by early next year, so crews can get to clients quicker. A new crew means up to five new hires, a box truck and tarps. “That's a pretty big deal for us,” says Cloud. “It's a big investment, but it's worth it.”
Besides weather and real estate, Cloud offers another possible reason for the termite trend. He says regulations and a rise in insurance costs have made the pest control industry, particularly niches like fumigation, much harder and costlier for startups. Says Cloud: “There are less and less people out there doing this.”
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