Protect Your Home from Termite Damage

Understanding the Termite Threat in Westchester County

Termites cause more structural damage to American homes than fires, floods, and windstorms combined. The National Pest Management Association estimates termite damage costs U.S. homeowners over $5 billion annually - and none of it is covered by standard homeowners insurance. In Westchester County, where professional pest control is essential for homeowners, the eastern subterranean termite (Reticulitermes flavipes) is the primary species of concern, and it is far more common than most homeowners realize.

Subterranean termites live in underground colonies that can contain 100,000 to over 1 million individuals. They forage through soil in search of cellulose - the primary structural component of wood - and can travel up to 300 feet from their nest. When they encounter your foundation, they construct mud tubes - pencil-width tunnels made of soil, saliva, and fecal matter - to bridge the gap between soil and wood while maintaining the moisture they require to survive.

The challenge with subterranean termites is that they work silently and invisibly. Damage accumulates inside structural members - floor joists, sill plates, wall studs, and window frames - while the exterior surfaces appear completely intact. By the time visible signs emerge, significant structural compromise may have already occurred.

Why We Choose Sentricon Over Liquid Treatments

For decades, termite control meant one thing: trenching around your foundation and pumping hundreds of gallons of liquid termiticide into the soil to create a chemical barrier. While liquid barriers can be effective at preventing termite entry through treated soil zones, they have significant limitations.

The Problem with Liquid Barriers

Liquid treatments create a repellent or lethal zone in the soil immediately adjacent to your foundation. However, they do not affect the termite colony itself, which may be located dozens or hundreds of feet away. The colony remains fully functional and continues to forage - potentially finding gaps in the chemical barrier created by tree roots, plumbing lines, or incomplete application. Additionally, liquid treatments involve:

• Major landscape disruption: Trenching 6-12 inches deep around the entire foundation
• Concrete drilling: Slab foundations require drilling at regular intervals for sub-slab injection
• Large chemical volumes: 150-300 gallons of termiticide solution for an average home
• Degradation over time: Soil movement, water infiltration, and microbial activity gradually reduce barrier effectiveness

The Sentricon Advantage

The Sentricon System with AlwaysActive technology takes a fundamentally different approach. Rather than trying to block termites from entering your home, it eliminates the colony that threatens it.

Each Sentricon station contains Recruit HD - a bait matrix infused with noviflumuron, a chitin synthesis inhibitor. When termite workers discover a station during their natural foraging, they consume the bait and carry it back to the colony through trophallaxis, the social food-sharing behavior that sustains the colony. As noviflumuron spreads through the population, it prevents successful molting - the process by which termites shed their exoskeleton to grow. Without the ability to molt, the colony progressively declines and ultimately collapses.

The “AlwaysActive” designation means that Recruit HD bait is present in every station from the moment of installation. Earlier bait system generations required a two-phase approach - first installing monitoring devices to detect termite presence, then switching to bait. AlwaysActive eliminates this delay, ensuring termites encounter the bait at first contact.

Westchester-Specific Termite Risk Factors

Several characteristics of Westchester County properties create elevated termite risk that homeowners should understand.

Soil Conditions

Westchester’s predominant soil types - clay loam and silt loam - retain moisture effectively, creating favorable conditions for subterranean termite activity. These soil types also support the construction of extensive tunnel networks that termites use to forage across wide areas.

Aging Housing Stock

Homes built before 1980 - which represent a significant portion of Scarsdale, Bronxville, Eastchester, and Pelham housing stock - frequently have construction details that increase termite vulnerability. These include wooden form boards left in contact with soil, inadequate clearance between wood framing and grade, and older foundation designs with more cracks and penetration points. Our Home Shield Exclusion service can address many of these structural vulnerabilities.

Mature Tree Cover

Westchester’s extensive tree canopy provides significant buried cellulose in the form of root systems, stumps, and decomposing wood. This material sustains termite colonies in the soil between structures and can draw foraging activity into close proximity to your home.

Climate Trends

Research from the USDA Forest Service indicates that warming temperature trends are expanding the range and increasing the activity period of subterranean termites in the Northeast. In Westchester County, termite swarming - the annual reproductive flight that indicates established colonies - now regularly occurs from late March through May, with occasional secondary swarms in fall.

WDI Reports for Real Estate Transactions

If you are buying or selling a home in Westchester County, a Wood Destroying Insect (WDI) inspection is typically required by lenders and is standard practice in most real estate transactions. Pristine Pest provides NPMA-33 compliant WDI inspection reports through our real estate pest inspections service with fast turnaround for closings.

Our WDI inspections cover all four categories of wood destroying insects - subterranean termites, carpenter ants, carpenter bees, and powder post beetles - and include documentation of active infestations, previous damage, and conducive conditions. Digital reports are provided to agents and lenders within 24-48 hours of inspection.

Protecting Your Investment

Your home is likely your largest financial investment. Termite damage is progressive, cumulative, and entirely preventable with proper monitoring and treatment. The Sentricon System provides continuous, colony-targeting protection that works around the clock - without the disruption, chemical volume, or maintenance limitations of traditional liquid treatments.

Contact Pristine Pest today to schedule a termite inspection for your Westchester County home. Whether you need immediate treatment for an active infestation or proactive protection for a termite-free property, our Sentricon Certified Specialists will develop the right strategy for your situation.