Termite Treatment Cost Calculator

For the usual 2,000 sq ft home with about 200 linear ft of foundation, a professional liquid barrier computes to $2,262–$3,818 here, including minor wood repair and the first renewal year. Severity is the swing factor: the treatment-only price on the same house runs from about $1,809 for a preventive ring to $2,873 for a severe, established colony. Nationally, companies quote liquid work at $3–$16 per linear foot and $1,000–$3,200 whole-home; small spot treatments can run a few hundred dollars.

On this 200-lf reference home they price within a couple hundred dollars of each other (liquid $2,828 vs bait $2,600 typical). Liquids kill fastest — termites contact the treated soil within days — while bait takes 1–6 months to collapse the colony but puts far less chemical in the ground and stays monitored. Conducive conditions (heavy irrigation, slab cracks, decks) tip the choice toward liquid; wells, gardens and sensitive sites tip it toward bait.

For drywood termites living inside the framing — common in California, the Gulf Coast and Hawaii — fumigation is the only whole-structure method, because tenting gas reaches wood no drill or trench can. At $1–$4 per sq ft of living area, this model puts a 2,000 sq ft tent at $3,360–$5,670 including minor repairs. If your infestation is subterranean (mud tubes, soil contact), fumigation is the wrong tool entirely — you need the soil treated.

Usually, if you own the home long-term. The renewal keeps the re-treatment warranty alive: if termites return, the company re-treats at no charge, and many companies require an active bond to issue the clearance letter a lender demands at resale. Renewals typically run $200–$400 a year (bait monitoring $250–$350); letting one lapse and restarting later often costs a re-inspection fee or a fresh treatment contract.

No. Standard homeowners policies exclude insect damage because it is gradual and preventable — treatment, wood repair and any structural work all come out of pocket. What insurance may cover is a *sudden* secondary event (for example, a beam failure that also ruptures a pipe), and even then the carrier pays the plumbing peril, not the termite damage.

A liquid barrier is one visit of roughly 2–6 hours (drilling, trenching, injecting, backfill) and the house is normal the same day. Bait installation is 1–2 hours, then quarterly or annual checks. Fumigation is the outlier: you, plants and pets stay out about 2–3 days and nights while the crew tents, releases the fumigant, aerates and clears the structure with a detector before re-entry.

Hardware-store termiticides and bait kits run $50–$300, but consumer products are diluted versions of the professional non-repellents, and a partial barrier teaches the colony to forage elsewhere — the most expensive outcome, because the damage continues unseen while you think it's handled. Against this calculator's $2,828 professional default (and the $250/yr renewal that keeps the re-treat warranty alive), the realistic DIY saving on the kill itself is a few hundred dollars at best, while any wood repair bill stays identical either way. DIY is defensible for a preventive ring on a clean crawlspace you can fully access; an active infestation in wall voids, slabs or framing is pro territory.