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Griggs & Browne Co. Inc.

Pest Control

Massachusetts

4.8 · 6400 reviews
4.8 · 6400 reviews
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Kevin R.
Edgartown, MA
Overall I was pleased with the service call, although was somewhat concerned about one aspect. The technician, Ray, was right on time, pleasant, clean appearance. As the call progresses it was clear from him assuring me so that he had years of experience and was very knowledgeable. However, my concern was that we placed the call in response to a recent home inspection which noted a "mud tunnel" and evidence of ants. The home inspection included a photo of the mud tunnel on the outside of the foundation under our back deck. I shared this photo with Ray. Upon being told that it was under the deck, looked at the space and said "I'm not going under there, did the inspector go under there?". He then tried to look at it from another spot, asked for a long pipe, stick, or broom handle to poke at it with. He then went into our crawl space and looked at the ant situation. on return, he told me we had two issues: carpenter ants and termites. He noted that the ants commonly feed on the termites. I asked if there were termites visible, and due to the ants feeding could it be that there are no active termites, and could the ants be using the tube to go outside the house and eat the ants. He said he couldn't tell, but the mud tunnel was evidence that we have/had a problem. He then made a few calls to someone for advice and returned to say he conferred with someone and that he had never seen a mud tunnel as large as this, and stated we definitely have a termite issue.prepare a treatment plan for both ants and termites. In that our home is for sale and is under agreement, I agreed to the plan so as to assure the buyer we are doing everything we can to facilitate the sale.

So here is my concern/question:
Without ever accessing the mud tunnel or inspecting it any closer than from8 feet away, how can we be diagnosed as having a termite infestation/colony? We were asked by the realtors to get a professional pest contol inspection and treatment plan for ANTS. No where in the home inspection did it mention TERMITES. Knowing that your inspector suggests that we have them, in full disclosure I responded to the realtor, yet don't really have a confirmation. I have set up an appointment with your technician for next week to have termite control installed. I just feel, after the fact, that the G&B inspection clearly identified the ant issues (corrected by G&B yesterday, but to a degree guessed about the activity of termites. Again, I feel relatively confident that Ray is probably right, but inn this situation the "Probably" is what is bothering me. I have agreed to remove three or four deck boards for easier access on their visit this Thursday. Hopefully I can get a more definite answer then. I am not wanting termites, but would feel better spending $1000 on a house I am leaving in three weeks if I knew that I needed to. Also, I do not want , and am not complaining about Ray, but just wanting to better understand what is considered a proper diagnosis process.
That's it. Thanks you.
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