Answer four questions about moisture, wood touching soil, mud tubes and your region. This page will never say you have termites. Mud tubes are a reason to call anyway.
Not a diagnosisand not a ZIP code termite mapMud tubes are evidence. Seeing none is not a clean bill. HyrePest does not inspect houses.
Termite risk rises with constant moisture and wood touching soil, and mud tubes mean it is time to call a licensed inspector. This checklist turns your answers into a risk conversation. It never says you have termites, and “no” to everything is not a clean bill.
If you see tubes: photograph them, do not spray, and book an inspection.
Four questions
Mud tubes mean call an inspector. Nothing is emailed. This will not say you have termites.
Based only on your answers. Not a map lookup, not an inspection, not a treatment. HyrePest does not inspect houses.
How the termite risk checklist works
There is no score that says “you have termites”. Each “yes” adds a sentence, and mud tubes change the verdict.
Mud tubes change the verdict. If you saw tubes, the result says this is not a reason to wait. Otherwise it is a risk conversation.
Other answers add conditions. Moisture and wood touching soil each add a line about what to fix. A “high” region is recorded as your claim, not a map lookup.
All “no” is not a pass. With nothing ticked, the result still says this is not a clean bill. Termites are quiet until they are not.
What it never does. It never says you have termites, never looks up a ZIP code, and never suggests a product. For what treatment involves, see termite control.
Worked examples
Tubes on a foundation wall
Tubes yes, everything else unknown. The verdict: not a species diagnosis, and not a reason to wait. Photograph them, keep people off the area, and book a licensed inspection. Do not treat it yourself.
High-risk region and moisture, no tubes
Still a risk conversation. The result notes your region claim and that constant moisture makes wood easier to eat. That is a reason to dry the crawl space and consider an inspection. It is not proof of termites.
The one where “all clear” misleads
Low region, no moisture, no wood contact, no tubes. It is tempting to read “no termites”. The result says no high-risk answers were ticked, and that is not a clean bill. A buyer or lender needs a wood destroying insect inspection, not this form.
Conditions and evidence are different things
Three of the four questions describe conditions. One describes evidence. That difference is how the tool is built.
A condition describes the building. Moisture, wood touching soil, and your region say how welcoming the house is. They are true whether or not termites have moved in, and fixing them is worth it either way.
Evidence describes an insect. A mud tube is built by something that needed a covered path from soil to wood. That is why tubes turn the result into a phone call.
Why we still will not say you have termites. No tool here names a species, finds an infestation, or clears a building. Identification is an entomologist’s job and your state extension service does it; a report on a structure is a licensed inspector’s job. A dropdown is neither.
Why a “no” matters more. Not seeing tubes means you did not see them where you looked. Termites also reach wood through slab cracks, expansion joints, hollow masonry and buried form boards, where no tube shows.
What to do. A zero is not a reason to relax, and a high count is not a reason to buy. Fix the conditions, then decide whether to book an inspection.
How moisture and wood-to-soil contact invite termites
Both are usually called “attractive to termites”. Here is what each one actually does.
Moisture changes the wood. Dry, sound lumber is a poor meal. Wet lumber is softer, holds the humidity termites need away from soil, and is often already being broken down by fungi.
So the leak is the job. A downspout at the foundation, a crawl space with no vapor barrier, a dripping hose bib, a shower that leaks behind tile. A chemical treatment fixes none of these, and they decide whether treatment holds.
Wood touching soil is a covered highway. Subterranean termites live in soil and must stay in contact with it. Siding into the ground, a deck post in dirt, form boards left on a foundation or firewood against the house give them a route with no tube needed.
It is the easiest item to fix. Cutting the contact is carpentry and grading, done once. If the post carries a load, that is a job for a carpenter or engineer, not a weekend.
EPA’s order. EPA frames prevention as a first line of pest control, describes preventive methods that present little to no risk to people or the environment, and treats chemical control as what follows when preventive measures have proved ineffective.
The prevention examples on that EPA page are agricultural, such as crop rotation and resistant varieties. The hierarchy is EPA’s. Applying it to a house is HyrePest’s reading, and EPA’s consumer guidance below is the stronger source for a home.
The consumer rule. “If you hire any outside persons to help control pests, ask them to find and correct the source of the problem before applying pesticides.” More on integrated pest management.
What each “no” really tests, and what it does not prove
A form that treats every empty box as good news is built to reassure. This table is here so yours does not.
You answered
What it tests
What it does not prove
No mud tubes
Whether tubes were visible where you looked: an exposed foundation, a slab edge, the reachable part of a crawl space.
That no colony has reached the house. Routes through slabs and hollow walls need no tube.
No constant moisture
Whether you know of a damp problem, such as a gutter or a wet crawl space.
That the wood is dry. Moisture behind walls or under a shower shows up late, often as damage.
No wood touching soil
Whether you can see contact at ground level.
That none exists. Soil builds up over the years, and form boards get buried.
A low-risk region
The region you chose. It is your claim, not our map.
That local risk is low. Risk varies between streets with different soil and drainage.
Everything unticked
That the obvious conditions are absent. Good to know.
A clean bill of any kind.
If you have found what looks like a mud tube
Five steps, all free. The hardest is not spraying.
1
Photograph it first
One close-up to show width and texture, and one from farther back to show where it runs.
2
Leave the tube alone
Do not scrape it off. An inspector wants to see the original, and whether it is active.
3
Do not spray it
You would treat an unidentified site, destroy the evidence and fix nothing about the moisture. “It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling.”
4
Look for the water while you wait
Where does the nearest downspout drain? Does the ground slope toward the wall? Is the crawl space damp?
5
Book an inspection, not a treatment
These are two different appointments, and they can come from two different companies. See termite inspection.
The two sentences a termite guaranty must choose between
The most useful wording on this page comes from a state rulebook, not from anyone selling anything.
The rule. Georgia Secretary of State, Rules of the Georgia Structural Pest Control Commission requires that “Every licensee shall issue a written contract to the property owner or owner’s agent covering each job”.
Choice one. “This contract provides for retreatment of a structure but does not provide for the repair of damages caused by wood destroying organisms.”
Choice two. “This contract provides for retreatment of a structure and the repair of damages caused by wood destroying organisms within the limits stated in this contract.”
A guaranty must say one or the other. One pays to treat again. The other also pays to repair damage, within stated limits. They are sold in the same tone and are not the same product. Neither promises you have no termites.
The box. The rule requires whichever statement applies to appear in heavy black borders, so the customer cannot miss it.
Sign before work starts. Georgia requires signing before any treatment, and disclosure of a three-day right to cancel.
Bait systems. “The removal of the bait or baiting system may result in a lack of termite protection.” You are buying a service, not equipment.
Where it applies. This is a Georgia rule, and it binds licensees in Georgia. Other states do not all require this wording, but the distinction is worth asking about anywhere. See termite warranties and bonds.
An inspection report is not a warranty
A home sale often turns on the wood destroying insect report, and it is easy to misread.
What it is. North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says the report is “not a warranty as to the absence of wood-destroying insects; it is a report of the visible presence or absence of wood-destroying insects at the time of the inspection”.
Read the limits. Visible. Present or absent. On the day of the inspection. It records what one person saw, in the parts they could reach.
What it is not. NCDA also states the report is not a “clearance letter”, in that it does not necessarily clear a structure; not a “termite letter”, in that it addresses more than just termites; and not a structural damage report.
The form. Many inspections use NPMA-33, Wood Destroying Insect Inspection Report. Read its “inaccessible areas” section before the conclusion.
Why there is no ZIP code termite map here
A ZIP box would make this page look smarter and make it less honest.
The maps exist. Regional risk bands are real. Folding an old copy into a dropdown and presenting it as your street would fake local knowledge.
Your street varies more than your ZIP. Two houses on one street can differ in soil, drainage, slope, crawl-space venting and what was buried during construction.
Where to get the real answer. Your county extension office knows what is active nearby. A licensed inspector knows what that means for your kind of house.
What to ask about a termite quote or report
Every answer is already on a document the company must carry.
Is this guaranty retreatment only, or retreatment and repair?
Ask to see the sentence in the contract, not a summary of it.
What limits are stated in the contract?
Caps, exclusions for old damage, exclusions for areas that could not be reached. The limits are the product.
Have you told me about my right to cancel?
The contract should come before the work, not after the technician finishes.
If this is a bait system, what happens when the contract ends?
Who owns the stations, are they removed, and how often are they checked?
What does the report say about areas you could not reach?
That section says what was not looked at in your house.
What is your license number, and in which category?
Texas licenses in 7 categories, and termite control is its own. Check it with the license lookup helper.
Do not accept a proposal that ignores the water
A termite quote that names a product and footage but says nothing about gutters, grading or the crawl space has left out what decides whether it works.
What this tool cannot do
Things this checklist cannot see.
It cannot find termites or rule them out
A high count describes conditions you reported. A zero describes conditions you did not report. Neither is an inspection.
It cannot see hidden routes
Slab cracks, expansion joints, hollow masonry and buried form boards need no tube.
It cannot tell old from active
Old and live tubes look alike to most people. An inspector can open and probe them.
It cannot judge structural damage
That is an engineering question. Even a wood destroying insect report is not a structural report.
The company treats again if termites return. It does not repair damage.
Retreatment-and-repair guaranty
The company treats again and repairs damage, up to the limits in the contract.
Wood destroying insect report
A record of visible evidence on one day. Not a warranty or a clearance.
Bait system
Stations in the soil, checked on a schedule. The protection is the service.
Mud tube
A covered path termites build between soil and wood. Evidence, not a species name.
Wood-to-soil contact
Any place where wood meets the ground: siding, posts, form boards, firewood.
Conducive conditions
The trade term for conditions that invite pests. Reports list them under that heading.
Questions this tool answers
How do I know if I have termites?
Not from this page. Mud tubes, wood pellets or dust, shed wings near windows, hollow or blistered wood, and swarmers indoors are reasons to book a licensed inspection. This tool will never say you have termites.
Does a high-risk region mean I have termites?
No. You chose that region, so it is your claim, not our map. Termite pressure varies by region, and even between streets. Ask a local inspector what it is where you live.
I found mud tubes. Is that termites?
Tubes on a foundation, in a crawl space or on a slab edge fit subterranean termite activity. They are not a species ID. Photograph them, do not spray them, and book a licensed inspection.
Why does moisture matter?
Constant moisture makes wood softer and easier for termites to eat. Leaks, poor drainage, a damp crawl space and mulch against siding all add risk. Fixing them does not treat an active colony, but it decides whether treatment holds.
What counts as wood touching soil?
Siding that runs into the ground, form boards left on a foundation, a deck post in dirt, firewood against the house, or a trellis fixed to wood siding. It is a route for termites, not proof of a colony.
Should I get a yearly termite inspection?
In high-risk areas, often yes. An inspection can catch activity before damage spreads, and home sales often require one. Compare a one-time inspection with a recurring contract, including cancellation terms.
Can I look up termite risk by ZIP code?
Not here. We do not publish a ZIP code termite map, because an old national map would only look local. Ask a local inspector and your county extension office.
We answered no to everything. Are we fine?
Not necessarily. No high-risk answers is not a clean bill, because termites can travel through hidden routes. Only an inspection can look for them.
Do flying ants mean termites?
No. They are often confused. Ants have a pinched waist, front wings longer than back wings and bent antennae. Termite swarmers have a straight waist, equal wings and straight, beaded antennae. Save one to show an expert.
Does HyrePest inspect for termites?
No. We do not inspect, treat or bond houses, and matching is not live yet. Book an inspection with a licensed company.
Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 620-6-.02 (Contracts) (Georgia Secretary of State, Rules of the Georgia Structural Pest Control Commission, retrieved September 5, 2026). The two guaranty statements, the signing rule and the bait-system notice. Binds Georgia licensees.
Homeowner’s Guide to the Wood Destroying Insect Report (North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, retrieved September 5, 2026). A wood destroying insect report is not a warranty or a clearance letter.