Pull mulch and wood off the foundation line
Annual · typically March–April
Why it matters
Mulch is great for plants and terrible pressed against a house: it holds moisture against the foundation and it IS food, piled where the diners live.
Your area's termite pressure is moderate — real enough to respect, not enough to panic over. Keeping wood and mulch off the foundation covers most of your actual risk.
What skipping it costs
$3,000–$20,000
Subterranean termites do their work hidden and slow — the average repair bill runs $3,000, and structural cases clear $20,000. Homeowner's insurance almost never covers it, because insurers classify termite damage as preventable. The prevention in question is largely this: not stacking cellulose against your foundation like a buffet line.
Two ways to get it done
Do it yourself
You'll need: Garden rake, Gloves, Flashlight, Optional: pea gravel or river rock for the first 6–12 inches at the foundation (~$5–8/bag).
- Walk the foundation line and rake mulch back so there's a visible 6-inch band of bare soil or gravel between any mulch and the siding/foundation. You should be able to SEE the top of your foundation all the way around.
- Keep mulch depth under 3 inches everywhere near the house — deep mulch stays wet at the bottom, which is the invitation.
- Relocate any firewood stack to at least 20 feet from the house, off the ground. Firewood against the wall is the classic entry story.
- Clear buried wood: old stumps, form boards left from construction, landscape timbers touching the foundation.
- While the foundation is exposed, scan it with a flashlight for mud tubes — pencil-width dirt trails running vertically up the masonry. Find one? Don't knock it down; leave it for the inspector to confirm active or dead.
- Consider swapping the first foot of mulch for pea gravel at the foundation — looks sharp, drains fast, feeds no one.
Hire it out
$100–$300National fair range — local labor moves this number.
An annual termite inspection runs $100–$300, often bundled into a protection contract that covers retreatment. In real-pressure areas that contract is honest value — it's the repair-damage rider you're actually buying; read whether yours includes it.
The upsell pattern to know: inspection companies finding "conducive conditions" (true of nearly every house) and quoting full treatment at four figures. Conducive conditions mean fix the conditions — this task — not treat the soil. Treatment money is for evidence: live termites, active tubes, damaged wood you've been shown with your own eyes.
Ask the tech
- Are you finding mud tubes, or conditions that invite them? Show me the difference.
- What's your treatment approach if you find activity — bait stations or liquid barrier, and why?
- What does the annual contract actually cover — retreatment, repair damage, or just inspection?
Red flags you're being upsold
- A full liquid treatment quote (routinely $800–$1,500) with no visible evidence shown to you — no tubes, no damaged wood, no live insects.
- 'Preventive' treatment pressure at the price of remedial treatment. Prevention is bait stations or fixing conducive conditions, and it costs a fraction.
- A tech who won't show you what they found where you can see it too.
Second opinion time: Any treatment quote over $1,000 — termite work has some of the widest quote spreads in the trades, and second opinions routinely come in 40% lower.
The call
DIY this — it's an hour with a rake. If your area has real pressure, the annual inspection contract (~$100–300/yr with retreatment coverage) is one of the few service subscriptions I tell people to actually buy.