Termite Spot Treatment vs. Tenting: Do You Really Need Fumigation?

Spot (localized) treatment injects termiticide foam directly into the drywood galleries through small drill holes: a few hours, you stay home, and residual protection stays in the wood, but it only treats what it reaches. Tenting (whole-structure fumigation) tarps and gasses the entire house, then aerates and clears it: usually two to three nights out, food and medicine bagged, and no residual protection afterward. Both treat drywood termites only; the inspection's finding on how far the activity has spread is what decides between them.

Often, yes. When drywood activity is limited to areas an inspection can pinpoint and a drill can reach, a localized treatment handles it in one visit with a two-year written warranty, extendable year by year. When the activity is genuinely widespread or hidden beyond reach, fumigation is the honest answer. Subterranean termites are a different case: they are treated in the soil with bait stations and entry-point treatment, not by either method.

No. The California Structural Pest Control Board says fumigation is not always required for drywood termites: if only a small area is infested, local applications may be used, though they will not eradicate hidden infestations elsewhere in the building. Subterranean termites are treated with in-ground bait stations, no tent at all. An honest inspection determines which you need.

When drywood activity is widespread or hidden throughout the structure in spots a localized treatment can't reliably reach. The gas permeates the entire structure, which is why the SPCB describes fumigation as eradicating both visible infestations and termites that are otherwise inaccessible. For a heavily infested home it's the most thorough option, but it shouldn't be the automatic first recommendation.

Not across the board. Research done for the California Structural Pest Control Board concluded that local treatments work best on exposed, accessible boards, work less well when infestations are concealed or inaccessible, and are not equivalent to whole-structure treatments. UC IPM adds that when the colony is correctly located and the treatment reaches the termites directly, control is high. So for a contained drywood problem an inspection can reach, a localized treatment is often the right call; when activity is widespread or hidden, fumigation earns its place.

A trustworthy operator inspects first, identifies the species and extent, and recommends the least invasive option that will actually solve it — and can clearly explain why. If you're quoted whole-structure fumigation without a thorough inspection, get a second opinion.

Often, yes. When drywood termite activity is limited to areas an inspection can pinpoint and a drill can reach, a localized treatment handles it in one visit with a two-year written warranty — no tent, no moving out. When activity is genuinely widespread or hidden beyond reach, fumigation is the honest answer, and a spot treatment sold in its place is a disservice. Subterranean termites are a different case entirely: no tent touches a soil colony, so they're treated in the ground with bait stations and targeted spot treatments.

No. The Structural Pest Control Board says subterranean termites require separate treatments, and UC IPM explains why: their reproductives and most of the colony live in nests near or below ground, out of reach of fumigation. A tent leaves the soil colony untouched, so subterranean termites get in-ground bait stations and targeted spot treatment instead.

Possibly, for a short time. The Structural Pest Control Board says drywood termites can remain alive as long as a week after a lethal dose of fumigant, and pellets left in old galleries can keep falling out afterward, which does not necessarily mean the fumigation failed. Because fumigants have no residual effect, new activity later on can come from a fresh swarm, so call us if new pellets show up after you have cleaned up the old ones.