The termite swarm calendar for Los Angeles
Los Angeles does not have one termite season, it has several overlapping ones, and the date and time of day you saw insects narrows the field fast. Summer and fall daytime flights point to western drywood termites. UC IPM notes drywood swarmers fly during daytime hours in summer and fall, and these are the flights that end with a few dozen insects on a sunny windowsill. Spring or fall afternoons after a soaking rain point to California Reticulitermes, the western subterranean group. UC IPM ties their swarming specifically to clear afternoons following real rain, which in a city averaging 15 inches a year means a handful of predictable windows. Late summer evenings can also bring desert subterranean termites, which fly in late afternoon or early evening in July, August, and September. Late summer and fall may bring Pacific dampwood termites, whose presence signals wet or decaying wood rather than a soil colony. Write down the month, the time of day, and where the insects were concentrated. Those three details give an inspector a working hypothesis before they open a single access panel.
How California licenses termite work and why it matters
California regulates structural pest control through the Structural Pest Control Board, and the license is divided into branches. Fumigation falls under Branch 1. Branch 3 covers the control of wood destroying pests or organisms using insecticides or structural repairs and corrections. That split has a practical consequence for a homeowner. A company proposing to tent your house needs fumigation credentialing, while a company proposing localized injection, a soil barrier, or repair work operates under the wood destroying organism branch. Some firms hold both and some subcontract one part. Ask directly which branch covers the work being proposed and who will actually perform it. If a fumigation is subcontracted, ask who is responsible if something goes wrong and who signs the completion documentation. UC IPM's note that drywood termite control products are not available to the general public reinforces the point: this is licensed work by design in California, not a category where a homeowner can substitute their own materials. Getting the licensing question answered up front also tends to sort serious companies from casual ones very quickly.
What a Los Angeles termite inspection covers
A proper inspection here goes up as well as down, because drywood infestations live above your head. Expect the inspector to get into the attic if there is access, checking rafters, sheathing, and framing for kick out holes and pellet accumulations. Outside, they look at fascia, rafter tails, eave blocking, window and door frames, patio covers, and any bare or peeling exterior wood, since those are the landing sites. On the subterranean side, they check the foundation perimeter, the stucco weep screed line, the garage where slab meets framing, and any place a planting bed or hardscape sits against the wall. The report should distinguish active infestation from prior damage and from conditions that need correction. Ask for a diagram, and ask which areas were inaccessible: stored belongings in a garage, a finished ceiling with no attic hatch, and a low crawl area all create blind spots. Before they leave, ask them to walk you to one finding. Seeing a pellet pile and its kick out hole once teaches you what to look for on your own afterward.
Condos, duplexes, and shared walls
Attached housing is common across Los Angeles, and it changes termite work from a private decision into a coordinated one. A drywood colony in shared framing does not respect unit boundaries, and tenting a structure means tenting the whole structure, not one unit. That requires agreement, scheduling, and often an association's involvement, which takes considerably longer than the treatment itself. For a homeowners association, termite work in common framing, roof structure, and exterior trim usually falls to the association rather than the individual owner, while interior finishes are typically the owner's side of the line. Read the governing documents rather than assuming, because these divisions vary. For renters, structural pest work is the owner's responsibility. Report pellets or tubes in writing, keep dated photographs, and expect any tenting to require you to vacate and to remove or bag food. If you own a unit and neighbors are reluctant, a localized treatment on your side is sometimes the practical interim step. Ask the inspector plainly whether it addresses the colony or only the part inside your walls.
Getting two quotes that can actually be compared
Because Los Angeles termite proposals can describe very different work, start by lining up scope rather than price. Confirm both companies identified the same species. If one proposes tenting and the other proposes a soil barrier, someone found evidence the other did not, and that has to be resolved before anything else. For a fumigation quote, ask what the price includes: tarping, gas, monitoring, the certificate of clearance, and any required repairs before tenting such as roof or fascia work. Ask how many days you will be out and what you must remove. For localized drywood treatment, ask exactly which members are being treated and what happens if activity appears in an untreated area later. For a subterranean quote, ask for linear feet, drill points, whether the detached garage is included, and how many reinspection years come with the price. University of Florida notes bait systems only keep protecting while the stations are maintained, so a bait proposal needs a service schedule and renewal cost in writing. Then ask both companies which license branch covers the work.