New Construction Termite Pretreatment FAQ, Orlando and Central Florida

The questions Central Florida builders and owner-builders ask us most often about pre-construction termite treatment. If yours is not here, call 407-580-7124.

Is a termite pretreatment legally required on a new home in Florida?

Yes. The Florida Building Code requires new structures to be protected against subterranean termites, and the treatment certificate has to be provided before the work is signed off. Your building inspector will look for it, and so will the buyer’s closing package.

Which pretreatment methods are approved around Orlando?

Soil treatment is the most common: an EPA- and Florida Department of Agriculture-approved termiticide applied to the soil beneath and around the slab before the pour. Where a soil treatment is not practical, Bora-Care wood treatment and termite baiting and monitoring systems are approved alternatives. On some jobs the right answer is a combination.

When does the soil treatment have to happen?

After the foundation is graded and while the soil under the future slab is still exposed, and immediately before the concrete goes down. Code sets the application rate at roughly one gallon of termiticide per ten square feet of open soil, with a heavier four gallons per ten linear feet, per foot of depth, along walls, piers, pipe penetrations and slab expansion joints.

What happens if the soil is disturbed after treatment?

That area has to be treated again. On a live job site soil almost always gets moved after the pretreat, and a barrier with a gap in it is not a barrier. We come back and re-treat rather than sign a certificate for something we know is compromised.

If Bora-Care is used instead, when does it go on?

At the dried-in stage, sprayed directly onto exposed wood, concrete and foundation penetrations in a single application. The borate penetrates the wood itself, so termites will not feed on or tunnel across treated lumber. It also protects against drywood termites and wood-decay fungi, which a soil barrier does nothing about, and it does not wash out of the soil with grading or rain.

When does a baiting system go in on a new build?

After landscaping is complete, with in-ground stations spaced around the exterior perimeter of the structure.

Does the pretreatment come with a warranty?

Yes. Florida law requires the company performing the pretreatment to include a one-year retreatment warranty running from the treatment date, and that warranty can be renewed annually after that. Renewal is worth keeping current: it is what pays for the yearly re-inspection, and in a climate where termites forage twelve months a year, the re-inspection is the part that actually protects the structure.

When should I schedule it, and who handles it?

Schedule once the plumbing inspection is finished and the slab has been graded, because it has to happen before the pour. Envirosafe Pest Control of Orlando handles pre-construction termite protection across Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties. Call 407-580-7124 and we will get you on the schedule and walk through which method fits the job.

More detail on both methods is on our soil pretreatment page.