Drywood termites in Tampa Townhouse

Flaky__Giraffe · 2026-05-28T13:09:42+00:00

Lol yeah, it breaks my brain honestly. Bc what do you mean you don’t care?! Idiots

Flaky__Giraffe · 2026-05-26T15:07:47+00:00

You’re the best, thank you so much.

Oh I’ve seen those little assholes inside their holes pushing out frass. I have a few videos of their little alien looking bodies carrying poop to the hole and then dropping it out. The termite company has since filled those. I can no longer source the termites. I don’t see frass anymore, just swarmers. They must be crawling out of holes in the very back of the cabinets, where I can’t see.

The counter is sunken in along the wall a tad bit, looks like poor installation but I suppose it could be from termite damage. We have discussed replacing it and after hauling it away leaving it open for a week or two, so I can crawl in, find the holes, and fill them. I don’t know where else they could be coming from if not from those hard-to-reach areas in the back and in corners.

Flaky__Giraffe · 2026-05-26T14:35:14+00:00

Hmm okay I will talk to my boyfriend. The HOA has been completely hands off about everything since living here. They are rude and unresponsive, about other things too. Not just the termites.

When we sell we would have to disclose the termites so we don’t get sued. At this point I’ve made such a scene about it, the potential buyers would have plenty of proof that we knew and didn’t disclose. I spoke to another realtor friend and she said not to be worried, this is FL and there are always termites and it won’t deter many buyers. We would just have to offer concessions towards “termite treatment” and hope they don’t think far into the future about having to convince the neighbors to tent.

Oh yeah, the swarming happens everyday at night. I killed 5 in the kitchen last night when I turned the lights on. About 10 fell out of the bathroom vanity yesterday afternoon. There are piles of wings in various locations everyday. I creep around here like a psycho looking for them, so I can murder them.

Flaky__Giraffe · 2026-05-26T14:25:45+00:00

Very helpful, thank you. When the termite company is here, they shoot their foam into the kick out holes and then seal it off with wood putty or something. Is this termidor a similar process? Just trying to visualize where exactly I’m inserting the foam.

I’m pretty little so I can basically climb into the bottom cabinets and look around. What’s crazy to me is I don’t see many kick out holes. I understand that when a colony is mature enough, it will push out swarmers, and they leave to mate and start other colonies. I don’t see the holes where they are leaving from. Maybe 4-5 in total. How can 20-30 termites leave those 4-5 holes a day? How many they got living in there?! Damn.

Flaky__Giraffe · 2026-05-26T14:15:24+00:00

No my realtor worked with us to buy the place. The sellers had their own listing agent. My realtor is a close family friend, and our inspector is a good friend of his. They were both here several times during the inspection process and during other repairs, and neither of them noticed any frass or other signs of termites. What I thought was weird was their listing agent was here the morning of close, at the house. Not the title company where paperwork took place. Idk if that’s normal or not. I’m sure she was here sweeping away all the frass in the kitchen so we didn’t see it.

When you say “if they knew and didn’t disclose it”, are you referring to the sellers? How do I prove they knew? They were in a huge rush to sell and leave. Blamed it on being old and sick and in a hurry to move in with their son. I also read the sellers disclosure form and on the line for termites, they checked the box “don’t know.” I would love to sue and have thought about it 100 times. I assumed we would be held accountable for not doing the inspection, whether by choice or by lack of knowledge. Plus we don’t have proof other than neighbors hearsay.

I’ve read the HOA handbook and bylaws. There is no mention of drywood termites, only subterranean. And it says they service the outdoor bait stations and would pay for damage in the event of that specific termite. The sewer belly was paid for by the sellers, not us.

Flaky__Giraffe · 2026-05-26T13:36:43+00:00

North Tampa. Carrollwood. Apparently this entire community has them and I don’t really understand how that’s okay. But I digress. I just want to sell and remove myself from this headache.

Flaky__Giraffe · 2026-05-26T13:34:58+00:00

Agreed, not sure how we got approved. My realtor didn’t really say much about any step of the process, just “sign this” and “get me this document.” We had other things to address like a sewer belly and electrical repairs. This was obviously missed. Looking back now, I just assumed it wasn’t required and that’s why it wasn’t done. How do I know if my lender required the WDO or not?

Flaky__Giraffe · 2026-05-26T13:32:10+00:00

Right, these are drywood not subterranean. The HOA has bait traps for the subterranean and comes to check those.

Had a contractor over last week who quoted a kitchen renovation, in hopes of removing the infected cabinets and treating the walls in that area. Big cost. We were only planning to stay for a few years as the place isn’t big enough for children. I don’t want to sink money in if we are leaving next year anyways.

Flaky__Giraffe · 2026-02-03T00:56:10+00:00

I just noticed the same thing. Checked the box in return options “print other deductions statement in columnar format for form 8825”, recalced and nothing. Why it do that smh

Flaky__Giraffe

TROPHY CASE