Soil-contact termites need a different plan from the drywood kind: find the colony's route into the structure, then treat the soil and wood.
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Subterranean termite control in Los Angeles means finding where termites travel from the soil into your framing, then cutting that route with a liquid soil barrier, bait or both. UC IPM calls them California's most important termite pest. Los Angeles Pest Control serves Los Angeles County; a technician confirms the price on site before work starts.
Subterranean termites live in the ground and reach your house through soil contact. That is the opposite of the drywood termites that sit inside attic framing and fascia, and it changes everything about the job: where the technician looks, which products go where, and what a follow-up visit should confirm. UC IPM ranks them as California's most important termite pest, ahead of the western drywood termite.
Los Angeles houses meet the ground in many different ways. A 1920s bungalow may sit on a raised foundation with a crawl space, a hillside house in Silver Lake or Echo Park may have a foundation that steps down a steep slope, and a newer house may sit on a concrete slab. Each one gives soil-dwelling termites a different way in, and a technician has to read the whole structure, not just walk the perimeter with a sprayer.
If you are not sure which kind of termite you have, start with a termite inspection. If the evidence turns out to be pellets and kickout holes in dry attic wood instead of mud tubes at the foundation, the plan changes to drywood termite control or termite fumigation, and a technician will say so.
Subterranean termites need contact with soil, so they enter where wood meets the ground or where they can build mud tubes over a foundation to reach the framing above. Cracks in slabs, wood steps, porch posts, planter boxes and fence boards touching the house are all common routes, and the damage can stay hidden inside the wood.
The colony stays in the ground, where it finds moisture, and sends workers out along tunnels to feed on wood. Mud tubes are the termites' protected highway: they keep moist air around the workers while they cross bare concrete or stucco. A technician looks for the tubes first because they show both where the termites are coming from and which wood is being fed on.
In older neighbourhoods the foundation itself can be a factor. Lower Arroyo Seco in South Pasadena, for example, has 78 contributing homes, some of them on cobblestone foundations, and the Craftsman bungalows of Bungalow Heaven in Pasadena are a reminder that Southern California has a lot of homes built in the early 1900s. Those houses have decades of repairs, added porches and changed grades around them, each of which can change where wood and soil meet.
Subterranean termites nest in the soil and need ground contact and moisture, leaving mud tubes. Drywood termites live entirely inside dry above-ground wood such as attic framing, rafters and fascia, and leave hexagonal fecal pellets. The two need different treatment, so identification comes first.
The distinction matters because the fix is different. Soil treatment or bait is aimed at the colony in the ground; drywood termites never touch the soil, so a barrier around the foundation does nothing to them. Whole-structure fumigation is a separate state licence branch and is an option for widespread drywood problems, not for a soil colony.
Our guide to drywood versus subterranean termites in Los Angeles compares the signs side by side. Some houses have both, which is why a technician inspects the attic as well as the foundation.
According to UC IPM, western subterranean termites typically swarm on calm, sunny days right after the first autumn rains, and may also swarm in spring, especially in Southern California. Winged termites indoors, or piles of shed wings on a sill, are a reason to book an inspection.
A swarm is the colony's reproductive stage: winged males and females leave to start new colonies. Seeing swarmers does not by itself tell you how much damage exists, but it does tell you a colony is close, sometimes inside the walls or under the floor.
Do not rely on a single swarm to date an infestation. If you collect a few of the insects in a jar or tape them to a card, a technician can confirm whether they are subterranean or drywood termites, which is far better than guessing. The Los Angeles pest calendar shows how the seasons line up with swarms and other pest activity.
In California, wood-destroying pest and organism inspection reports are governed by the Structural Pest Control Act and are used in home sales. A report that finds subterranean termites typically recommends treatment, and the registered company must file the property address with the Board within 10 business days.
Business and Professions Code section 8516(b) requires a registered company to report the address of each property inspected, or on which work is completed, within 10 business days of the start of the inspection or the finish of the work. Copies of reports filed with the Board over the preceding two years can be obtained, so a buyer or owner can ask for the history.
Termite treatment is Branch 3 work under the Structural Pest Control Board, and a company must also register with the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner before working in the county. You can ask the company for its licence number before work starts.
Leave the evidence alone, photograph any mud tubes or damaged wood, keep a few swarmers or shed wings in a sealed container, and note where moisture collects. Then fix obvious water sources such as a dripping hose bib, but do not scrape tubes away or spray anything on the soil.
Write down where and when you saw activity. A date and location for a swarm, a sagging baseboard or a stuck door gives the technician a starting point, and photographs of the foundation and crawl space hatch help too.
If you are buying or selling, tell the technician so the findings can be written up the way an agent or escrow officer expects. Our termite inspection page explains what a report records.
Do not disturb mud tubes, open walls or pour pesticide on the soil yourself. Disturbing the colony can send termites deeper into the structure or into other rooms, and store-bought products rarely reach the colony.
A technician checks the foundation perimeter, sub-area or crawl space, slab edges, porch and step connections, and any wood that touches soil. Mud tubes, damaged wood and moisture are marked on a simple diagram.
The findings decide between a liquid soil barrier, bait stations, spot treatment of wood, or a combination. You get the scope and the price before any product is applied.
For a liquid barrier, the technician treats the soil along the foundation and, where slabs or hardscape block access, drills and treats through the concrete. Active mud tubes are broken so you can watch for new ones.
Termites depend on moisture and on wood that touches the ground. The technician points out leaking hose bibs, irrigation spray on the wall, planter boxes against stucco and stored wood in the sub-area, and tells you what to change.
You are told what to watch for and when to call back. The licensed company files the required property report with the Structural Pest Control Board, and you can ask for a copy of the work completed.
A liquid termiticide goes into the soil around and under the structure so termites crossing it are stopped or killed. It suits houses with accessible soil along the foundation, but slabs, patios and walkways that touch the walls mean drilling and patching concrete. Published prices run per linear foot, so the length of the foundation matters.
Stations placed around the house hold a slow-acting bait that foraging termites carry back to the colony. Baits can suit properties where soil treatment is hard, such as hardscape on every side, but they work over weeks and need repeat monitoring visits.
Where a small, well-defined area of damage is found, a technician may treat that wood and the soil beside it instead of the whole perimeter. It costs less but leaves other parts of the foundation unprotected, so it is usually paired with a plan for monitoring.
Published prices for termite work vary a lot because the scope varies: the length of the foundation, how much of it is slab or hardscape, and whether the problem is one corner or the whole perimeter. The figures below are estimates from named cost publications, not quotes.
| Job | Typical range | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Termite control, Los Angeles | $785–$1,777, average $1,270 | HomeAdvisor estimate for Los Angeles; scope varies by house |
| Liquid termite barrier | $4–$14.50 per linear foot | Fixr national estimate; drilling through concrete raises the effort |
| Termite inspection | $75–$325, average $100 | HomeAdvisor national estimate; many companies inspect free |
These are published estimates, and the national rows are not Los Angeles prices. Your exact price for Los Angeles County in 2026 is confirmed on site before any work starts.
Tell us what's happening and we'll tell you honestly whether it's a quick fix, and what subterranean termite control should cost.
Los Angeles has a long dry season, and July and August each average under 0.05 inch of rain at the downtown climate station. Termites that live in soil follow moisture, so what feeds them is often not rain but irrigation, a leaking hose bib, a sprinkler that hits the stucco or a planter beside the wall. Fixing the water often matters as much as the treatment.
Hillsides change the picture. Silver Lake and Echo Park are dense hillside neighbourhoods with steep slopes and narrow streets, and a technician working a sloped lot has to plan how to reach the soil on the downhill side of the foundation. Access, not just the length of the foundation, shapes both the method and the price.
Older historic districts such as Highland Park-Garvanza, which holds about 2,500 structures, and Hancock Park, a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone, govern exterior changes. If a repair or a drill-and-treat plan touches exterior surfaces, ask about the overlay rules before work begins.
Pasadena, South Pasadena and Highland Park have some of the city's oldest housing, and the South Pasadena and Highland Park pages cover the neighbourhood detail. In older houses, additions and patched foundations mean the termite route can sit behind a newer porch or under a previous owner's repair.
Inspections and wood-destroying pest reports for Los Angeles home sales, and checks of attics, trim and foundations for termite evidence.
Inspection and treatment for drywood termites living in dry attic framing, fascia, rafters and exposed trim.
Whole-structure tent fumigation for widespread drywood termite infestations, a separately licensed branch of California pest work.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Drywood termites live inside dry, above-ground wood such as attics, rafters and fascia, and need no soil contact.
Mud tubes on a foundation, pier or crawl-space wall point to subterranean termites. Small hexagonal pellets near tiny holes in attic wood or trim point to drywood termites. A technician can confirm from the evidence, and some houses have both.
Often yes, but access is harder. A technician may drill small holes through the slab or patio edge to reach the soil beneath, then patch them. Bait stations are another option when drilling is impractical. The inspection decides which makes sense.
A perimeter treatment of an average house can often be done in a single visit, but a slab, a long foundation or a hillside lot may take longer. Bait programs run over weeks with monitoring visits. The technician will give the expected scope before starting.
Some soil treatments do not require it, while others, such as work in a crawl space, may ask you to stay clear of certain areas. Ask the technician what the product label requires, and tell them about children, pets and anyone with health concerns.
No. Treatment stops the activity but does not replace chewed wood. If a report finds structural damage, a licensed contractor repairs it. A technician can mark the damaged areas and suggest what a contractor should look at.
Yes, but California home sales commonly involve a wood-destroying pest inspection report, and its findings are negotiated between buyer and seller. Ask for the report, any prior treatment records and the treatment company's licence details.
Usually because moisture or soil-contact wood was left in place, a gap in the barrier was missed, or a neighbouring colony found a new route. Tell the technician about any new tubes or swarmers and ask what the follow-up visit covers.