Phones answered 24/7Gaithersburg, MD 20877(855) 974-4733
Free quote (855) 974-4733
Serving Montgomery County

Termite and Wood-Destroying Insect Inspection in Gaithersburg

A written wood-destroying insect inspection for Gaithersburg sales, refinances and peace of mind, reported on Maryland's standard form.

Call (855) 974-4733Free estimate
  • Phones answered 24/7
  • Same-day visits when a technician is free
  • Price confirmed before work starts
  • Townhouses, apartments & lab campuses

Get a fast quote

Fastest: call (855) 974-4733. Or send this and we call you back.

By sending this form you agree that Gaithersburg Pest Control may call or text you at the number provided about this request. Consent is not a condition of purchase. Message and data rates may apply. See our Privacy Policy.

Termite Inspection

Termite and Wood-Destroying Insect Inspection: what it covers

Quick answer

A wood-destroying insect inspection is a visual examination of the accessible parts of a building for evidence of termites and other wood-destroying insects, written up as a report. In Maryland the findings are reported on state Form MD-1. Lenders and contracts often ask for one, and Gaithersburg Pest Control arranges inspections across Montgomery County.

Termite and Wood-Destroying Insect Inspection illustration for Gaithersburg, MD, with the river in the background

Most people book this because a lender, a contract or a settlement agent asked for it. Whether Maryland law requires an inspection at the point of sale was not established from an official source, so this page does not claim it does. What is true is that lenders and contracts often ask for one, and that the report has to be in writing on the state form.

The report is about evidence, not about certainty. An inspector records what was visible on the day in the areas that could be reached: the foundation, the sill area, accessible framing, a crawl space that can be entered, a garage, a basement, attached porches and decks. Finished walls, insulated ceilings, stored contents and soil are not seen through, and a good report says so.

Timing matters more than most buyers expect. If the inspection throws up activity, you want room in the schedule to get a treatment quote and to negotiate before settlement. Booking in the last few days before closing is how people end up accepting whatever is in front of them.

Service area
Gaithersburg & Montgomery County
Availability
Phones answered 24/7

Is a termite inspection required to sell a house in Maryland?

Whether state law requires one at the point of sale was not confirmed from an official source, so this page will not say it does. What is reliable: lenders and contracts often ask for one, and wood-destroying insect inspection findings are reported in writing on state Form MD-1.

That distinction matters because people are often told the state mandates it. Treat the requirement as coming from your lender and your contract, and read what each of those actually asks for, including the age the report has to be and who it has to be addressed to.

If you want to check the credentials of whoever is going to inspect, you can. The Maryland Department of Agriculture's Pesticide Regulation Section runs public search tools for pesticide businesses and certified applicators, and it takes complaints. Looking a name up before you let someone inspect takes a couple of minutes.

What does the inspector actually look at?

Accessible areas only: the foundation and the soil line, the sill area, basement walls, a crawl space that can be safely entered, the garage, accessible framing, window and door frames, and attached porches, steps and decks. Evidence and conducive conditions are both recorded, and inaccessible areas are listed.

It is a visual inspection. Nobody opens walls, lifts floors or moves heavy contents, and nothing is seen through insulation, finished ceilings, stored possessions or soil. A basement finished off with drywall will hide exactly the sill and rim joist an inspector most wants to see, which is worth knowing before you read a clean report as a guarantee.

Conducive conditions are the half of the report people skip. Earth above the siding line, a deck ledger bolted to the wall at grade, firewood stacked against the house, a downspout discharging at the footing and a crawl space with standing water are all recorded. Fixing them is cheaper than treating what they invite.

What happens if the inspection finds termites?

The report describes the evidence and where it was found, and the next step is a treatment quote. Who pays is a matter for the sales contract and the negotiation, not for the inspector. Nothing on a report forces a sale to fall through; it gives both sides a written basis to agree on.

Ask for the evidence to be distinguished from the damage. Live activity, old inactive galleries and existing structural damage are three different findings with three different costs, and they often get blurred into a single alarming sentence.

Treatment is a separate job from the report, covered on the termite control page. If repairs are needed as well, get those described and priced on their own, because control and carpentry are not the same trade.

Why does crawl space and basement access matter so much here?

Because that is where the soil meets the wood. Subterranean termites reach a building from the ground, so the sill area, the rim joist and the foundation wall are the places evidence shows up first. An inspection that could not reach them is a far weaker report, whatever its conclusion.

Montgomery County houses are a mix of slab, crawl space and full basement construction, often within one street. On a slab house the critical joint is under the finished floor and the inspector works from the perimeter and the garage edge inward. On a crawl space house the whole picture is available, if the hatch opens and the space is safe to enter.

If a report lists the crawl space as inaccessible, that is not a formality to skim over. Ask what it would take to get in, and whether a return visit is worth arranging before you rely on the report.

How long is the report good for?

It describes one day. Lenders and contracts usually set their own age limit, commonly measured in weeks or a few months, and that limit is the one that matters to your settlement. A report from last year tells you about last year, which is why buyers ask for a current one.

If the gap between inspection and settlement stretches out, especially through spring, ask whether a re-inspection is wanted. Spring is when swarmers appear here, so a report written in February and a report written in May can genuinely differ.

Keep your copy. It is the baseline for everything that follows: future inspections, a treatment history and any discussion with a buyer years from now.

Warning signs

Signs you need termite and wood-destroying insect inspection

If you are inspecting anything yourself before a viewing, stay out of a crawl space you do not know. Low clearance, old wiring, standing water, broken glass and unstable ductwork are the normal hazards, and nobody should enter one alone. Do not stand on a floor that feels soft or on a deck whose posts are damaged at ground level. Leave dirt tubes, shed wings and damaged wood untouched so the inspector sees what you saw, and call (855) 974-4733 to arrange the visit.

  • A lender, settlement agent or sales contract asking for a wood-destroying insect report
  • A property that has been vacant or tenanted for a long stretch
  • Earth or mulch built up above the bottom of the siding
  • A crawl space hatch that has clearly not been opened in years
  • A deck, porch or stoop fixed directly to the siding at ground level
  • Dirt tubes, shed wings or hollow-sounding trim noticed during a viewing
  • No record of any previous treatment or inspection on an older house
  • An addition or finished basement with no paperwork behind it
Our process

How our termite and wood-destroying insect inspection visit works

  1. Book around the closing date

    You give the address, the property type and the date the report is needed. Older houses, large properties and anywhere with a crawl space take longer, so the booking is made with that in mind.

  2. Arrange access first

    The inspection covers accessible areas only, so access decides how much the report can say. Crawl space hatches, garage walls, utility rooms, closets against exterior walls and the area behind stored boxes all need to be reachable. An occupied house needs the occupier's cooperation.

  3. Inspect the exterior and the soil line

    The inspector works the foundation, siding base, porch and deck connections, grade level, downspouts, planting beds, woodpiles, stumps and fences. Conducive conditions are recorded even where no insects are found, because they are what the next owner has to fix.

  4. Inspect the interior and any crawl space

    Basement walls and sills, the garage, accessible framing, window and door frames, baseboards and plumbing penetrations. Where a crawl space can be entered safely it is entered; where it cannot, the report states that and why.

  5. Report in writing on the state form

    Findings go on Maryland's Form MD-1: what evidence was found, where, what areas were inaccessible, and what conditions favour wood-destroying insects. You get the report, and so does whoever required it.

  6. Decide what follows

    If activity is found, the next step is a treatment quote and a conversation about who pays, which is a negotiation between buyer and seller rather than something the inspector decides.

Options

Types and options for termite and wood-destroying insect inspection

Sale or refinance inspection

The common one. It exists because a third party asked for it, and it has to be on the state form, dated and legible, with the inaccessible areas listed. Get it early enough to act on, not the day before settlement.

Owner's inspection

No transaction involved, just a check on a house you already own, usually after a swarm, a visible dirt tube, or years with no inspection. The value is that it covers conducive conditions, so you get a maintenance list as well as a verdict.

Re-inspection after treatment

A follow-up look at an area that was previously active, to see whether the evidence is old or current. It is also what a cautious buyer asks for when a seller presents a treatment receipt but no recent report.

Still stuck? We pick up 24/7.

If it's an emergency, call now. For non-urgent termite and wood-destroying insect inspection, send the form and we'll call you back.

Call (855) 974-4733Get a quote
Montgomery County

Why termite and wood-destroying insect inspection is different in Washington DC metro

The Montgomery County market puts every construction type on the inspector's list. Gaithersburg alone had 27,182 housing units at the 2020 census, and Rockville 27,953 across 67,117 people. Those range from older frame houses through 1960s and 1970s subdivisions and the planned townhouse clusters of Montgomery Village to the New Urbanist blocks of Kentlands and Lakelands, where garages, alleys and close-set walls change what is reachable.

At the rural end the issue is outbuildings and ground contact rather than density. North Potomac had 23,790 people across 8,276 housing units, and the smallest communities, such as Barnesville with 68 residential units, sit on private wells and septic according to planning documents. Larger lots mean sheds, decks, fences and woodpiles, all of which bring wood to soil and all of which belong in the conducive-conditions section.

One jurisdictional note for anyone buying at the edge of the service area: Ijamsville is in Frederick County, not Montgomery County, so county-level rules and county offices referred to elsewhere on this site do not apply there. The state form and the state regulator are the same either way.

Related

Termite Control

Treatment and monitoring for subterranean termites in Gaithersburg houses, townhouses and additions across Montgomery County.

General Pest Control

Inspection-led treatment for household pests in Gaithersburg homes and rentals, with the plan explained before any work starts.

Carpenter Ant Control

Nest location, treatment and moisture repair for carpenter ants in Gaithersburg trim, sills, porches and decks.

Where we work

Termite and Wood-Destroying Insect Inspection across Montgomery County

Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.

Guides

Read before you book

What Moves a Pest Control Quote in Gaithersburg, Maryland

No sourced dollar range exists for pest control in Gaithersburg, so this guide explains what moves a quote instead: the pest, the type of home, how far the problem has spread, how hard the spots are to reach, and how many visits the job needs.

FAQ

Termite and Wood-Destroying Insect Inspection FAQs

What is Form MD-1?

It is the state form on which licensees report wood-destroying insect inspection findings in writing in Maryland. If you are given a verbal all-clear or a note on a letterhead instead, ask for the proper form, because that is what a lender or settlement agent expects to see.

Does the inspection cover carpenter ants and carpenter bees too?

A wood-destroying insect inspection looks for evidence of wood-destroying insects generally, not termites alone. Carpenter ants and carpenter bees have their own pages here, and damage from either would be described in the report.

Can I be present during the inspection?

Yes, and it is the best hour you will spend on the property. You see which areas could not be reached and why, and you can ask about each condition while the inspector is standing in front of it.

How far in advance should I book?

Early enough to act on the result before settlement. If the report finds activity you will want a treatment quote and time to negotiate, and that is not a same-week exercise in spring.

Will a clean report guarantee there are no termites?

No, and no honest report says so. It records what was visible in the accessible areas on the day. That is why the list of inaccessible areas is as important as the findings.

The seller has a treatment receipt. Is that enough?

It shows work was done; it does not show the current state of the building. A receipt plus a current report on the state form is the pair you want, and a re-inspection is the usual way to get the second half.

WhatsApp