Termite Inspection and Treatment in Memphis

Termites are the one pest where a written contract matters as much as the treatment. Get a free inspection and a written proposal first.

Signs to look for

The University of Kentucky's termite fact sheet lists the telltale signs:

• Pencil-wide mud tubes on foundations and piers, or on sills and joists.
• Winged swarmers or their shed wings on windowsills and along the edges of floors.
• Wood hollowed out along the grain, with bits of mud or soil in the galleries.

Swarmers indoors usually mean the colony is close, and they are a reason to call. Hidden damage takes a trained eye to find, which is why the inspection is the first step. Many companies offer the inspection free.

Why Memphis has so many

Subterranean termites need moisture, and Memphis has plenty. The airport averages about 56 inches of rain a year over 111 wet days, and it rarely freezes hard (NOAA, 1996 to 2025). Soil next to a foundation stays damp most of the year, especially under shrubs and downspouts.

Older houses add wood close to the ground. In ZIPs like Midtown (38104) and South Memphis (38106), well over half the homes were built before 1960, many on piers and crawlspaces (Census ACS 2020-2024). See our Memphis pest data for your ZIP.

Average rainfall by month at Memphis International Airport (inches)

Liquid treatment or bait

There are two common approaches, and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture tells consumers to ask about both because they work differently.

Liquid soil treatment

The company applies a termiticide into the soil around and under the foundation to make a treated zone. On a crawlspace house that means trenching along the foundation and piers; on a slab it can mean drilling through the slab at joints and around plumbing.

Bait systems

Stations go in the ground around the house and are checked on a schedule. Termites feed on the bait and carry it back to the colony. Baits involve less soil treatment but depend on regular monitoring visits, which is part of what you pay for each year.

My view: either can work. The contract matters more than the method. Ask what is covered if termites come back.

What Tennessee requires of the contract

• The Department of Agriculture's consumer tips say termite treatment contracts should be warranted for no less than one year, renewable at the discretion of the company and the consumer.
• Ask to be shown the damage and to see evidence of live termites before you sign for a treatment.
• The Department can investigate substandard termite treatment when there is a current contract, a failure to issue a termite contract, and a failure to retreat an active infestation. Its complaint line is 615-837-5148.
• The Department does not handle pricing or payment disputes; it points those to the Division of Consumer Affairs at 615-741-4737.

Those annual renewals are what people in Memphis call a termite bond. We explain them in termite bonds and contracts.

What it costs

This Old House puts a termite inspection at $75 to $325 and a typical termite treatment at $250 to $1,000, and says a renewable bond adds $500 to $2,000 to the total (2026 figures, national). Those are published figures, not quotes. Ask for the first-year price and the renewal price in writing. More ranges are in the cost guide.

Buying or selling a house

A Tennessee home sale usually involves a Wood Destroying Insect Infestation Inspection Report, often called the termite letter. It is a different job from a treatment, with its own rules. See the Tennessee termite letter.