Termites in Southern California stay active through winter, and Tyler Williams, our termite inspector, inspects homes across 20 cities from Temecula to Carlsbad. Winter rain brings subterranean termites up fresh mud tubes, drywood colonies keep feeding inside dry framing, and a winter inspection catches both before the spring swarms and the spring listings.
There's a comfortable idea in Temecula and Murrieta that termites take the winter off. They don't. The mild winters of Southwest Riverside County and North San Diego County never get cold enough for long enough to shut a colony down, and the rain that does arrive is what subterranean termites have been waiting for all summer. Neither of our two termites goes dormant here. Both slow a little in cool spells and keep feeding.
That makes winter a useful season for an inspection. The ground is wet, so subterranean tubes are fresh and easy to see. The house is closed up, so you notice the pellet pile on the sill. And the calendar is on your side: a problem found in January is dealt with before the spring swarms and before the spring listing season, when WDO reports get ordered in Menifee on short deadlines. Here's how we think about it.
Do termites stay active in winter in Southern California?
Yes. Termites are cold-blooded, so they slow in cool weather, but a Temecula winter rarely stays cold enough to matter. Daytime temperatures in Murrieta, Menifee and Lake Elsinore sit well within the range where termites feed, and the framing inside a heated house never gets cold at all. Both the western subterranean termite and the western drywood termite, the two species UC IPM describes for California, keep feeding through a mild winter, with the visible events, the swarms, tied to the season and the feeding continuous. That's the key distinction. Swarming is seasonal. Eating goes on all year. A subterranean colony under a slab in French Valley is working the sill plate in December the same as in July, and a drywood colony inside a fascia board in Fallbrook doesn't know what month it is. The only thing winter changes is what's visible from the outside, and as it happens, winter makes more visible, as the next two sections explain.
Why winter rain makes subterranean termites easier to find
Wet soil is when they build. Subterranean termites need moisture and dry out quickly in open air, so during the long dry stretch from late spring to the first storms they stay deep and their old tubes crack and crumble. When the winter rain soaks the ground around a stem wall in Wildomar or Hemet, the colony comes up, repairs its tubes and builds new ones, and a fresh tube is dark, damp and obvious against a stucco weep screed or a garage post. UC IPM connects subterranean activity near the surface to soil moisture for exactly this reason. Winter rain also creates the conditions that draw them in: a planter that stays soggy against the house, a downspout dumping beside the foundation, a hose bib that drips into mud. Walking the foundation line in January, you see the tubes and the wet spots together, which is a clearer picture than a dry August wall gives, and it's the picture an inspector wants.
What drywood termites do in winter
They keep eating. Drywood termites live inside the wood with no connection to the soil, taking what moisture they need from the wood itself, so rain and ground temperature mean little to them. A colony in the attic framing of a Murrieta two-story is at house temperature all winter. What changes is you. You're inside more, the windows are closed and the sills are in view, so the small cone of pellets under a window frame that went unnoticed in the summer gets spotted in December. UC IPM's drywood Pest Note points to pellets and kick-out holes as the main evidence, and both are easier to notice when you're home with the lights on. The fall swarmers that landed on your fascia in October are starting new colonies now too, though they won't produce anything visible for years. If you find a pellet pile, leave it where it is, photograph it and call us, because an undisturbed pile shows the inspector the kick-out hole above it.
What a winter termite inspection covers
The same accessible areas as any other season, with a few winter advantages. A termite inspection starts outside: the fascia and eaves, every piece of exterior trim, the patio cover, the jambs on the garage door, the stem wall, the weep screed, and every spot where wood meets soil, which in winter means looking for the fresh tubes the rain has brought up. Inside it covers the baseboards and door frames, the cabinets under each sink and the wood around tubs and showers for water damage, the attic and the subarea, on the houses that have one. Attics in Temecula are far more pleasant in January than in August. The inspector lists what couldn't be reached and the conditions likely to lead to trouble. For a home sale, the findings go on the Wood Destroying Organism report, on the Structural Pest Control Board's form, sorted into Section 1 and Section 2. The inspection and estimate are free when you've seen a sign and want it checked. A sale or refinance inspection, with the report, is $99. Our termite inspection page describes the service, and our WDO guide explains the report.
Winter signs homeowners mistake for something else
Several, because winter is also when the house shows water. A blistered patch of paint low on a wall gets blamed on the rain. A door that started sticking gets blamed on humidity. A damp smell in a bathroom gets blamed on the shower. A soft spot on a sill plate gets blamed on the sprinkler. Any of those could be plain water damage, and any of them could be termites, because the water that caused the first problem is what drew the subterranean termites that caused the second. The check is the inside of the wood: water-soaked wood is dark and soft through, while termite-eaten wood is layered with galleries, muddy for subterranean and clean for drywood. A few more that get missed: a small pile of what looks like sand on the garage floor by the door jamb, a drift of wings in a web by the porch light after the first warm day following a storm, and a hollow sound when you knock on a baseboard while moving the couch. Photograph them and call.
Why inspect in winter if you're selling in spring
Because spring is when the market in Temecula, Murrieta and Menifee moves, and a problem found in escrow has a deadline attached. A winter inspection gives you the same kind of report the buyer's side would order, months before anyone is waiting on it. If it's clean, you list with that in hand. If it has Section 1 findings, you get the correction done on your own schedule, by whichever licensed company you choose, and the completion notice is in the file before the sign goes up. Compare that with a common pattern: the buyer's agent orders the report in the second week of escrow, it comes back with a tube on the stem wall and a pellet pile under the kitchen window, and now three parties are negotiating who pays while the closing date slides. If we're the company you pick for the correction work, Dylan Reed does our termite treatment, and a subcontractor handles the tenting when a house needs fumigation.
What to fix around the house this winter
The things that bring subterranean termites to the foundation, which the rain makes obvious. Walk the house after a storm and look for where water sits: the planter against the stem wall that stays soggy, the downspout that empties beside the slab, the low spot where the side yard drains toward the garage. Fix the drainage, pull soil and mulch down below the weep screed, and shorten the sprinkler run times near the house, because an irrigated winter is wetter than the rain alone. Get the firewood up off the dirt and clear of the wall, and if a fence post or deck support sits in dirt against the house, that's the one to replace first. Inside, fix the drip under the kitchen sink and the shower pan that leaves the slab damp. For drywood termites, winter is painting weather in Southern California: seal the exposed end grain on fascia and patio cover beams, because a sound finish helps keep a landed swarmer from starting a colony. None of this replaces an inspection. It makes the next one shorter.
How often should a home in Riverside County be inspected for termites?
Once a year is a sound habit for a Southern California home, and winter is a good slot for it. The reason is the climate: with both species present, as UC IPM describes, and feeding all year, a house that was clean twelve months ago has had a full cycle of fall drywood swarms and winter subterranean activity since. Homes with more exposed wood, such as the older houses in Old Town Temecula, Fallbrook and the hillsides of Lake Elsinore, and homes that have had termites before, benefit from the yearly look most. Newer stucco tracts in French Valley and Winchester have less wood exposed but the same attics and the same wet planters, so they aren't exempt. Between inspections, a regular pest control visit puts a technician at your eaves and trim, brushing the cobwebs, which is a useful extra set of eyes on the fascia even though it isn't a termite inspection. If there are pellets, a tube or wings at your house, tell Jenni when you call (951) 535-4220 and she'll book Tyler.
Common questions
Do termites really stay active during Southern California winters?
Yes. The winters in Temecula, Murrieta and along the North County coast don't get cold enough for long enough to stop a colony. Subterranean termites become more visible in the wet months as they build fresh mud tubes, and drywood termites inside house framing feed at house temperature year-round. Both species are established across Southern California, as UC IPM describes.
Is a winter inspection different from a summer one?
The inspection covers the same accessible areas. What differs is what's visible. In winter the soil is wet and subterranean tubes are fresh, attics are cooler, and the house's moisture problems show themselves. In late summer and fall the drywood swarms are the visible event. Either season works. Winter has the advantage of coming before spring swarms and spring listings.
Can treatment happen in winter?
Yes. Winter weather in the Temecula Valley rarely gets in the way of termite work. The methods UC IPM describes, soil treatment or bait for subterranean termites and direct wood treatment or fumigation for drywood, all have their own conditions and preparation. We do the treatment in-house, and when tenting is needed we bring in a subcontractor for the fumigation. Ask what applies to your house once the inspection is done.
Does a termite inspection cost more in winter?
No. The $99 price for a sale or refinance inspection and WDO report is the same in any month, winter included, and an inspection because you've seen signs comes with a free estimate. Give Jenni the address when you phone (951) 535-4220, and say whether it's for escrow, a refinance or a yearly check. Any correction work is a separate conversation from the inspection itself.
What if I only see signs after a rain?
That's the subterranean pattern. Fresh mud tubes after rain, and swarmers on the first warm afternoon after a storm, both point to a colony in the soil close enough to reach the house. Leave the tubes alone, photograph them, and call. Our subterranean swarming post explains the rain connection, and our signs of termites guide covers everything else to check while you wait for the inspection.