Field notes / written in Hampton Roads

Answers We Give on the Phone, Written Down

No filler, no recycled national content. These guides answer the exact questions Hampton Roads homeowners, buyers, and agents ask us every week.

38 field notesFive partsOne descent

How this is ordered

Not by category. By where in a job the question comes up.

Start at the table with the paperwork, walk out to the foundation wall, go under the house, then into the correction, then back up to the decision. The same route an inspection takes.

Schedule an inspection

Part 01 / Above grade

At the table, before anyone goes outside

Closings, lenders, reports, and guarantees. Nothing here needs a flashlight, and all of it runs on a deadline somebody else set.

The part with a date on it

01 What a termite letter costs in Hampton Roads 02 VA loan termite inspection requirements 03 The NPMA-33 report, explained 04 How to read your WDI report 05 What fails a VA loan pest inspection 06 WDI vs home inspection 07 Guarantee transfer when buying 08 Selling a house with termite history 09 New homeowner crawl space checklist

Part 02 / Grade level

At the foundation wall, reading evidence

Mud tubes, swarmers, shed wings, and the look-alikes that account for half the worried photographs we receive.

What you are actually looking at

10 Signs of termites in your home 11 Mud tubes and what they mean 12 Flying ants vs termites 13 Swarmers in the house: act now 14 Termite season in Hampton Roads 15 Are termites active in winter? 16 The termite prevention checklist 17 Why DIY termite treatment fails

Grade level

Everything from here down was written in a crawl space: the moisture, the treatment, and the repair that follows both.

Part 03 / Below grade

Under the house, where the conditions live

Water, air, and wood. Nearly everything that goes wrong in a house here is downstream of one of those three.

The condition underneath all of it

18 Crawl space moisture readings, decoded 19 Why Hampton Roads crawl spaces stay wet 20 Standing water: triage order 21 That musty smell is the crawl space 22 Cupped hardwood floors and moisture 23 Wood rot and fungus in coastal Virginia 24 Vented vs sealed crawl spaces 25 Why crawl space insulation falls

Part 04 / Below grade

The correction, and what it takes

Once something has been found, these are the decisions that follow: which treatment, how long it holds, and what the framing needs.

After somebody finally looked

26 What termite treatment costs 27 Liquid vs bait treatment 28 How long treatment actually lasts 29 How to prepare for treatment day 30 Termite damage repair costs 31 Sister or replace floor joists? 32 Does insurance cover termite damage?

Part 05 / The floor

The decision that ends up back on paper

The big money questions. Every one of them should be answered from readings taken under your own house.

What it is worth doing properly

33 Encapsulation vs vapor barrier 34 What encapsulation costs 35 Vapor barrier cost guide 36 Is a dehumidifier worth it? 37 Encapsulation value at resale 38 Local vs national pest control

Question not covered?

Call 757-583-4444 and you will get an answer from someone who was in a crawl space this morning. If the answer turns out to be useful to everybody, it becomes the next note in this manual.

The short answers What we actually do

End of the descent

Question not covered? Ask a human.

Call 757-583-4444 and you will get an answer from someone who was in a crawl space this morning.

Schedule an inspection 757-583-4444

Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM. Licensed and insured in Virginia.