Maintaining customer satisfaction is a crucial aspect of any business, but it’s even more important for termite control companies that have earned the prestigious Diamond Certified award. For Mightymite Termite Services, the key to achieving and maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction is simple: take a detail-oriented approach to each job that emphasizes customer service just as much as quality control. “A lot of companies are capable of getting rid of termites, but not all of them take care of their customers like we do,” says owner Samuel Becker. “Whether it’s promptly returning phone calls, offering a variety of treatment methods or backing our work with a great warranty, we focus on details that make us stand out from the competition.”

Mightymite Termite Services uses low-toxicity methods and products like Orange Oil and non-repellent soil treatments to eliminate subterranean termites, drywood termites, and wood boring beetles from homes throughout the Greater Bay Area. The company is known for its comprehensive termite control process, which includes performing free inspections to determine which treatments will have the lowest impact on both the environment and clients’ daily lives.

Unlike less experienced termite control companies that strive to maximize their workload volume by taking a “one size fits all” approach to every project, Mightymite Termite Services takes a personalized approach to each job that includes extensive follow-up and tracking services. “It’s not enough to do good termite work–we also have to keep track of large customer databases and follow through with our customers to make sure their needs are met,” says Mr. Becker. “We utilize the latest back-end technology to ensure quality throughout every step of every job.”

Another attribute that sets Mightymite Termite Services apart from its competition is the wide variety of products it offers, which gives its customers numerous options when it comes to dealing with their termite problems. “We keep a full line of products, and we’re one of the only companies in the Bay Area that offers both fumigation and local treatments,” explains Mr. Becker. “Rather than pushing a particular product or treatment, our goal is to get rid of termites in the most convenient, environmentally-friendly ways possible.”

If your house is infested with termites, don’t automatically assume you need to get it fumigated. Many people associate termite control with fumigation, but in reality, termite companies use many different eradication methods, and fumigation tends to be the least common. When appropriate for the situation, localized treatments like Orange Oil are always the preferred method.

Even though fumigation is uncommon in today’s termite control industry, there are still a few situations where it’s recommended or even necessary. The first is if a termite infestation is so bad that localized treatment is no longer a viable option. “If termites have penetrated so far into a house that they start to enter the hollow spaces between walls, it’s unlikely that localized treatments will be effective,” says Samuel Becker, owner of Mightymite Termite Services in Campbell. “In that situation, fumigation should be used as an emergency measure.”

The second situation where fumigation is recommended is when a localized treatment would be a far more expensive option, due to either the specific area where the termites are situated or the time needed to apply the treatment. “If termites are underneath a tiled bathroom floor, for example, it’s more expensive to drill and replace the tile than it is to fumigate,” explains Mr. Becker. “Another example is when there’s evidence of an infestation in an attic that’s completely sealed up. The roof has to be opened in order to effectively treat the area, which can cost thousands of dollars.”

Sometimes a termite control company will recommend fumigation over localized treatment simply because of the size of a house. “If you have a relatively small house that’s riddled with drywood termites, the cost of fumigation will be far lower than localized treatment because it’s less labor intensive,” says Mr. Becker. “It costs about $4,000 to locally treat a 900-square-foot house, but it costs about $1,200 to fumigate it, so many people choose to save money by going with the latter.”

Sometimes the question of whether or not to fumigate is answered simply by the species of termite. Fumigation is only effective at killing drywood termites, so it won’t even work if your house is infested with subterranean termites. “Getting rid of subterranean termites requires a full perimeter treatment, which fumigation doesn’t provide,” says Mr. Becker. “Once those termites take the treatment back to their nest, it spreads throughout the colony and eventually wipes it out. Make sure your termite control company uses the right treatment for your specific type of infestation.”

Q: How much will it cost to treat my termite infestation?

A: For a typical single-family residence, treatment runs anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000. It’s sort of a large window, but it’s hard to commit to an exact price until we get onsite and look at the extent of the infestation. After we perform an inspection, we can quote an exact price.

Q: How long will my termite treatment take to complete?

A: Localized treatments take anywhere from two to six hours, depending on the size of the infestation. You should corral your pets while we’re working, but once we’re done, you can return to business as usual.

Q: Do I have to move out of my house during the treatment?

A: Not if it’s a localized treatment, which we use about 90 percent of the time. Our methods are safe and don’t require any special precautions—we simply ask that you give our workers plenty of space to work. The only time you’d have to leave your home is during fumigation, which we only use to deal with bad drywood termite infestations.

Q: Do I need to be concerned if termites are flying out of a hole in my garden?

A: Those are subterranean termites, and they aren’t an immediate concern if they haven’t reached your house. However, they’ll eventually find your house if they’re already in your garden, so we recommend a preventative soil treatment and an annual home/yard inspection to keep track of their whereabouts.

Q: What kind of warranty do you provide?

A: After we successfully treat your termite problem, we provide a 2-year, full structure warranty on the condition that you allow us to perform a complete initial inspection. The warranty will cover your entire home based on the type of treatment we use, which means if a new infestation of the same termites occurs, we’ll provide another treatment for free, even if it’s in a different part of the house.