Termite Damage Found at Your Long Island Home Inspection: What to Negotiate, and Why the Seller's "Fix" Isn't Treatment

A story making the rounds this week: first-time buyers on Long Island, a 75-year-old three-bedroom listed at $750,000, and a home inspection that turned up termite damage to the sill plate of the attached garage — plus old cloth-covered wiring, moisture signs in the basement and grading sloped toward the foundation. The seller's offer: they'd fix the damaged wood, and the buyers could handle termite treatment themselves. The buyers asked the internet whether to take it; the internet, correctly, said get a credit or escrow instead. (The Cool Down)

Rest Easy inspects and treats for termites across Nassau County and Suffolk County, and we see this exact negotiation every spring. Here's how to think about it.

Repair and treatment are two different jobs

Replacing a chewed sill plate is carpentry. It does nothing about the colony that chewed it, which is in the soil around the foundation and will reach the new wood the same way it reached the old. Treatment addresses the colony; repair addresses the damage. A seller offering one is not offering the other, and a buyer who accepts repair-only is buying an active termite problem with fresh lumber attached.

Why Long Island houses get termites

Eastern subterranean termites are native here and live in the ground. They enter where wood meets soil or where foundations are cracked, and they're drawn to moisture — which is why the inspection's other findings matter: efflorescence in the basement and grading toward the house mean wet soil against the foundation, which is exactly the condition termites want. Sill plates, garage framing, deck ledgers and basement window frames are where we find damage most often on 1940s–70s Long Island construction.

What to do before closing

1. Get a termite inspection separate from the general home inspection. In New York the standard is the NPMA-33 wood-destroying insect report, which documents evidence of infestation, damage and conditions conducive to it. A general inspector notes damage; a termite inspection tells you whether it's active and where.
2. Negotiate treatment, not just repair. Ask for a credit, a price reduction or escrow sized to cover treatment and repair, and control the work yourself after closing. Seller-managed repairs are the cheapest fix the seller can find.
3. Don't let the seller block access. If further inspection is refused, that's an answer.
4. Fix the conditions, not only the termites. Grading, gutters and downspouts, wood-to-soil contact at the garage and deck.

If you're buying, selling or own a house with termite damage

Rest Easy provides termite inspections and treatment across Long Island — Nassau County and Suffolk County — for buyers who need an answer before closing and owners who found damage after. A phone quote is free. Call 888-927-9842 or request a termite quote online.

Frequently asked questions

Should I buy a house on Long Island with termite damage?

Many Long Island houses have had termites at some point. The questions are whether the infestation is active, how extensive the damage is, and whether treatment and repair are priced into the deal. Get a separate termite inspection before deciding.

What is an NPMA-33 termite inspection?

The standard wood-destroying insect inspection report used in New York real estate transactions. It records visible evidence of termites and other wood-destroying insects, damage, prior treatment, and conditions conducive to infestation.

Is repairing termite damage the same as treating termites?

No. Repair replaces damaged wood; treatment addresses the colony in the soil. Repair without treatment leaves the house exposed to the same termites.

Who pays for termite treatment when buying a house?

It's negotiable. Buyers commonly ask for a credit, price reduction or escrow covering treatment and repair, so they control the work. Seller-performed repairs are harder to verify.

What conditions attract termites to a house?

Wood in contact with soil, moisture against the foundation from poor grading or gutters, cracks in the foundation, and untreated wood framing at garages, decks and basement windows.