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A peaceful Central California residential street lined with single-family homes — Los Altos Hills, California service area

Structural Pest Control

Termite Control in Los Altos Hills, CA

101 Exterminators is a California-licensed structural pest company doing termite control in Los Altos Hills under SPCB Lic. #9119, working Santa Clara County since 2005. The town's median house dates to 1977, and most of those custom homes went up with exposed beam ends, wide fascia and deep overhangs. Western drywood termites (Incisitermes minor) find that wood. We inspect it, write the Section 1 and Section 2 findings, then treat.

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Local Context

A 1977 Median Build Date and No Winter Freeze Above Moody Road

Los Altos Hills filled in slowly after incorporation, one custom house at a time, on lots the town's Residential-Agricultural zoning holds to a one-acre minimum. The median build year is 1977. That era in these hills meant Modern Ranch and post-and-beam framing with exposed rafter tails, wide fascia boards and deep eaves — a lot of structural wood facing weather, and very little of it buried behind stucco. Western drywood termites (Incisitermes minor) live entirely inside a member, so a colony can work a beam end above a Fremont Road carport for years before the first frass lands on the slab.

Winters in these foothills stay mild, so wood-boring insects never get a hard dormant season. The oak woodland that covers the hills holds humidity at ground level, and exposed wood on the west-facing Purissima and Robleda slopes runs through a wet-dry cycle that opens paint film and checks the grain. Those checks are how swarmers get in.

Down in the drainages the species changes. The Town counts roughly 17 miles of watercourses and 12 named creeks across four watersheds, Adobe, Matadero, Barron and Permanente, and properties sitting low against those banks hold soil moisture into summer. That is where we find subterranean termites (Reticulitermes) running mud tubes up a stem wall or a deck post. Estates with detached stables, guest cottages, bridge decks and vineyard trellis posts give both species far more wood to occupy than a single house would.

How We Work in Los Altos Hills

In Los Altos Hills we plan for acreage. We inspect the main house eaves, rafter tails and attic framing first, then walk every other wood structure on the lot — stables, tack rooms, pool houses, arbors, retaining walls, bridge decks at the creek crossings and vineyard end posts. Hillside lots often mean a stepped or partial crawl space, so we read the low side for subterranean mud tubes and the high side for drywood frass. Every finding is photographed and sorted into Section 1 and Section 2 on a state-compliant WDO report.

Los Altos Hills Climate

The foothill elevation gives Los Altos Hills 18 to 24 inches of rain a year, more than the valley floor below it, and the oak woodland keeps ground-level humidity up under the canopy even when open areas hit 85 to 93°F in July. The number that drives pest behavior here is not the temperature, it is the contrast that opens in summer. The creeks draw down or run dry by July while the town's landscaping, pastures, and leach fields stay wet on a schedule. From midsummer through the first rains, the irrigated parcels are the only reliably damp ground for a long way, and gophers, rats, and wildlife all move toward them.

Housing Stock

The town is almost entirely custom single-family homes on lots of an acre and up, running from 1950s and 1960s ranches through recent large builds, with working horse properties, stables, and remnant orchard trees mixed among them. That layout matters for pests in a couple of ways. Many parcels are on septic rather than sewer, and a leach field holds a defined patch of subsoil moist straight through a dry summer, which is what gophers and subterranean termites are both looking for. And the outbuildings add up: a barn, a hay store, a tack room, a pool house, a detached garage, a well house. Each one is unheated wood that nobody walks through daily, which is where black widow and rodent populations get established before anyone notices them.

Why Local Expertise Matters

A gopher program on a two-acre horse property is a different job from a gopher program on a suburban lot, and treating them the same is why the mounds come back. Here we map the active tunnel systems across the whole parcel, work the main runs instead of the surface mounds, and set the schedule around irrigation and pasture use rather than a fixed calendar. On septic parcels we locate the leach field and the well head before anything else, because those areas change both where the activity concentrates and where we are willing to work. That calibration comes from doing agricultural and rural properties across our four counties since 2005. SPCB Lic. #9119.

Warning Signs

Signs You Need Termites Service in Los Altos Hills

We perform thorough visual inspections of all accessible structural wood, attic spaces, crawl spaces, fencing, and exterior wood. Our reports clearly distinguish Section 1 conditions (active infestations requiring immediate treatment) from Section 2 conditions (conditions that are likely to lead to infestation). We issue California-required WDO reports for real estate transactions and carry the licensing required by the Structural Pest Control Board.

Hollow-sounding wood when tapped — galleries eaten from inside

Frass (fine sawdust-like pellets) near baseboards or windowsills — drywood termite excrement

Discarded wings near doors or windows in spring — swarmers leaving to start new colonies

Blistering or bubbling paint on wood surfaces — subterranean tunnel activity underneath

Mud tubes running up foundation walls or piers — subterranean termite foraging trails

Soft or sagging flooring near walls — severe structural damage to subfloor joists

Small holes in wood with discoloration around the edges

Real estate transaction requiring a WDO inspection and clearance report

How It Works

Our Termites Process in Los Altos Hills

Every job follows the same methodical approach — no shortcuts, no guesswork. Here is what to expect when you work with us in Los Altos Hills.

01

Comprehensive Inspection

Our licensed inspector examines all accessible wood, crawl spaces, attic framing, exterior siding, eaves, and fencing. We document every finding with photos and written notes.

02

WDO Report & Recommendations

You receive a state-compliant Structural Pest Control Report distinguishing active infestations, wood damage, and conducive conditions. No confusing fine print.

03

Targeted Treatment Plan

We recommend the most effective and least invasive treatment — whether that's localized spot treatment, fumigation for widespread drywood infestation, or subterranean bait systems.

04

Treatment & Clearance

We execute the treatment per plan, return for any follow-up needed, and issue a Completion Notice clearing the structure once all Section 1 items are resolved.

Why 101 Exterminators

Termites You Can Count On in Los Altos Hills

State-Licensed Inspectors

Our inspectors hold California Structural Pest Control licenses and are compliant with SPCB regulations for both inspections and treatments.

WDO Reports for Real Estate

We issue the Structural Pest Control Reports required for California home sales, refinancing, and VA/FHA loans — accepted by all lenders and escrow companies.

Both Termite Species Covered

Central California has both drywood and subterranean termites. We identify which species is present and apply the treatment protocol specific to each.

Free Re-Inspection Policy

If signs return within our warranty period, we come back at no charge. Our work is backed, not just guaranteed on paper.

Common Questions

Termite Control FAQs for Los Altos Hills

Does a termite inspection in Los Altos Hills cover the barn and guest house too?

It covers whatever structures you put in the report scope, and on a one-acre-minimum lot that usually means more than the main house. We routinely add stables, tack rooms, guest cottages, pool houses, detached garages and the wood bridge decks that cross the creeks here. Each structure is inspected and reported separately, because a Section 1 finding in a barn does not automatically attach to the house. Give us the full list before we schedule so the inspection is sized correctly.

Why do drywood termites keep coming back to the exposed beams on my Modern Ranch house?

Exposed structural wood is the reinfestation surface — it is what drywood swarmers land on and bore into. Los Altos Hills homes from the 1960s and 1970s were designed with rafter tails, fascia and beam ends left in the open, and every season of sun, morning fog and winter rain checks the grain and lifts the paint. Keeping those surfaces sealed and repainted is the most useful thing an owner here can do between treatments.

Are subterranean termites a real risk on properties near Adobe Creek?

Yes — lots that sit low against Adobe, Matadero, Purissima or Deer Creek are where we find subterranean termites (Reticulitermes) most often in this town. The creek banks hold soil moisture well past the last winter storm, and irrigated landscaping keeps it there through summer. Look for mud tubes on foundation stem walls, deck posts and pier blocks, and for any place landscape soil or bark mulch has risen against wood siding.

Local Pest Pressure

Common Pests We Treat in Los Altos Hills

Every area has its own pest profile shaped by climate, housing, and geography. These are the pests we see and treat most often in Los Altos Hills — tap any one to learn how to identify it and what treatment involves.

Drywood Termites

Custom homes throughout Los Altos Hills from the 1950s–1980s have original wood framing with established drywood termite histories

Pocket Gophers

Large irrigated lots, horse pastures, and orchard soil throughout Los Altos Hills create the most extensive gopher habitat in Santa Clara County — nearly every property has gopher activity

Roof Rats

Orchard trees throughout the large lots and the oak woodland canopy of the hillside provide endemic roof rat habitat with direct roofline access from overhanging branches

Wildlife Intrusion

Open space adjacency from Rancho San Antonio and the foothills brings gray squirrels, raccoons, and other wildlife that enters attics and crawl spaces more commonly than in flat valley cities

Black Widows

Horse stables, hay storage, tool sheds, and the abundant outdoor structures throughout large-lot Los Altos Hills properties are prime black widow habitat

Termite Control · Los Altos Hills

Free Pest Evaluation in Los Altos Hills

CA licensed and insured. Written estimate before any work begins. Urgent situations in Los Altos Hills are prioritized.

Schedule an Inspection(831) 500-1613
Trusted by Los Altos Hills families since 2005