A modern craftsman home in a leafy Silicon Valley suburb — Mountain View, California service area

Structure Fumigation

Fumigation in Mountain View, CA

Name: 101 Exterminators Inc.
Address: 635 Sanborn Pl Ste 12, Salinas, CA, 93901, US
Telephone: (831) 500-1613
Price range: $$
Rating: 5

101 Exterminators performs full-structure fumigation in Mountain View with Vikane (sulfuryl fluoride) when a drywood termite infestation has spread past what a spot treatment can reach. SPCB Lic. #9119, Santa Clara County since 2005. Most tents here go over detached single-story ranch houses on the 1950s and 1960s tract lots, where gas reaches framing no inspector could.

(831) 500-1613Free pest evaluation · no obligation

Local Context

Whether a Mountain View House Can Be Tented Depends on What It Is Attached To

Fumigation treats a whole structure at once, which is why the building type answers the question here. A detached single-story ranch in Rex Manor or Saint Francis Acres tents cleanly: the crew seals the tarp at the foundation, the gas fills every void including wall cavities and closed roof bays, and nothing next door is connected to it.

Attached construction changes the job. Mountain View has been adding townhomes and multi-story podium apartments along El Camino Real, San Antonio Road and the light rail corridor since the 1990s, and those share walls, roofs and utility chases. One unit in an attached row cannot be tented on its own. Duplexes and the older garden apartments off Rengstorff Avenue hit the same limit. In those buildings the workable answer is usually local treatment of the infested members, or a whole-building fumigation coordinated with every owner and tenant at once.

Eichlers sit in their own category. The post-and-beam houses in Monta Loma and Bell Meadows are detached and can be tented, but the low-slope roof, the glass walls and the interior atrium all change how the tarp is set and sealed, and the mature landscaping on those lots needs planning before the crew shows up. We sort all of that out at the pre-fumigation inspection, not on tenting day.

How We Work in Mountain View

Before we schedule a Mountain View fumigation we measure the structure for the gas calculation, walk the roof and the seal line at grade, and go through the preparation checklist with you in person: food, medications and pet food into Nylofume bags, plants and pets out of the building. We notify neighbors and post the required signage, which matters on the tight infill lots common here. Vikane is held for the required exposure, then the structure is aerated and a certified third party confirms clearance before anyone re-enters.

Mountain View Climate

Mountain View sits mid-peninsula, warmer than San Francisco and milder than inland San Jose, with summer afternoons usually in the mid to upper 80s°F and rainfall around 14–16 inches a year. Drywood termite swarms come off in late summer and early fall, roughly August through October, and in Eichler tracts the wings usually turn up on the sill of a floor-to-ceiling window rather than in an attic nobody visits. The bay marsh at the north end keeps the air and the ground damper than the rainfall figure suggests, and morning fog reaches Shoreline far more often than it reaches the neighborhoods south of El Camino Real.

Housing Stock

Three kinds of building sit inside the same city limits and each needs a different inspection route. Old Mountain View, around Castro Street and the streets south of it, holds pre-war bungalows and a few Victorians on raised foundations, and the 1867 Rengstorff House now standing in Shoreline Park is the oldest of them. The 1950s and 1960s tracts, Monta Loma, Waverly Park, Cuernavaca, and the Sylvan Park area, are slab-on-grade, and the Eichler blocks among them are post-and-beam with exposed tongue-and-groove ceilings and radiant tubing in the concrete. Along El Camino Real and the transit corridor the stock turns to apartment and condominium buildings of every decade, which is where bed bugs and German cockroaches (Blattella germanica) actually move, unit to unit rather than in from the yard. A raised bungalow lets an inspector under the floor. An Eichler does not, and the evidence has to be read off surfaces instead.

Why Local Expertise Matters

An Eichler is not a hard house to inspect, but it is an easy house to inspect wrong. There is no attic and no crawl space, so the evidence sits on the exposed beams, the fascia, the tongue-and-groove decking, and the line where siding meets slab, and an inspector working from habit will look for access that does not exist and call the house clean. The slab has its own trap, because radiant heating tubes run inside it, and drilling for a subterranean treatment without knowing where they run turns a termite job into a plumbing repair. We work the Eichler tracts, the Castro Street bungalows, and the El Camino apartment corridor, and we write WDO reports for Santa Clara County transactions. 101 Exterminators, SPCB Lic. #9119, licensed since 2005.

Warning Signs

Signs You Need Fumigation Service in Mountain View

We manage the entire fumigation process: pre-fumigation inspection and documentation, structure tenting with certified fumigation tarps, introduction of Vikane fumigant to specified concentration, aeration protocol, post-fumigation clearance testing, and coordination with a certified fumigation clearance company before you return. We also provide bagging requirements and preparation guidance for food, medications, and plants.

Multiple locations of frass (termite pellets) throughout the structure — not just one area

Evidence of drywood termites in structural framing, not just surface wood

Previous localized treatments that have not resolved the infestation

Inspector-identified infestation in inaccessible areas (wall cavities, sealed areas)

WDO report showing extensive Section 1 conditions throughout the structure

Visible winged termites (swarmers) emerging from multiple locations

How It Works

Our Fumigation Process in Mountain View

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

Pre-Fumigation Inspection

We document all entry points, confirm the infestation scope, measure the structure for gas calculation, and review the preparation checklist with you at least 3 days before the fumigation date.

Structure Tenting

Our crew tents the entire structure with specialized fumigation tarps, sealed at the foundation to prevent gas escape. Neighbors are notified as required, and warning signs are posted.

Gas Introduction & Monitoring

Vikane is introduced to calculated concentration and held for the required exposure time. Readings are monitored throughout the process to confirm effective dosage.

Aeration & Clearance

The structure is thoroughly aerated until Vikane levels are below the safe entry threshold. A certified third-party inspector confirms clearance levels before we authorize re-entry.

Why 101 Exterminators

Fumigation You Can Count On in Mountain View

Complete Structure Coverage

Gas fumigant penetrates every void, cavity, and piece of wood in the structure — including areas impossible to reach with liquid or foam treatments.

Vikane — Industry Gold Standard

Vikane (sulfuryl fluoride) is the most widely used and thoroughly studied structural fumigant. It leaves no residual after aeration — the structure is safe to re-enter after clearance.

Third-Party Clearance Testing

Re-entry is only authorized after independent clearance testing confirms gas levels are below threshold. No guesswork on when your home is safe.

Real Estate Compliant

Fumigation clears all Section 1 termite conditions for real estate transactions. We issue the required Completion Notice accepted by lenders and escrow companies.

Common Questions

Fumigation FAQs for Mountain View

Can one townhome near Whisman Station be tented by itself?

No: attached units cannot be fumigated individually, because the tarp has to seal an entire structure and shared walls, roofs and chases make several homes into one building. For attached construction in Mountain View the real options are local treatment of the accessible infested members, or a coordinated whole-building fumigation that every owner and the HOA sign off on. We inspect first and tell you which one the findings actually support.

How long is a Mountain View house unoccupied during a termite tent?

A full-structure fumigation runs across several days and nights, and nobody is in the building for any of them. The sequence is tenting and gas introduction, then a held exposure period, then aeration, then clearance testing before re-entry is authorized. The schedule for your structure is set at booking, since gas volume and hold time depend on the building. On the tight infill lots common across Mountain View, neighbors get advance notice and warning signage stays posted throughout.

What happens to the plants in an Eichler atrium during fumigation?

Anything living inside the tented envelope has to come out, and that includes plants growing in an Eichler atrium. Landscaping outside the tarp line is generally unaffected, but shrubs and limbs pressed against the structure often have to be pulled back or trimmed so the tarp can seal at grade. We walk the perimeter at the pre-fumigation inspection and tell you exactly what needs to move and what can stay.

Local Pest Pressure

Common Pests We Treat in Mountain View

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

Drywood Termites

Pre-1960 and mid-century ranch homes in Mountain View's older neighborhoods have accumulated drywood termite exposure

Subterranean Termites

The Permanente Creek corridor and the high water table near Charleston Slough keep North Mountain View soils damp, and slab houses there are entered at plumbing penetrations and at the siding-to-concrete line

Bed Bugs

The apartment and condominium corridor along El Camino Real moves bed bugs between units, so treatment has to cover the neighbors as well as the reported unit