Overview
In California the document is what matters, not the visit. A licensed structural pest inspection ends in a standardized Wood Destroying Organism report, and that report sorts every finding into two categories: Section 1 for active infestation and existing damage, Section 2 for the conditions likely to lead to it. Lenders read it, escrow reads it, and buyer and seller negotiate off it. It also covers far more than termites, since wood-boring beetles, fungal decay, moisture, and earth-to-wood contact all belong on the same form.
Why This Matters
People lose time and leverage on these reports for one of two reasons. Sellers pay to clear Section 2 conditions they were never required to touch, and buyers assume a cleared Section 1 means the damaged wood was rebuilt. Neither is true, and both are avoidable once you read the report as what it is: a list of findings, each carrying a category, a location, and a recommendation, followed by a list of the places the inspector could not reach.
1What a WDO Inspection Covers
A California structural pest inspection is performed by an inspector licensed by the Structural Pest Control Board, and the findings go onto a state-standardized form that every licensed company uses. The inspector works the accessible parts of the structure in turn: the attic, the subarea or crawl space, the exterior perimeter and eaves, the garage, decks and fences within scope, and the interior at windows, door frames, baseboards, and flooring. Suspect wood gets probed rather than glanced at, because both termite galleries and fungal decay run inside the member and leave the surface looking sound.
The report is not limited to termites. Wood-boring beetles, fungal decay and dry rot, excess moisture, earth-to-wood contact, and faulty grade all get written up on the same form, and on this coast the decay findings are frequently the longer list.
2A Free Pest Evaluation Is a Different Thing
These two get confused constantly, and the difference decides whether you end up with a document you can use. A free pest evaluation is a licensed technician coming out to look at what you are seeing and telling you in person what they find, with nothing issued in writing on that visit. An official structural pest inspection is the paid engagement that produces the WDO report, the form on file with the state, and the completion notice escrow will ask for. 101 Exterminators has held SPCB Lic. #9119 since 2005 and issues official structural pest reports across Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Santa Clara counties.
Anything a lender or escrow officer will accept has to be a written, filed structural pest report. Book the official inspection when a transaction is involved, and use the free evaluation when you want a licensed opinion on something you found.
3Section 1: Active Infestation and Existing Damage
Section 1 covers what is happening now or has already done harm. Most conventional lenders require Section 1 items to be corrected and a clearance issued before they fund, and FHA and VA loans tend to be stricter about it than conventional ones.
- Live subterranean termite activity, including mud tubes carrying traffic
- Active drywood termite colonies, shown by fresh frass, live insects, or new emergence holes
- Wood-boring beetle activity with fresh exit holes and powdery frass
- Fungal decay and dry rot that is still progressing because moisture is still present
- Earth-to-wood contact, where framing, siding, or posts sit directly in soil
- Faulty grade, where soil or mulch is banked up against the sill
Clearing Section 1 means the infestation was treated and the conducive condition corrected. It does not mean damaged wood was rebuilt. Structural repair is usually a separate scope and sometimes a separate trade, so ask which one an estimate covers.
4Section 2: Conditions Likely to Lead to It
Section 2 items are not active. They are the setups that turn into Section 1 findings if nothing changes, and they generally do not have to be corrected for a conventional loan to close. They are still disclosed, they still enter the record, and buyers routinely negotiate them into the contract as a credit or a repair.
- Wood close to soil without touching it yet
- Inadequate subfloor ventilation that lets a crawl space stay damp
- Cellulose debris left under the house, usually construction scrap and form boards
- Old fungal staining that has since dried out and stopped spreading
- Plumbing or irrigation moisture that has not yet caused decay
- Previously treated termite damage with no current activity
On a conventional loan a seller is not obliged to clear Section 2, and authorizing the whole list before reading the categories is the most common way to pay for work nobody asked for. Check the section on each finding first.
5The Third Category People Miss
Every California report has to list the areas the inspector could not reach, and those become their own line: further inspection recommended. A locked crawl space hatch, a subarea blocked by stored boxes, a finished attic with no access panel, a garage packed to the ceiling. Nothing in those areas has been cleared, and a completion notice covering the rest of the house does not cover them. In a transaction, a further-inspection item discovered late is one of the more common reasons a close slips.
6What Central Coast Reports Usually Say
Three termite species work this area and a report here often names more than one. Western subterranean termites (Reticulitermes hesperus) come up through the soil and show as mud tubes on foundation walls and crawl space piers, which is the usual valley-floor finding from Salinas south. Western drywood termites (Incisitermes minor) live entirely inside the wood and turn up in attic framing, eaves, window headers, and fascia, most often in homes built before 1980. Pacific dampwood termites (Zootermopsis angusticollis) are the coastal specialty, and they are the one finding that is really about the building rather than the insect, because they only take wood that is already wet. Around all three, the marine layer supplies the other half of a typical coastal report: decay in deck ledgers and porch posts, damp subareas with weak ventilation, and construction debris sitting on bare soil under an older raised foundation.
A single Monterey County house commonly carries drywood activity in the attic and subterranean tubes in the crawl space on the same visit. They are separate problems with separate treatments, and a proper report documents every species present rather than the first one found.
7Getting the Property Ready for the Inspector
Access is the one variable you control, and it decides whether you get a complete report or a report full of further-inspection items. Everything below takes an afternoon, and it is worth doing before the appointment rather than during it.
- Take the padlock off the crawl space hatch and move whatever is stacked in front of it
- Clear a path to the attic access and take anything stored directly beneath it out of the way
- Move boxes and stored goods off the garage walls so the framing and sill plate are visible
- Pull stored items out of closets that back onto exterior walls
- Trim shrubs and pull mulch back from the foundation so the perimeter can be seen
- Open side gates, sheds, and detached garages, and secure the dog
- Turn off irrigation that sprays the building the day before, and mention any known leak or past repair up front
8Reading the Report
Each finding carries a number, a location, a category, and a recommendation, and the report is meant to be read finding by finding rather than as a verdict on the house. Take the Section 1 list first, then the further-inspection list, then Section 2. Ask which items are treatment and which are carpentry, because they are often different trades and sometimes different companies.
- Check the section on each finding before you decide anything about it
- Match the findings against the list of inaccessible areas at the end of the report
- Ask for an itemized written estimate covering the Section 1 items
- Ask directly whether structural repair is included or quoted separately
- In a transaction, settle who pays for Section 1 clearance before signing anything
- Keep the report, because the next buyer and the next lender will both want the history
9Clearance, Completion Notices, and Timing
After the corrective work, the company that performed it issues a Notice of Work Completed, and that is the document escrow needs in order to close. Reports and completion notices are filed with the Structural Pest Control Board, which keeps a searchable record, so a prior report on an address is something a buyer can look up rather than take on trust. Lenders and escrow companies generally want a report dated within about ninety days of closing, so a report pulled early in a long escrow may need a re-inspection before the file can close.
Key Takeaways
- 1Section 1 is active infestation or existing damage; Section 2 is the condition that leads there, and it is often negotiable
- 2The report covers beetles, fungal decay, moisture, and earth-to-wood contact, not termites alone
- 3Clearing Section 1 treats the problem, while rebuilding damaged wood is usually a separate scope
- 4Areas the inspector could not reach are listed as further inspection and are not covered by a completion notice
- 5A free pest evaluation is verbal only; a transaction needs the official written structural pest report
- 6Open the crawl space, attic, and garage before the appointment, because access decides how complete the report can be
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an inspection if I am not selling my home?
It is not required, and it is still the most direct way to learn what is happening inside your framing. Subterranean and drywood termites both work for years inside wood before anything shows on the surface, and dampwood activity on this coast is usually a signal about a leak or a drainage failure you would want to know about regardless. A periodic inspection catches those while they are still small pieces of carpentry rather than framing work.
Who pays for Section 1 clearance in a real estate transaction?
It is negotiable and it varies deal to deal. California has no law assigning it to either party, so it is a contract question. Common arrangements are the seller clearing all Section 1 items, the seller giving a credit and the buyer handling the work after close, or the two splitting it against a negotiated cap. Section 2 is usually handled separately, and often left with the buyer.
Can a house fail a termite inspection?
There is no pass or fail. The inspection produces a list of findings, and nearly every house of any age has some. What matters is which section each finding falls in, how far the activity or decay has gone, and what the recommended correction involves. Even substantial Section 1 findings get treated and cleared. The report describes the structure on the day it was inspected rather than passing judgment on it.
How long is a WDO report good for?
California does not put an expiration on the report itself. In practice, lenders, agents, and escrow officers generally want one dated within about ninety days of closing, and a longer escrow can outrun that. If the inspection was done early and the close keeps moving, expect a re-inspection to confirm nothing new has developed, particularly on a property with a damp subarea where conditions change with the rain.
Can I look up past termite reports on a house before I make an offer?
Yes. Every licensed company files its reports with the Structural Pest Control Board, and the Board keeps a searchable record by address. It is worth checking before you write an offer, because a history of repeated findings at the same location tells you something a single current report cannot: whether the underlying condition was actually corrected, or cleared and left to come back.
The report lists dry rot rather than termites. Is that still Section 1?
It can be. Fungal decay is a Section 1 finding when moisture is still present and the decay is still progressing, and a Section 2 finding once the wood has dried out and the decay has stopped. That line matters a great deal on this coast, where a deck ledger under irrigation overspray or a porch post in a shaded, damp corner is often the largest active finding on a report whose termite activity is minor.
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