I had seen them before, in the backyard of one of my parents’ houses. We had a termite infestation, with food provided by a rotted shed and years of deferred maintenance.

We bought the house in March 1982. In those days, lenders insisted on termite reports as a condition of obtaining a mortgage. We had a termite inspection that said that the house was clean and came with a year’s guarantee. I began demolishing the shed in April 1983, and that’s when the termites appeared. My question is: How did the termites know that the guarantee was up? (more…)