Matching service only. Under Florida Chapter 482 we are not a certified operator. We do not spray, bait, tent, or inspect.
A 2018 or 2024 Horizon West house is still a Florida house. New stucco and a builder termite contract do not close every path from soil to wood. Expansion joints, utility sleeves, leftover form boards, irrigation against a stem wall, and a credit-card crack are the gaps this page is about. Orlando West Pest Care is a matching service. We match you with a licensed local pest control operator. We do not spray, bait, inspect, or tent.
This is for residential owners in Horizon West, Hamlin, Waterleigh, Winter Garden, Windermere, Ocoee, Oakland, Stoneybrook West, Clermont, and Minneola. If the question is wood-destroying organisms, start at termite and WDO or get a quote. Name Horizon West or the village. The licensee who already drives Horizon West is the one who looks. We still only match. Species still matter: see drywood vs subterranean termites in west Orlando.
What FDACS actually says construction does, and does not, do
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services opens its termite page with construction, not with a spray can. In Florida, termites cause more damage to structures than fires, floods, and storms combined. Good construction and proper maintenance of the home is the first step. Because homeowners insurance does not cover termite damage, hiring a licensed pest control company to inspect and treat is the next recommended step. Florida’s climate is highly favorable for termites. Currently Florida has four known types: dampwood, drywood, subterranean, and conehead. Subterranean termites are the most destructive. Drywood are second. Conehead is a localized eradication program in Dania Beach and Pompano Beach, not a Horizon West weekend job. Identification comes before treatment because treatments vary. See FDACS, Termites.
The subterranean page is the slab sentence. Subterranean termites live and invade from underground. A single colony can cover one acre underneath a home. They typically live in dark, moist, hidden environments underground, but they will create carton nests aboveground in walls, attics, and nearby trees. To move above ground they build mud tubes. Prevention language is licensed work plus moisture: have the home annually inspected by a licensed pest control company; a professional may treat with a non-repellent soil barrier or an in-ground bait system. Reduce moisture. Extend gutters at least one foot from the house. Direct sprinklers away from the house. Repair leaks. Eliminate wood-to-soil and stucco-to-soil contact. Keep mulch and plant material away from the exterior and foundation. Repair cracks. Termites can use cracks the thickness of a credit card to invade. Do not disturb a termite treatment around the foundation. See FDACS, Subterranean Termites.
That credit-card line is why “we just closed on a new build” is not an ID and not a clearance. A matching service does not walk the stem wall. A Chapter 482 licensee may.
A new-construction pretreat is a licensed permit job, not a matching-site spray
Florida treats preventive termite work on new construction as its own permit. Florida Statutes section 482.0815 says a licensee must have a permit to perform preventive termite treatments for new construction, except for treatments on additions to existing structures for which the licensee already has a current termite treatment contract. The permit auto-renews with the license unless it has been suspended, revoked, or otherwise denied. A licensee holding that permit must keep records of pesticides purchased and of soil area and sites treated. The amount of pesticide on hand must at least equal the amount the label requires for the area treated. Performing new-construction preventive treatments while that permit is suspended or revoked is a license-suspension event. See Fla. Stat. 482.0815.
That statute is about the operator, not about Orlando West Pest Care. We do not hold a 482.0815 permit. We do not pretreat a slab. Advertising that we will is advertising pest control we are not licensed to perform. Florida Statutes section 482.191 makes it unlawful to solicit, practice, perform, or advertise in pest control except as Chapter 482 provides. We match you with a licensed local pest control operator. We do not spray, inspect, or tent.
A builder contract you signed at closing is also not this website. It may name a company, a bait system, a soil product, or a transfer fee. Read the paper. If the contract lapsed, or if you never received it, say that on the matching form. A pretreat is not a lifetime certificate that the soil will never host a colony, and it is not a drywood tent. Drywood termites live and forage in dry wood. They enter through eaves, furniture, and swarming. They do not need the soil story. Mixing those files is how a homeowner assumes a soil product covers an insect in fascia. The companion post is drywood vs subterranean termites in west Orlando.
Where Horizon West actually leaves a gap
Horizon West is a sector plan, not a city. The houses are young: slabs, foam, stucco, screen cages, and irrigation that runs whether anyone is home. Young does not mean sealed. Common notes on a matching form, none of which is a diagnosis: mulch piled against a stem wall until stucco meets soil; a rotary head that wets the same corner every dawn; an expansion joint at the garage that was never recaulked; a sleeve around the water line or refrigerant line with a gap you can see from the driveway; form boards or grade stakes left in the fill; wood fencing or a trellis tied into the house; a lanai screen track that sits in a wet trough after rain.
FDACS already named the list: wood-to-soil, stucco-to-soil, mulch, sprinklers, gutters, leaks, credit-card cracks. A 2022 Waterleigh lot and a 2016 Horizon West lot sit under the same airport rain series and still need different notes. A 1994 Ocoee addition is a different house. It is not a different statute.
West Orlando rain is moisture context, not a clearance
The Florida Climate Center publishes NOAA / NCEI 1991–2020 normals for Orlando International Airport: 51.45 inches of rain a year, with 8.05 inches in June, 7.46 in July, 7.69 in August, and 6.37 inches in September. Annual mean temperature is 73.0°F. See the Florida Climate Center Orlando 1991–2020 normals.
That is why soil against a new slab stays wet when a buyer wants to close in September, and why irrigation plus a wet-season afternoon is not “the rain caused termites.” Rain does not convert a flashlight photo into a wood-destroying organism report. Moisture is conducive. The report is licensed.
A WDO is a department form, not a builder walkthrough
When a licensed pest control company inspects a structure for wood-destroying organisms in a real estate transaction, and either charges a fee or is asked for a written report, Florida requires a wood-destroying organism inspection report. That is Florida Statutes section 482.226. The inspection has to follow good industry practice and department standards, and it has to cover all wood-destroying organisms, not only the insect on the glass. Findings go on a form prescribed by the department. The report is not a guarantee of absence unless it specifically states the extent of such a guarantee. See Fla. Stat. 482.226.
A person may not perform those inspections or treatments without the identification card the chapter requires. Orlando West Pest Care does not hold that card. If you are selling or refinancing a Horizon West house, say sale or refinance on the form. If you are not selling and you saw a mud tube, wings, or a gap at the slab, it is still a licensed look. We match you with a licensed local pest control operator. We do not inspect, tent, or write the report.
Use get a quote. Name Horizon West, Hamlin, or Waterleigh. Say new construction, whether a builder termite contract is in force, and whether the job is a sale. Nearby: termite and WDO and Horizon West.
Related matching notes
- Matching service page
- Service area
- Get a quote
- Drywood vs subterranean
- What a WDO inspection is
- Selling a house: WDO
Sources
- FDACS, Termites (construction and maintenance first; licensed inspection and treatment next; identification before treatment): fdacs.gov/.../Termites
- FDACS, Subterranean Termites (credit-card cracks; wood-to-soil and stucco-to-soil; mulch; sprinklers; annual licensed inspection): fdacs.gov/.../Subterranean-Termites
- Fla. Stat. 482.0815, Permit to perform preventive termite treatment services for new construction only: flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/0482.0815
- Florida Climate Center / NOAA NCEI 1991–2020 normals, Orlando International Airport (annual 51.45 inches; June–September wet-season totals as published): climatecenter.fsu.edu/.../orlando
FAQs
Does a new Horizon West house still need a termite look?
FDACS says good construction is the first step and a licensed company is the next. New stucco does not close a credit-card crack, wood-to-soil contact, or irrigation against a stem wall. We match you with a licensed local pest control operator. We do not inspect.
Is a builder pretreat the same as a 482.226 WDO?
No. Section 482.0815 is a permit for preventive treatments on new construction. Section 482.226 is a department-form report when a licensee inspects for a real estate transaction. They are different licensed products.
Can subterranean termites use a hairline crack at the slab?
FDACS says termites can use cracks the thickness of a credit card to invade. A photo of a joint is not an ID. A licensee looks.
Does a soil pretreat cover drywood termites in the eaves?
Not as FDACS’s drywood story, and not as a matching-site promise. Drywood termites live in dry wood. Subterranean work around a foundation is a different contract. See drywood vs subterranean.
Do you pretreat, inspect, or tent new Horizon West houses?
No. We match you with a licensed local pest control operator. We do not spray, bait, inspect, or tent. Use get a quote and name the village.