Termites are rare here with the dry desert climate. With all the rain we have had over the last several months, they may start appearing here. More unwanted Portland homeless becoming squatters. We do have fire ants which look similar but are not hungering for eating my house down. When I remodeled 15 years ago, all I found was some dry rot where doors and windows were not sealed properly when installed. I just parted with $1000 to have my electrical service switched to the mainline and get off the sideline that has problems due to all the people on it that won't trim their trees and all the transformers working close to their peak rating. Termites would finish me off in more ways than one. They are not a DIY project. A young guy down the street does pest control and does an inspection and all-inclusive treatment that even includes bed bugs for $2500. I have lots of birds around, especially crows and I hear they are termite killers