South Bay Termite

I hired South Bay Termite to fix dry rot, water damage, and pest damage. Of the 10 projects I paid them for, they only did one correctly. They used the least expensive material they could find without considering whether it was the right material for the job. Not only did they do an absolutely terrible job, but they killed several of my plants, broke my irrigation system, and 'stole' material from us to use in the project instead of buying material. There was water damage in our sun room, which is an enclosed deck. They replaced the damage floor with unfinished plywood, exposing plywood to the elements which will soon rot. They replaced dry-rotted redwood shiplap board with a incorrectly sized fungus laden used board made of moulding material. Being the wrong size, the wrong material, and stained will fungus, I removed it only to find that they hid instead of fixed the 2X4 they attached it to, which was sitting upon a 2x4 which they hadn't bothered screwing in to place. There were two spots of dry rot near our basement door. They "fixed" one by cutting it out and replacing with mis-matched wood. Only fixing one spot and making it look horrible, I requested that they do it correctly. They caulked in a 1x3 unfinished pine (indoor wood). When I removed it today to put in correct outdoor materials I discovered they had hidden the dry rot they were supposed to fix; in other words, they hid the issue and didn't actually fix anything. They replaced my deck. They used the lowest quality wood possible. Literally, every single piece of ballister is defective. It looks bad from far and absolutely horrible on close inspection.They also didn't use joist hangers. They did use wood connectors, but only on about 60% of the joist/ledger connectors. In terms of "stealing', they took indoor moulding from my back room and used it for the outdoor door frame instead of buying the correct wood, and they literally took a strong tie off a pier to put it on another pier instead of just buying a new one (they cost about $2). And, when they took the strong tie off the good pier, they didn't put the bold back in. They used old, dry, rotten caulk and wood filler. I purchased caulk so they would at least use the good stuff. They used one and the other one "walked away" Because the work was so bad, the inspector came out to look at the work. While the worker admitted his work was "ca ca", the inspector found no issues with anything. Just stared blankly into space. He didn't notice that not all the work was done. In addition to the dry rot in the wall, above the replaced wood (which i didn't mention above), dry rot hidden by the outdoor door framing, the worker completely missed fixing a window frame. South Bay Termite is literally the worst contractor I have ever hired in my 13 years fixing fixer-uppers. They're cheap, but definitely not inexpensive. On the contrary, they're very expensive. I am redoing their work for less than what I paid them, but am doing right. On a positive note, they did such a horrible job that I have now learned how to identify dry rot, bug damage, wood quality issues, etc. so my skill set has improved. The photos are of work that was allegedly completed. These aren't "before" pictures. This is what my house looked like "after".

I do not recommend using this company if you need a survey. They should be unbiased and honest about their findings and report data. But since they are dreaming of getting your business, Trust Me, they will find problems everywhere - even on a brand new deck which is not even made of wood. Total joke.

Our impression was favorable. They did overall a good job at a fair price. They quickly did the work. Perhaps, if needed then we would use them.

They did without using toxic chemicals. They did a good job.

This company does a lot of work for my large neighborhood. I have used them for years, and would recommend them to other homeowners. They are fast, friendly, and they hire professional employees. They are local based, and they respond quickly to your calls.