WDO Inspections & Fumigation When Selling a Florida Home

What a WDO inspection is (and is not)

A WDO inspection is a visual inspection of accessible areas for evidence of wood-destroying organisms — termites, certain beetles, and wood-decay fungi — documented on the standard report used in Florida transactions. It records visible evidence: frass, galleries, swarmers, mud tubes, damaged wood. It does not open walls, and it does not certify a home ‘termite-free’ — it certifies what was visible on that day.

Lenders and buyers rely on it because it is standardized and licensed. A report noting active drywood infestation in the structure is the document that starts most transaction fumigations.

What happens when the report finds drywoods

The finding enters the negotiation. Depending on the contract, the seller may agree to treat, the buyer may accept and treat after closing, or the parties may split the difference — Florida contracts handle this in their own clauses, and the real-estate professionals guide that part. The pest side of the decision is narrower: is the documented activity localized, or structural?

A single colony noted in one location may be resolved with localized treatment documented for the file. Activity in framing, the attic, or multiple locations usually points to fumigation, because the transaction needs a treatment that addresses the whole report — and the whole structure.

Fitting fumigation into a closing timeline

Fumigation needs roughly three days — tent, exposure, aeration and clearance — plus homeowner preparation before day one. Against a closing date, that means sequencing: the WDO early, the treatment decision immediately after, the tent dates locked with a buffer for weather, and documentation delivered before signatures.

The classic failure mode is a late WDO: findings in the final week, everyone scrambling. Sellers who suspect drywood history do themselves a favor by inspecting before listing, when the timeline is theirs to control.

Vacant vs. occupied homes in a sale

Vacant homes are the easy case: no preparation burden beyond removing or bagging anything consumable left inside, and tent dates flex freely. Occupied homes need the full prep checklist worked by whoever the contract assigns — that assignment should be explicit, because ‘the seller will handle prep’ discovered on tent day is a closing delay waiting to happen.

Either way, the provider’s documentation of the completed treatment goes to all parties — it is the piece of paper the file needs, and it should say what was treated, when, and by whom.

For buyers reading an old WDO

An old report showing treated infestation is history, not a defect — Florida homes accumulate WDO paper the way they accumulate paint layers. What matters is whether treatment was documented and whether any current evidence exists. A fresh inspection before closing answers the second question; the file answers the first.

And if you are buying a home with drywood history, the cheapest fumigation window in your ownership may be the empty days between closing and move-in. Many buyers use exactly that window.