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Termites don’t announce themselves. They work through the wood framing of your home quietly, continuously 24 hours a day and by the time you notice something wrong, the damage is already done. The average repair bill runs around $3,000, and your homeowner’s insurance almost certainly won’t cover a dollar of it. That’s the part most people don’t find out until it’s too late.
For homes in Gravesend most of which were built between the 1920s and 1950s the risk is real and specific. Aging wood framing, older foundations, basement utility chases, and years of deferred maintenance create exactly the kind of entry points that Eastern Subterranean Termites look for. Add in the neighborhood’s proximity to Coney Island Creek and the Belt Parkway shoreline, and you’ve got consistently damp soil conditions that make underground colonies easier to establish and harder to detect.
Once we complete a proper treatment, that changes. The colony is eliminated not just the workers you can see, but the source underground. Your home stops losing structural integrity to something invisible. If you’re selling, you have the documentation your buyer’s lender needs. If you’re staying, you have the peace of mind that comes with knowing your investment is actually protected.
We were founded in 1971 by Richard Kourbage Sr. and are still run by his family today. That’s not a detail we throw in to sound warm it means when something goes wrong, there’s a real person accountable for it. The same family name has been on every job in Kings County for over 50 years.
Our office is on Flatbush Avenue, a few miles from Gravesend. The technicians who show up to homes near Kings Highway, Ocean Parkway, and Avenue U aren’t dispatched from a call center in another state they’re Brooklyn-based, they know the building stock in Gravesend and throughout the neighborhood, and they’ve seen the same aging foundations and converted two-family homes dozens of times before.
We hold BBB accreditation dating back to 1989, apply only NYS DEC registered materials, and carry more than 100 years of combined staff experience. That’s not a number pulled from a brochure. It’s what actually shows up when a technician walks into a 1930s Gravesend home and knows exactly where to look.
It starts with an inspection. One of our licensed technicians walks the property inside and out looking for mud tubes, hollow-sounding wood, discarded wings, moisture damage, and any foundation gaps or soil contact points where termites could be entering. In Gravesend’s older homes, that typically means a thorough look at the basement, crawl spaces, utility chases, and any areas where wood meets the ground or sits close to it. If there’s activity, you’ll know exactly where and how bad.
From there, treatment is matched to what the inspection actually finds. For active subterranean termite infestations, that usually means a liquid barrier treatment applied to the soil around the foundation, a termite baiting system, or a combination of both. Baiting systems work differently than liquid treatments termites carry the bait back to the colony, which eliminates the source rather than just the workers at the surface. For Gravesend properties near the Belt Parkway corridor where soil moisture stays consistently high, this colony-level approach tends to produce more durable results.
After treatment, you receive documentation of everything we’ve done materials used, areas treated, and what to monitor going forward. If you need a Wood Destroying Organism report for a mortgage or real estate closing, we handle that at the same time. Annual follow-up inspections are available and recommended, especially for homes in this age range.
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Termite control in Gravesend isn’t a single product applied once and forgotten. What we provide is a complete response to what’s actually happening in and around your home not a generic treatment protocol built for a different climate or a different building type.
Our full service includes a detailed termite inspection, identification of the specific species and extent of activity, and a treatment plan based on your property’s layout and construction. For most Gravesend homes detached and semi-detached one- and two-family buildings with full basements that means addressing below-grade entry points, soil conditions around the foundation, and any wood-to-ground contact that’s giving termites a path in. Liquid barrier treatments, baiting systems, and direct wood treatments are all part of our toolkit, applied based on what the inspection shows. We also treat carpenter ants and powder post beetles, which often show up alongside termite activity in older Brooklyn homes.
For property owners dealing with an NYC Department of Health pest-related housing code citation which carries real financial penalties and can affect a building’s certificate of occupancy we handle the treatment documentation needed to satisfy city inspectors. And for buyers or sellers in Gravesend’s active real estate market, Wood Destroying Organism inspection reports are available with the fast turnaround that closings require. All materials we use are registered with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
The honest answer is that most homeowners don’t know not until a renovation opens up a wall, or a termite inspection catches it before a sale. Eastern Subterranean Termites, which are the dominant species throughout Brooklyn and the rest of New York City, work underground and inside wood. They don’t leave obvious trails on the surface until a colony has been active for years.
What you might notice in a Gravesend home: mud tubes running along foundation walls or basement framing, wood that sounds hollow when you knock on it, small piles of what looks like sawdust near baseboards or window sills, or discarded wings near doors and windows in the spring. That last one the wings shows up during swarm season, which typically hits southern Brooklyn in early spring after warm, rainy days. If you’re seeing any of these signs, or if your home is 70-plus years old and hasn’t been inspected recently, a professional inspection is the only way to know for certain what you’re dealing with.
Cost depends on the size of the property, the extent of the infestation, and what treatment method is appropriate. For a typical Gravesend one- or two-family home, termite treatment generally falls in the range of $800 to $2,500. Larger properties, more severe infestations, or situations requiring both liquid barrier treatment and a baiting system will sit toward the higher end of that range.
What matters more than the upfront cost is what you’re avoiding. Termite damage repair averages around $3,000 nationally, and homeowner’s insurance in New York almost universally excludes termite damage. A colony that’s been active for five or more years which is common in Gravesend’s older housing stock can cause structural damage that costs far more to repair than treatment would have cost to prevent. We provide a free inspection and a written estimate before any work begins, so you know exactly what you’re looking at before you make any decisions.
Termites don’t eat brick but that doesn’t mean brick buildings are safe. A significant portion of Gravesend’s mid-century housing stock uses brick exteriors with wood interior framing, flooring, joists, and structural elements. Eastern Subterranean Termites only need a gap of about 1/32 of an inch to enter through a foundation or expansion joint, and once they’re inside, they’ll feed on any wood they can reach regardless of what the exterior is made of.
This is a common misconception that leads Brooklyn property owners to skip inspections on buildings they assume are protected. If your building has a brick exterior but wood framing, wood floors, or a wood subfloor which describes a large percentage of the apartment buildings and co-ops in Gravesend termite inspection is just as relevant as it is for a fully wood-frame home. The entry points are different, but the risk inside is the same.
It depends on the financing. FHA and VA loans which are common among first-time buyers in Gravesend given the neighborhood’s relatively accessible price point typically require a Wood Destroying Organism report before the lender will approve the mortgage. Even for conventional purchases, buyers increasingly request termite inspections as part of their due diligence, especially for homes built before 1960.
From a seller’s perspective, having a clean termite inspection report upfront removes one of the most common contingencies that slow down or kill deals. Gravesend’s real estate market sees consistent transaction volume, and a termite-related finding mid-contract when you’re already under pressure is a much harder situation to manage than addressing it before you list. We provide WDO inspection reports with documentation formatted for lenders, attorneys, and property managers, and same-day inspections are frequently available for time-sensitive closings.
Yes, when properly installed and maintained. Termite bait stations are placed in the soil around the perimeter of the property, enclosed in tamper-resistant housings. The active ingredient inside works specifically on termites’ biology it disrupts their molting process and the amount used per station is extremely small. For families in Gravesend’s dense, multi-generational households where kids and pets are regularly in the yard or near the foundation, this is one of the reasons baiting systems are often preferred over broad liquid applications.
All materials we use are registered with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and applied according to EPA safety protocols. Our technician will walk you through placement locations, what the stations look like, and what if anything you need to do differently in that area of the yard. There’s no evacuation required, no extended re-entry period, and no disruption to your daily routine after installation.
They can, and in a neighborhood as densely built as Gravesend, it’s a real consideration. Eastern Subterranean Termite colonies travel underground through the soil in search of new food sources. In areas where homes sit close together semi-detached houses, homes with shared foundations, or properties with adjacent landscaping an untreated colony can extend its foraging territory into neighboring structures over time.
Gravesend’s population density is among the highest in the country, which means properties here are closer together than in most places. That’s not a reason to panic, but it is a reason to take termite activity seriously rather than waiting to see if it gets worse. If a neighbor has mentioned termite problems, or if you’ve seen swarmers in the area during spring, getting an inspection done sooner rather than later is the practical move. Catching activity early before a colony has had years to establish and expand is always easier and less expensive to address than dealing with it after the fact.
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