Termite Question

Okay so last night I found that the house we are renting has termites. The way I found out was, I never really looked at it up close but the moulding under the window in the office where I am right now looked kind of weird. Like the wood is uneven...anyway...I pressed on it and it popped a little hole in it by accident...come to find out, it isn't molding in that spot. It's tape...and they painted over the tape with white paint to make it look like moulding. So anyway with that little hole in it that I accidentally made I saw something move. I looked a little closer and OMG it's termites! Now that I know they're there I can hear them moving around under the window in that spot. You can also tell underneath the window where the molding is supposed to be that there is a hollow spot This tape covers about a foot to a foot and a half under the window...My question is..obviously the lanlord knows about it if it's covered up, right? Shouldn't they have told us about it before we moved in?? (i actually moved in in May, while my bf has been here since last October of 2007) I'm worried they might come out and start chewing up my coffee tables and other furniture here in the house. Believe me, I told the boyfriend about it last night. he doesn't want to say anythign to the rental company. He said, "just don't worry about it" I really don't know what we should do. They'd probably want to come tent the house if they knew about it though.

I've had termites in all of my houses, and had all 3 houses sprayed. They don't have to tent up the house, they simply spray around the foundation. I removed the pets each time.

No, they won't come out and eat your furniture. There is plenty to eat in the walls. But I would still call your landlord and tell them that the termites are so bad that you can actually see them.

Why wouldn't your BF want you to call your landlord?

I agree they won't come into your house and start eating your wood furniture, mainly because that wood is treated and finished and they prefer older wood (like the frame of the house). The only time you MAY see them in your house is in the spring when they swarm. That is how my parents found out they had termites...Mom watched as an "army" of termites came out of the baseboard, marched across the kitchen floor, and disappeared under the baseboard of the opposite wall. Yeah, she freaked.

They had their house treated with a spray that didn't involve a tent at all (and it was a 3 story house). Our first house had termites and carpenter ants both. We had it sprayed and then they set baits for them around the house to attract them and carry the bait back to the nests. It worked well. The spray didn't hurt the cats, although we did confine them while they were doing it just in case. In fact my BIL is an exterminator and he did the treatment. We didn't even have to leave the house for it. I followed him room to room while he sprayed and you can't even smell it.

I think the tent thing is a thing of the past now.

I really don't know why the bf doesn't want to say anything. If I were the landlord I would really want to know about it since it takes away value from the home. I'm a little hesitant to call though because I'm technically not supposed to have my cat and I really don't want to get caught having more than 2 animals here. I paid a pet deposit for my two dogs and we are only allowed two animals for the lease. I couldn't give my kitty up since I had her for a year before I moved and I'm sure you guys understand and it's not like she's hurting anything. There are times when she seems to like to sling litter out of her covered litterbox as she's building sandcastles or something in there, but I clean up after that.