Termites work silently, often causing significant structural damage before they’re detected. In the GTA alone, they destroy over $120 million in properties annually.
Termite Treatments
Target termites at every stage of infestation, keeping your property safe and secure.
Pre-Construction Solutions
Aetna offers a full suite of treatment options for pre-construction, ensuring both short and long term protection.
Infestation Prevention
To proactively protect your property, eliminating moisture, removing wood to soil contact, and seal cracks in the foundation.
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I have dealt with Aetna for many years, and they’ve carried out regular termite inspections on my last three homes. Last year they installed the new (to Canada) Sentricon bait system around the perimeter of our home after we discovered termites in our back yard. One year later, Richard invited me to tag along as they carried out our first annual inspection. It’s obvious the system is working as advertised, and in our area, the extra level of protection feels well worth it. Thanks Richard, Liz, and the rest of the team at Aetna.
Kieran O’Beirne -
My elderly mother had cockroaches and was very upset and emotional. The people at AETNA were excellent. They solved the problem very quickly. Explained everything to both me and my mother. I live far away, and I felt totally comfortable working with the technicians. They were extremely professional and my mother was super happy with the service. They treated her with kid gloves. I would give Aetna 10 stars if I could. They will always be the pest control company for our family. Thank you to the excellent office staff and technicians for really caring about your customers.
Deirdre O’Brien -
Great team with awesome customer service. We had an absolute disaster of a job and they stayed with us from the beginning to the end after we had to fire another group. Would save yourself time and money just go with Richard and the team at Aetna for any of you pest management needs. Especially termites
Update. The follow up on service calls is excellent. Can’t say enough positive things about working with the entire company. Would rate 6 stars
Lachlan Cheng
Signs of Termite Infestations
Mud tubes on walls or foundations indicate termites traveling between soil and wood. Hollow-sounding wood suggests internal damage, as termites eat wood from the inside out. Blistering paint can result from moisture caused by termite activity. Discarded wings near windowsills or light sources signal swarming termites. Visible damage to structural wood, such as visible tunnels or grooves, further confirms termite infestation.
Common Termite Hierarchy
Termite colonies follow a distinct hierarchy. The egg hatches into larvae, which eventually develop into workers, responsible for foraging and building tunnels. Soldiers defend the colony from predators. Swarmer termites, or reproductive adults, leave the colony. The queen is the colony’s leader, laying eggs to ensure its survival and growth. This structured system supports colony functionality.
Points of Entry Into your Property
Subterranean termites have underground colonies that can reach locations several feet above ground level by creating mud tubes. These termites typically infest homes at or below ground level. Subterranean termites commonly enter your home through wood-to-ground contacts like door frames, deck posts, and porch steps; they can also enter homes through cracks in the foundation or brick mortar.
Common Questions About Termites
Unlike ants or cockroaches, subterranean termites live in massive colonies deep underground. While a DIY spray might kill the few termites you see on a windowsill, it will not reach the queen or the rest of the colony, allowing the structural damage to continue invisibly behind your walls.
Subterranean termites are “silent destroyers” because they consume wood from the inside out, often leaving the exterior grain or paint completely intact. By the time you see visible “blistering” on your paint or sagging in your door frames, the colony has likely been established for a significant amount of time.
Subterranean termites require moisture to survive and will build “mud tubes”—tunnels about a pencil width made of soil and saliva—to travel from the ground into your home’s wooden structure. They exploit even the smallest cracks in your foundation, gaps in brick mortar, or areas where wooden porch steps and deck posts make direct contact with the soil.
Traditional liquid treatments create a “chemical wall” around your home to kill termites, but they can be difficult to apply thoroughly if you have a finished basement or complex landscaping. If there is a single gap in that liquid barrier, the colony’s foragers will eventually find it and gain entry.
Why Education Leads to Sentricon™
Now that you understand how subterranean colonies enter through foundation cracks and follow a strict hierarchy led by a queen, it becomes clear why traditional liquid barriers often fall short.
Aetna is one of the few providers in the GTA authorized to install the Sentricon™ System. This technology uses termite own foraging behaviour to eliminate the entire colony while using significantly fewer chemicals than traditional methods.
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We have termites! Luckily, we noticed before they did any serious damage. Old house in East York, more common than you would think. I immediately called Aetna and they quickly sent Richard to do an inspection. He was very thorough in his inspection and educated me on their new system, Sentricon, which was less invasive to our home and life. Liz and Marie at the office were also very helpful with setting up the appts and communication. And the gentlemen that came to install the Sentricon system were kind, quick, knowledgeable and worked with us to put the product in the best/inconspicuous places. We just redid the back yard and you can barely tell they did anything. They even cleaned up after themselves. Highly recommend Aetna to deal with termites and the Sentricon system.
Samantha Marasco -
My one problem with Aetna is that I wish we’d found them sooner!
We were horrified to discover termites gnawing through interior drywall at our place a few years back, then even more demoralized as we tried to find anyone competent & affordable to help. There aren’t many companies in the city that have the specialist knowledge & gear to deal with termites. (Several superficially different outfits actually all use the same subcontractors, e.g.) And even after going with one of the top-rated options, we found it was a brutal struggle to get our warranty honoured when the infestation came back — mainly because they hadn’t accurately assessed the extent of the problem to begin with, and we had to fight tooth and nail for followup attention.
All this left us looking around for better solutions, and Aetna’s Sentricon stations checked all the boxes. But beyond just a better product offering, they’ve consistently gone above & beyond on the customer service front since we signed our contract. Can’t ask for more than a hugely knowledgeable & friendly local company who gets the job done!
Alastair -
Aetna saved our home. No, seriously, they did. We bought a house in 2022 and within a month noticed termite activity. We called Aetna and they inspected, reassured us and booked us in for a liquid treatment. They had also mentioned a possible new termite system they were hoping to receive in the next couple months.
We have an extension at the back of our home that sits on a slab, and the floors have heating. To say that the treatment was challenging is an understatement. The liquid treatment just couldnt touch the termite activity. Aetna kept coming back to check, treat and wed wait. Meanwhile, termites were tearing up the flooring in our kitchen that was located in the extension of our house. I would honestly call and email Liz weekly, sometimes I would even be crying. I was just so worried that this dream home we bought would never be rid of termites. Liz spent a lot of time empathizing with me, talking with Richard, and reassuring me that theyd figure this out. And that Sentricon would be here and it would help. They said its a product from the US and they had to wait for Health Canada to approve it. We waited what felt like forever. Truly, I thought it would never arrive.
Finally in October 2023, Sentricon arrived and Aetna installed it for us. They put 10+ bait stations over the exterior of our property.
To make this long story a bit shorter, we are now in September 2024 and we no longer have any termites. They ate up all of the stations and have had to be refilled. We have an annual inspection coming up and Im so curious to see what may have come of the new stations.
Aetna saved the day with Sentricon. I truly believe its a product that everyone needs, especially in areas with highly active termites like in the east end of Toronto.
Thank you Aetna.
Jessica