Checking planting beds, mulch, woodpiles and landscape timbers against the one-foot clearance that Extension advises for a Duval County home.
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A foundation clearance review measures how close landscaping, mulch, woodpiles and timbers sit to a Jacksonville home. The UF/IFAS Extension office advises keeping them at least a foot from the foundation, because material against the wall gives termites a covered route and holds the moisture they need.
Most of the things that help a termite reach a house are things a homeowner put there on purpose. A planting bed built against the siding, a mulch line that climbs the foundation, a stack of firewood, and a landscape timber laid against the wall all look tidy from the street. From the soil's point of view they are a bridge.
The Extension advice for Duval County is a single measurement that is easy to remember: keep landscaping and woodpiles at least a foot from the foundation. A foot is enough to give the technician a clear line of sight along the wall and enough to break the covered route the colony uses to move from soil to wood unseen.
This review is the measuring part of a termite visit. The technician walks the perimeter, notes every bed, mulch edge and pile that falls inside the foot, and records where each one is. The homeowner gets a plain list of what to move and what can stay.
Use gloves and a long-handled tool when moving mulch, firewood or timber, since both can hide splinters, spiders and stinging insects. Lift timbers with a helper and keep your back straight. Do not dig near buried gas, electric or irrigation lines without calling the utility locate service first. Keep children and pets clear of any area being cleared, and do not use a leaf blower near the open crawlspace vent.
The technician walks the outside and measures the distance from the foundation to each bed edge, mulch line, pile and timber. The measure is taken where the material is closest, not on average, because a single touching spot is enough to make a route.
Anything closer than a foot is marked on the sketch or the photograph of the wall. The mark is a list item, not a verdict: some of the material can stay if it is kept low and lean-free, and some has to move.
Where a bed, pile or timber sits close to the wall, the soil and the wood at the contact point are checked for tubes, moisture and softness. A mark with damage behind it is handed to the inspection so the structure is checked the same day.
The homeowner gets a list in priority order. The largest contact points, such as a pile against siding, come first. Smaller items, such as mulch depth, come after, so the homeowner can work through them over a season.
The next visit checks the list. A pile that was moved, a bed that was pulled back and a mulch line that was lowered are each recorded, and anything that drifted back toward the wall is raised again.
A foot is the clearance the UF/IFAS Extension office advises for landscaping and woodpiles in Duval County. It is enough to keep the covered route from touching the wall and to give the technician a clear strip to inspect, which is why the measure is written as a number rather than as a general instruction.
Termites that reach a house through soil usually travel in a covered path. Mud tubes, soil and debris give them a shelter from air and predators, and the path ends wherever a wall, a pile or a timber gives them wood to feed on. Pushing that path a foot out from the foundation means the shelter has to be rebuilt through open ground, where it is easier to see and easier to treat.
A foot also gives the inspector a line to read. If the soil beside the wall is bare for a foot, a mud tube has nowhere to hide and any new one shows up against the bare strip. A bed or pile that sits right against the siding hides the base of the wall and makes every later inspection less reliable.
The foot is a minimum, not a target. Some lots have a wall where the clearance is wider and the soil is clean, and that is the best case. The review checks that the minimum is met and notes where it is exceeded.
Landscaping holds soil, mulch and plants against the house, while a woodpile holds cellulose and moisture in a stack. Both can carry a colony to the structure, but the fix differs: beds are pulled back and trimmed, and piles are moved onto a raised rack or pallet.
A planting bed is living and changing. Its soil is loosened every season, it is watered, and it holds a root system that runs toward the foundation. The clearance for a bed is therefore a line that has to be checked again after each planting, not a single measurement made once.
A woodpile is a stack that stays where it is put until someone moves it. Its base is often in contact with the soil and its bottom logs are damp, so it becomes a permanent route if it sits against the wall. Raising it on a rack and moving it a foot or more from the house breaks the route in one step.
The two can be combined. A bed with a stack of firewood at its edge has two clearance problems, and the review records each one separately so the homeowner does not fix the bed and leave the wood where it was.
Mulch can be pulled back and a pile can be moved in an afternoon. Rebuilding a bed, regrading the soil or replacing a timber that has softened takes longer and may need a landscaper or a carpenter. The review sorts the list so the quick changes are done first.
The quick changes are the ones that take a rake, a wheelbarrow and a helper. Pulling mulch back from the foundation, moving a stack of firewood onto a pallet and trimming a shrub away from the wall are each a short job, and each one immediately gives the technician more to read.
The slower changes are rebuilding a bed and changing the grade. A bed that has to be moved a foot away from the wall may also need its edging reset and its plants lifted and replanted. A grade that slopes toward the house is a landscaping job, and the review should say so rather than leave the homeowner to guess.
Timbers and pavers that have softened at the contact line are a carpentry question. A soft timber should not be repaired with more wood against the wall. It should be replaced or set back, and the homeowner should ask the technician to check the wall behind it.
Check the clearance at least once each season and after any new planting, mulch delivery or firewood delivery. Landscaping changes quickly, and a clearance that was correct in spring can be lost by summer when plants have grown or a new bed has been added.
Seasonal checks work best when they are tied to a task the homeowner already does. Mulching in spring and firewood delivery in fall are natural times to look at the foot, and a quick walk around the house at those times catches most of what changes.
New plantings need a check before they go in. A shrub set close to the wall grows into the foundation line within a few seasons, and a bed that is built fresh against the siding has to be measured before the soil goes in.
A homeowner who keeps a simple sketch of the foundation, marked with the foot line, can check the lot quickly. The technician's record can be added to the sketch so the next visit can compare what changed.
The review feeds the termite plan with a list of contact points, and the inspection checks each point for tubes and softness. Clearing a point does not replace a treatment, but it removes a route the treatment would otherwise have to fight.
A termite plan has to cover every route the colony can use, and clearance is the easiest route to close. A pile moved off the wall means one less path the colony can rebuild, and a bed pulled back leaves a bare strip that a new tube will show against.
The review also tells the technician where to look first. Each mark on the list is a place where the structure may be damp or damaged, so the inspection of the wall starts there rather than in the middle of a long, unbroken stretch of siding.
After the changes are made, the next visit records what has been cleared and what is still inside the foot. The plan is updated, and any point that keeps coming back is treated as a moisture or routing problem rather than a one-time clearance issue.
Beds built up against the siding are the most common clearance problem, because the soil in the bed holds water against the wall and the roots run along the foundation. The usual fix is to pull the bed back to a foot or more and to keep shrubs trimmed so the base of the wall stays visible.
Mulch is useful in a bed, but it is a cellulose layer that termites can use as cover. Keeping the mulch a few inches deep and a foot or more from the foundation keeps the cover off the wall. A clean strip of bare soil or stone at the foundation gives the technician a line to read.
A woodpile, lumber stack or landscape timber against the house is a bridge in its own right. Moving it onto a rack a foot or more away, and setting timbers and pavers so they do not touch the wall, removes the bridge without losing the feature.
UF/IFAS Extension Duval County advises keeping landscaping and woodpiles at least a foot from the foundation, and the review measures that clearance on each visit.
Riverside is where Extension says Formosan termites are concentrated, so a clean foot of bare soil at the foundation is the first thing the inspection looks for there.
Extension's clearance advice applies to a whole lot, including the side yard, the back of the house and any shed or fence that touches the structure.
Tell us what's happening and we'll tell you honestly whether it's a quick fix, and what foundation clearance and landscape review should cost.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Checking the leaks, gutters, downspouts and grading that keep soil and wood wet enough for termites to use a route to the structure.
Checking live trees, stumps and woodpiles on a Jacksonville lot, where Formosan colonies can keep part of their nest outside the house.
Soil, bait and structural treatments for subterranean termites that have reached a Duval County home, matched to where the colony is feeding.
A household pest visit for Duval County homes that covers the pests with a sourced local record and is honest about the seasons that are not yet documented for the area.
A termite prevention checklist for a Jacksonville home lists the steps that remove the conditions termites need: landscaping and woodpiles kept a foot from the foundation, leaks repaired promptly, and gutters and drainage directed away from the house.
The UF/IFAS Extension office's Duval County advice is to keep landscaping and woodpiles at least a foot from the foundation. That clearance breaks the covered route termites use from soil to wood and leaves a clear strip for inspection.
A trimmed bed still holds soil and water against the wall. The review recommends pulling the bed back to a foot or more, because trimming alone does not give the inspection a clear line of sight.
Mulch is a cellulose layer that termites can use as cover when it is deep and in contact with the wall. A few inches of mulch kept off the foundation is a reasonable compromise between a garden and a clear strip.
Raise it on a rack or pallet and set it at least a foot from the house, outside the crawlspace and the garage. Use the oldest wood first so nothing sits for years.
A landscaper or a grading contractor. The pest review names the wet spots and the slope that sends water toward the house, but the regrading itself is a landscaping job.
It removes some of the routes a colony can use, and it helps the inspection and any treatment hold. It does not guarantee that termites will not reach the house, because the colony can forage from elsewhere on the lot or the next property.