Silver Bullet Pest ControlSoft wood on the front porch steps, mud lines on the basement wall, or a termite inspection your lender wants before closing on a two-family? Silver Bullet Pest Control inspects Passaic homes and buildings for termites, shows you exactly what we find, and treats where they're getting in. Hablamos español.
4.9 stars on Google • NJ License 90568B • 15+ years • Right across the river in Garfield • Hablamos español
Found winged bugs or wings by a window? Text a photo to 973-510-2585 — termites or ants, we'll tell you.
Silver Bullet Pest Control inspects and treats termites in Passaic from our base directly across the river in Garfield. A licensed technician checks the foundation, basement, porches, stairs and wood inside and out, shows you what we find, and recommends a treatment — usually a soil treatment along the foundation plus the active areas. NJ License 90568B, 4.9 stars on Google, hablamos español. Call or text 973-510-2585.
The termites that damage North Jersey homes are eastern subterranean termites. They live in the soil, build mud tubes to stay moist, and come up into buildings looking for wood. They don't need a forest — a city lot is plenty.
Much of Passaic was built a long time ago: wood-frame two- and three-family houses, brick apartment buildings with wood floors and joists inside, and larger older homes in the Passaic Park section. Those buildings have a lot of the things termites look for:
Brick on the outside doesn't make a building termite-proof. Termites travel through foundation cracks and gaps behind the brick and reach the wood framing inside.
Not every wood problem is termites. These three are the ones we sort out most often:
This is the termite that does the damage in New Jersey. The workers avoid light, so you rarely see them — you see their tubes and the damage they leave.
Termites only need a thin crack to reach wood. On older foundations we follow cracks and joints closely, especially where porches and steps meet the house.
Carpenter ants damage wood too, but they don't eat it, and the treatment is different. If it's ants, we tell you and treat for ants instead.
The framing under porches is often close to soil and hidden behind brick or lattice. It's one of the most common places we find damage.
Where the wood rests on top of the foundation. We probe it and look for tubes coming up the wall below it.
Posts and stringers set into the dirt give termites a direct path into wood.
Detached garages with wood frames on old slabs often have termites before the house does.
Finished basement? Paneling and drywall can hide tubes for years. We check every spot we can reach and tell you what we couldn't see.
| Sign | Termites | Carpenter ants | Wood rot |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you see | Mud tubes, swarmers in spring | Large black ants, some with wings | Soft, dark, crumbly wood |
| Inside the wood | Tunnels packed with soil | Clean, smooth tunnels | No tunnels — wood breaks down |
| Debris | Little or none outside the wood | Sawdust-like shavings | None |
| Wings | Four equal wings, shed in piles | Front wings longer than back | — |
| What to do | Termite treatment | Ant treatment and fixing moisture | Fix the water problem, replace wood |
Termites swarm mostly in spring, often on a warm day after rain. Swarmers inside usually mean a colony close by.
Outside walls, porches, stairs, fences and the yard, then the basement, crawl spaces, sill plates, joists and trim along outside walls.
We show you live termites, tubes, damage or conditions that invite them, with photos, and tell you plainly whether you need treatment.
Usually a soil treatment along the foundation so termites coming up from the ground hit a treated zone, plus treatment of active areas inside.
We point out moisture problems, wood touching soil and anything that makes termites likely to come back.
Already have damaged wood? We treat the termites first, then our crew repairs the damaged sill plates, joists and framing. See termite damage repair.
Termites don't care how many units a building has. They come up from the soil under the foundation, so the treatment is planned around the whole building, not a single apartment.
Other problems in the building? We also handle rats and mice and roaches in Passaic.
Many New Jersey home sales include a wood-destroying insect inspection, and VA loans require one. That's true for single-family homes and for the two- and three-family houses that are common in Passaic.
More: VA termite inspections in NJ and termite damage repair.
The quote is free and given after the inspection:
| Factor | Smaller job | Bigger job |
|---|---|---|
| Building | Single-family, small footprint | Two- or three-family, apartment building |
| Activity | One small area | Several areas, porch and basement |
| Access | Open basement, bare walls | Finished basement, slab porches, tight crawl spaces |
| Foundation | Poured concrete in good shape | Old stone or block with many cracks |
| Damage | None | Wood that needs repair after treatment |
Call or text 973-510-2585 to set up a termite inspection.
Tell us what you found — tubes, wings, soft wood — or your closing date if you're buying. English or Spanish.
🔒 Your info stays private · Hablamos español.
Yes. The brick doesn't stop them — termites travel through foundation cracks and reach the wood floors, joists and framing inside.
Thin brown lines of dried mud, about the width of a pencil, running up a foundation wall or pipe. Leave them in place and text us a photo.
Mostly in spring, often on a warm day after rain.
Termites leave mud and soil in their tunnels; carpenter ants leave clean tunnels and sawdust-like shavings. Swarmer wings tell them apart too. We'll check as part of your free quote.
It could be termites or wood rot. Porches are a common termite spot in older homes, so it's worth an inspection before replacing the wood.
Yes. Tell us the closing date, lender and who needs the report. VA loans require a wood-destroying insect inspection.
Usually not. Most of the inspection and treatment is at the foundation, basement and outside of the building.
Most homes are treated in one visit. Larger buildings or finished basements can take longer, and we tell you before we start.
Yes. We treat the termites first, then our crew repairs the damaged wood — sill plates, joists, beams and framing — so one company handles both.
Yes. NJ License 90568B, with over 15 years of experience, based across the river in Garfield.
Sí. Hablamos español. Llame o mande texto al 973-510-2585 con una foto de lo que encontró.
From our base in Garfield we cover Passaic and the towns around it.
Updated November 2026 by the Silver Bullet Pest Control team, Garfield, NJ • NJ License 90568B
