New Construction.
Same Termites.
Cypress. Katy. Fulshear. Richmond. Brookshire. Sealy. The west Houston growth corridor is the most active new construction market in the United States — and every new home in it faces the same termite pressure as every resale. Some loans require a WDI inspection before closing. Every buyer deserves one regardless.
Subterranean termites are active year-round across Fort Bend County — present in the soil before your slab is poured. New construction offers no immunity. A brand-new home sits on the same ground, in the same climate, with the same termite pressure as every resale on the street.
Schedule New Construction Inspection → Brand New Doesn't
Mean Termite-Free.
"It's a new build — it doesn't need a termite inspection." Builders hear it. Buyers believe it. Lenders know better.
West Houston has one of the highest subterranean termite pressure rates in the country. The warm, humid climate and Fort Bend County's clay-heavy soil create year-round favorable conditions for termite colony establishment — conditions that exist in the ground before your slab is ever poured. New construction offers no immunity from what's already in the soil.
Treated lumber resists termites. It does not repel them indefinitely, and it does not protect foundation perimeters, landscaping grade issues, moisture accumulation during construction, or the exposed concrete joints and weep holes that subterranean termites exploit through mud tubes from day one.
West Houston also carries a secondary and more aggressive threat: Formosan termites — an invasive subterranean species with established colonies across the entire Houston metro. While subterranean termites account for the overwhelming majority of termite activity in Fort Bend County, Formosan colonies are larger, faster-growing, and capable of bypassing soil treatment barriers by building aerial nests inside walls without soil contact. A colony can establish in a completed structure within days of construction.
A WDIPro new construction WDI inspection gives you the documented baseline your lender may require and your investment deserves — before you close, before you move in, before either species makes it your problem.
When a WDI Report
Is Required to Close.
Texas is a mandatory WDI inspection state for VA loans — new construction included. Here's exactly where each loan type stands, and what your lender will require before issuing the Notice of Value.
Texas is on the VA's mandatory WDI inspection state list. Every VA purchase — new construction or resale — requires a Texas Official WDI Report (SPCS/T-5) before the VA Notice of Value can be issued. No report, no close.
The inspection must be performed by a TDA-licensed inspector. The report must be current (valid for 90 days). If active infestation or damage is found, treatment and clearance are required before closing.
FHA does not universally require WDI inspections, but lenders in high-termite-pressure areas — including all of Fort Bend County and West Houston — routinely require one as a lender overlay. If the FHA appraiser observes evidence of termite activity or damage, an inspection becomes mandatory regardless of base requirements.
For new construction in Katy, Fulshear, Richmond, Cypress, or Sealy, assume your FHA lender will want a WDI report. Get ahead of it before the appraisal.
Conventional lenders are not federally required to mandate WDI inspections, but many do for properties in the Houston MSA. Cash buyers face no lender requirement — and the highest risk. There is no one standing between you and an undocumented termite problem at closing.
For any buyer in the west Houston new construction corridor, a WDI inspection is the one document that creates a verifiable baseline of the property's condition on the day you purchased it. That baseline matters at resale.
Builder pre-treatment is not the same as a WDI inspection. Many new construction builders in the Katy, Fulshear, and Richmond areas include a pre-construction soil treatment — but that treatment is not documented by an independent inspector, does not produce a Texas Official WDI Report, and does not satisfy VA or FHA lender requirements. Only a TDA-licensed inspector issuing a completed SPCS/T-5 meets the loan requirement.
The Most Active New Construction
Market in the United States.
Houston's western suburbs account for 22% of all national master-planned community sales. Fort Bend County alone leads Texas in new housing starts. This is the corridor WDIPro was built to serve — from Cypress and Bridgeland in the north to Austin Point and Sealy in the southwest.
Why New Construction Buyers
in West Houston Need a WDI.
Subterranean termites are already present in the soil at every new construction site across Fort Bend County and West Houston. They don't wait for a home to age. They begin probing new foundation perimeters as soon as construction disturbs the ground around them. Houston's swarming season — March through June — coincides with peak new construction closing activity.
Many west Houston builders include a pre-construction termiticide soil application. That treatment is not independently verified, does not produce an official TDA report, and does not satisfy your VA lender's WDI requirement. Those are three separate things.
Grading errors, improper drainage, and landscaping installed directly against the foundation — all standard construction byproducts — create exactly the moisture and wood-to-soil contact conditions the WDI inspector documents. These are found routinely in brand-new homes.
New construction structural warranties — typically 1-2-10 year coverage — explicitly exclude damage caused by insects, including termites. A termite infestation discovered 18 months after closing is a homeowner repair cost, not a builder warranty claim. There is no coverage regardless of species.
A WDI inspection on closing day creates a legal record of the property's condition at time of purchase. When you sell, that baseline documents your stewardship. When a problem develops, it establishes when the property was clean — and when it wasn't.
The expansive clay soils across Fort Bend County retain moisture through Houston's wet season, creating year-round favorable conditions for subterranean termite colony establishment. New slab construction in clay-heavy soils — Fulshear, Richmond, Rosenberg — faces this risk from day one.
Questions to Ask
Your Builder First.
Before you schedule your WDI inspection — or accept the builder's assurances — these are the questions every new construction buyer in West Houston should ask in writing.
Builders are not required to disclose termite risk unless asked directly. Most will tell you what they've done. Few will tell you what they haven't. These questions create a clear record of what protection was and wasn't in place before you closed.
New Build WDI —
Questions Answered.
What buyers, builders, and real estate agents in the Katy-Fulshear-Richmond corridor ask most about new construction WDI inspections.
Schedule Inspection → New Home. New Build.
Get the WDI.
Texas Official WDI Reports within 24 hours. HUD NPMA-33 included. VA and FHA loan requirements satisfied. Serving every new construction community from Cypress and Bridgeland south to Austin Point and Sealy. Starting at $175 + tax.