Your Home Needs To Be Inspected Before It’s Infested!

The structural integrity of a house can be severely affected due to termite infestation. Termites are known to cause more property damage than house fires, raising the estimated cost to a whopping $5 billion. Ever thought about it, what if there are termites crawling under your floorboards? Seen signs that are red flags, but you brushed them aside? Signs like damaged wood or wing piles?

Termites come in many shapes and sizes, mostly tiny, although their small size should not be mistaken for the damage they can cause. Termites operate in swarms, making them strong enough to hollow away complete wooden structures.

What Are The Top Signs To Determine If You Have Termites On Your Property?

If you want to check for termite infestation in your house, inspect its basement, crawl spaces,  and spaces near the foundation for possible droppings, wing piles, or mud tubes. Probe and tap on wood structures to check if it gives a hollow sound from inside. If you detect the following in your house, it could be a sign there is a termite infestation somewhere;

Swarmers

Termite colonies produce swarmers, which fly away from colonies. They are female winged adult termites and usually attack during spring. Swarmers are mostly attracted to buildings that have suffered winter weather damage, cracked, or lost their exterior finish. If a swarmer starts residing in your home, others will follow to mate and build whole colonies.

Evidence from Leftbehind Wings

If you detect left behind wings by swarmers around your home, it’s a hint that there are termites around. Termite wings are the only visible outward sign that you may have a termite problem.

Damaged Wood

Termites have a trait, they will always eat wood from inside out. If you have seen signs of damaged wood or wood that sounds hollow when tapped, you are sure to have termites residing in your home with you.

Drywood Termite Frass

Frass is small pellet-like droppings left behind by dry wood termites as they eat through wood. If you see these dropping in your home, it means it has a dry wood termite infestation.

Mud tubes

Mud tubes are made of soil and wood and are mostly made by subterranean termites to transport food and water as they work. These are the most destructive termites and mostly attack the foundations of a house. To check if the mud tube is active, break a part of it and leave it. If it is repaired within a few days, it is a sign that there are termites around.

Darkened Wood

Wood showing visible signs of blisters or darkening in patches might be evidence there are termites at work underneath it.

Dealing With Termites

Have your worst fears about termites present in your home come true? Ok, so what’s next? If you are thinking of using a fly spray to kill termites, think again. Fly sprays may kill a few hundred termites visible to you but there are thousands more hidden behind those wood panels. With a termite queen laying up to 4000 eggs in a day, the chances of winning the battle with a fly spray are bleak. Once termites start, they don’t stop eating.

That is where inspection services come in. Termite inspections are thorough inspections of all wooden features within and outside a home to detect signs of termite infestations. A termite inspection is a specialized inspection that looks for any termite damage on your porch, flooring, frame, patio, ceiling etc. Other than termites, ants, bees and other types of insects can also attack your house compromising on its structural integrity and aesthetics. This damage can be extensive if gone unnoticed and can seriously devalue your property and risk your safety.