They are more than simply sting, buzz, and bother. Termites feast on your home, a priceless possession. And to repair the damage, people will have to empty their pockets once those hungry, concealed explorers fill their appetites. To keep money in your wallet and termites out of your house, we’ll walk you through how to spot and eliminate termites.
Ways to Recognize Termites
One kind of harmful pest that mostly feeds on decaying wood is the termite. Without being seen, termites are capable of causing a home’s damage to be worth thousands of dollars. For this reason, understanding the many termite species and how to remove them from your house is crucial.
Subterranean, dampwood, and drywood termites are the three main categories of termites. Although each has a unique biology and set of behaviors, all get the same care. The bodies, colors, antennae, and wings of each of these termite species may be used to identify them. One of these three things could be present if you notice decayed wings, faecal pellets (droppings), or damaged wood.
- Swarmers of underground termites have black bodies and white, nearly transparent wings. The worker termites are cream in colour and lack wings. Though they are more prevalent in warmer climates, they may be found in almost every state.
- Compared to the other two varieties, dampwood termites are bigger. While nymphs are cream colored, they can vary in color from dark brown to pale brown to crimson. Western areas like Montana and Washington are usually home to these termites.
- The color of drywood termites is browner, and they typically shed their two sets of darker, veiny wings. In drywood colonies, there can be several thousand individuals, although most are smaller. They are widely seen in North Carolina and other warmer coastal areas such as California.
Termite Damage Signs
It can be challenging to identify termite damage when much of it is concealed by your home’s walls. Nonetheless, there are several clues that suggest the damage you’re witnessing is indeed termite damage.
- Termites construct mud tubes up and down a building’s foundation for passage
- Spots of dirt, flaking paint, or air bubbles on walls
- Termites may be indicated by holes in wood. You may find out if the wood sounds hollow by tapping on it. If it does, termites are probably to blame for the damage.
“Undoubtedly, they unquestionably inflict the most structural damage to a home,” says Dr. Mike Potter, an entomology professor at the University of Kentucky. “People experience the greatest financial distress and anxiety from termites.”
Termites frequently inflict subterranean house damage, which keeps the rot they produce hidden until it becomes costly. Get rid of them since they are pests.
Termite Infestation Signs
The first thing, according to Potter, is being able to recognize termite indications.
He claims that if you notice a winged termite flying about within your house, you almost definitely have a termite infestation and should take appropriate measures. Swarmers are those flying termites that often emerge in the spring.
The insects with wings have a striking resemblance to flying ants, however they may be distinguished by their shared trait of having two sets of wings. But an ant has a smaller pair behind and a bigger pair in front, but a termite’s wings are equal in size.
Check out Wings of Equal Size
The bad news is that you have a termite infestation if you spot anything that appears to be a flying ant but turns out to have equal-sized wings.
You shouldn’t get alarmed if you find them outside your house, though. It’s not always the case that termites flying from dead wood heaps or tree stumps in your yard indicate they’re inside your home. However, they’ve probably moved in if they seem to be swarming from your home’s base or from wooden porches or patios.
Getting Rid of Termites
Thus, the mud tubes, swarmer within the house, and maybe gnawed-away contaminated wood fittings are all the obvious symptoms.
Perhaps you had an expert come examine things, and the results are in. Termites are to blame. You now need to decide whether to use fumigation, heat treatment, or liquid or bait termiticides to get rid of them.
Liquid Termiticides
Commercial termite control traditionally involves the use of liquid insecticide. Applying the substance under and around the building is part of this. With a non-repellent but deadly chemical or a repellent that keeps them away, a liquid creates a durable chemical barrier around the residence.
Regretfully, it is also intrusive. Gallons of the substance will be required, and it may be necessary to drill and inject through nearby concrete, patios, and porches.
Bait Termiticides
Baits take up less space. The slow-acting pesticide is applied in small doses to items that termites enjoy eating. Once inside the termite colony, the termite carries the poison back with it.
Baits are normally placed underground around the building’s perimeter; they typically take the shape of a hollow plastic cylinder with side slits. More termites are drawn to the bait by the aroma that the termites that burrow through it leave behind.
Similar to liquid termiticides, there are disadvantages to bait systems. the initial one? Getting termites to locate the bait. Before the baits start working, it can take months. Baiting may potentially incur higher expenses. In order to install or supply slow-acting bait stations and keep an eye on activity, several trips could be required.
Heat Treatment
Pest control experts advise heat treatments if you’d want to avoid using harsh chemical treatments in your house. The technique of applying heat to all of the wood in a building involves employing heaters.
Temperatures increase to at least 120 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the heat treatment, and they remain there for at least 33 minutes. The prolonged heat finally destroys the termites, preventing an infestation in your house.
Because it can treat different portions of huge structures independently, it is frequently utilized in flats and condominiums. Heat treatment is more convenient than fumigation, which necessitates that homeowners leave the building for many days, because it only takes you to be away from the house for a few hours.
There are certain disadvantages to this therapy. You must eliminate anything that is susceptible to heat in order for the heat treatment to be effective since it involves raising the temperature in termite colonies to extremely high levels. Furthermore, wood on tile or concrete may occasionally find it difficult to reach fatal heat levels. This is why the efficacy of the therapy isn’t always 100%.
Fumigation
If the infestation is severe, fumigation—the most potent termite treatment technique—might be required. This type of therapy involves covering the house with a large, airtight tent. A measured volume of gas fumigant is injected and allowed to function. It reaches far into every area of the house.
Usually, the gas consists of an odorous component to alert humans to the presence of termites and an odorless active substance to destroy them. You have to leave the house for at least 24 hours after application, even if the active component does not remain. Regardless of the termite species you have, this is an effective method to eradicate them.
How to Prevent Termites
Even after you’ve dried out and cleaned every place close to your foundation, does your home still seem exposed? Bring in the heavy hitters. According to Potter, “the most certain thing you can do to protect your home and guard against future problems is a preventive treatment.”
Chemical applications used before to construction as well as physical and chemical barriers are examples of preventive treatments. Some of the same termite protection procedures apply even if your house is 100 years old:
- Get rid of anything that contains cellulose, such wood shavings, mulch, and stumps, if it’s within 25 feet of the house.
- Ensure the area around the base of the house has enough drainage.
- Keep untreated wood away from the ground.
- For attics and crawl spaces, install screened vents to prevent moisture buildup.
- Avoid piling dead wood next to the home. That’s a termite buffet.
- Install splash blocks for your gutters and spigot to prevent moisture from collecting near the foundation.
Even after you’ve ticked all the boxes, are you still certain you’re protecting your home from future infestations? Employ a specialist to put up a preventative wall.
Pre-Construction Intervention
Pre-construction liquid chemical barriers are the industry norm, according to the Arizona Extension.
Before concrete is poured, a termiticide is sprayed on the soil inside the foundation footprint after a termite inspection.
After-construction Care
Following construction, a trench that is 6 inches wide and 12 inches deep is excavated, and soil treatments are placed all around the wooden buildings. The termites will be killed or repelled by the chemicals employed in the trenching.
According to the Arizona Extension, termite-proof physical barriers are becoming more and more common across the nation. Usually, this is because they don’t contain any chemicals that might harm the environment. By preventing termites from overcoming the barrier and consuming your home, they serve as a tool for pest control.