Termites! This one word will strike fear into the most hardened of hearts, and for good reason. While termites will eat plants and live in soil, they obviously do the most damage when they begin to eat your home.
Subterranean termites are the most common in the United States, and will eat any cellulose products, which include old wood, and need warm moist environments. Worse, they are social creatures, meaning where there is one, there is a million!
Winged termites are the easiest to spot, and the watchful homeowner will also be on the lookout for mud tubes or wood damage (or both). Winged termites will typically swarm after a rain, and will prefer warm areas like a boiler room or window sill. It should also be noted that winged termite swarmers will shed their wings, which is something else that homeowners should be on the lookout for.
Mud tubes are exactly what they sound like- dirt and water mixed together to form tubes. Termites will construct these mud tubes as transports between the wood boards and beams, and use them as protection from dryness and predators. If you see mud tubes, you know you have termites!
Wood damage can be difficult to spot right away because termites will do the most damage from the inside out. Any wood that looks brittle or honeycombed should be tested, and fecal matter will be easily spotted.
One of the easiest ways a homeowner can test for termites is to stick a knife or screwdriver into the wood. If the wood is healthy, the object will not go far into it, if at all. But if the termites have infested, the knife or screwdriver will go deep into the wood, which will be soft and brittle.
Unfortunately there is no one hundred percent effective method of termite prevention. Thankfully, termites take weeks, even months, to do serious damage to woodwork, so during the spring and summer months make sure to check your home. The earlier you catch them in action, the easier and cheaper the termite treatment will be.
The most effective way of ridding your home of termites is to call a termite expert. This is one of those jobs that should not be done yourself and is best left to a termite professional. Do your homework and get quotes from several companies. It may be expensive, but when you weigh the cost of an expert against the cost of a new home, it is clear to see which choice wins out.
Latest Videos of Termites Eating Your Home?:
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