Termites are among the most feared household pests because of how quickly they can demolish the structural integrity of your home and create a costly repair situation. Left unchecked, termites can make a home unlivable and extremely dangerous.
If you’ve found possible signs of termites in or around your home, don’t panic. Discover how you can identify termite infestations, how to prevent them from occurring, and how Advantage Termite and Pest Control can help!
How Do I Know If I Have a Termite Infestation?
Termites hide in mud tubes and within the wood they love to munch on, making them very difficult to spot in the open. Sometimes they go unnoticed for weeks, months, or even years until you break open the walls for a remodel. Here are a few signs that you may have a termite infestation:
Mud Tubes: Small tubes in the ground around the exterior of your home, about the width of a pencil.
Shed Wings: Termites shed their wings when the colony relocates, which means if you see a pile of termite wings, then you likely have termite damage.
Interior Wall Damage: If you’ve noticed your paint or wallpaper is bubbling or peeling, or walls are buckling, this could be due to termites!
Sticking Windows and Doors: If you have windows or doors that are becoming noticeably difficult to open, termites could have caused enough damage to shift your home’s framing or structural joints.
Tunnels in Exposed Wood: Termites eat tunnels through wood, following the path of least resistance along the wood grain.
Termite Droppings: These tiny, granular pellets look like sawdust or coffee grounds and often appear near a termite nest or infested wood.
Live Termites: If you see any living termites in your home, don’t panic! It could just be a few scouts looking for a new place to settle. But it’s still worth having your home professionally inspected for a potential infestation rather than assuming it was a fluke, especially if those scouts decide your home is a nice place to move the colony.
Termites are most common in spring, when swarmers reproduce and start new colonies, but termites can appear anytime. This is why year-round pest control is so important for avoiding infestations before they can ever start.
How Can I Prevent a Termite Infestation?
Termite infestations are difficult to deal with and can quickly become dangerous to your home and everyone in it, so the best offense is a good defense. Along with annual inspections from Advantage Termite and Pest Control, you should make sure your home is inhospitable for termites, preventing termite damage from ever occurring. Here are a few ways to deter wood-chewing pests from moving in:
Reduce Moisture
Termites prefer a moist environment. This is especially true for subterranean termites, the most common species you’ll find here in Kansas City. It’s crucial to have a good drainage system that works to direct water away from your home. Make sure your gutters are clear and functioning properly to keep water from collecting and creating an ideal environment for mud tubing right around the base of your home.
Be Cautious with Exposed Wood
The other thing termites love, of course, is wood. Avoid storing wood piles and debris near your house. This includes firewood, mulch, stumps, and any moist wood or cellulose. Because termites prefer to stay underground as much as possible, wood on or near moist soil is a perfect breeding ground for termite colonies, giving them a food source they can easily access through their mud tubes.
Okay, So I Have a Termite Infestation. What Do I Do Now?
Even if you do everything right to prevent a termite infestation, that’s no guarantee that termites won’t decide to make a move against your home anyway. If you suspect you may be dealing with a termite infestation, here’s what to do (and what NOT to do):
DO: Seek professional help as soon as possible. Our highly effective treatments at Advantage will eliminate existing termites and prevent them from returning in the future.
DON’T: Assume they’ll go away on their own. Never leave termites unchecked! They’ll stick around so long as there is wood or cellulose to munch on, and it’s important not to let the damage get out of control once you know it’s occurring.
DO: Your homework. Ensure the termite control company you choose is doing a complete and effective termite treatment and that they are licensed, insured, and certified. We’ll make this part easy for you: Advantage Termite and Pest Control checks all of these boxes!
DON’T: Try home remedies or DIY solutions. Despite what over-the-counter pest control products may claim, do-it-yourself methods are only “band-aid” solutions. You may temporarily kill a few termites, but you won’t eradicate the colony. You need a professional to assess the extent of the termite infestation and the damage it has caused.
DO: Take steps to prevent future termite infestations once the current issue is resolved. Advantage uses Sentricon Always Active Bait Stations to protect your home 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
DON’T: Feel guilty! Termites can be tough to detect, so don’t feel frustrated with yourself or like you did something wrong as a homeowner. Even the West Wing — that’s right, at the White House! — had a termite infestation in 1998.
The most important thing you can do is call professional pest control the moment you suspect a termite infestation. If you’re in one of our service areas in Kansas or Missouri, Advantage Termite and Pest Control can effectively eliminate any termite infestation without structural drilling! Contact us today to schedule your appointment.
