Termite damage is a serious problem in North America. They can infest a structure for months or even years, silently destroying the building from within. The economic toll from these insects is believed to cross nearly $5 billion annually in U.S. households. This is a huge amount, potentially higher than many natural disasters that have happened in the past. To ensure your home stays free from termite damage, understanding common signs of termites in the home is necessary.
Negligence to act at the first sign of termites in your home can convert into a demand of big funds needed to repair it. Moreover, unless specifically mentioned, most house insurance does not cover internal termite damage. This makes the entire cost of repairing internal damage fall entirely on the property owner.
So, apart from putting a dent in some of the foundational pillars of your home, a termite nest can also put a big dent in your finances. To protect your property from damage and undue expenses, learn how to recognize early signs of termites in your home and contact a professional termite control company to inspect and protect your home from further damage.
Common Signs of Termites in Home
To begin understanding the root cause, let us understand the types of termites that might affect your home. There are 4 basic types of termites that may invade your home.
- Native Subterranean Termites
- Formosan Termite
- Drywood Termite
- Dampwood Termite
Subterranean Termites – These termites are native to our country and mostly reside in the soil. They travel through mud tubes to acquire food sources. This group includes the Formosan termite, which can be very aggressive and form aerial colonies if there is enough moisture.
Drywood Termites – These termites do not need to be in contact with the soil and can live entire lives within dry wood such as structural lumber, siding and furniture.
Dampwood Termites – Like drywood termites, these pests do not need to be in contact with soil, but are found within very moist wood such as decaying logs or wood in contact with leaking water.
While most of the termites act in silence and sneak through your windows and garage doors, termites are not invisible creatures. They always leave behind a trail of their presence. Hence, look out for these 6 termite symptoms if you want to protect your property from structural damage.
- Mud tubes: Most pests require moisture to survive. They build pencil-thin shelter tubes within the soil that protect moisture for their underground colonies, and keep predators away.
- Shedding their wings: Winged reproductives (swarmers) emerge from mature colonies. Termites do this to fly away and find a mate so that a new colony may be established. When a partner is found they then shed their wings. Look for their shed wings, which are similar to small scales of a fish and will typically be found near window frames or entry points.
- Frass (Termite Droppings): Drywood termites push their waste out of “Kick-out holes” in the wood they inhabit. This waste is a big sign of termites, which looks like sawdust, salt and pepper, or coffee grounds.
- Hollow-Sounding Woods: The biggest problem with termite damage is that you can barely identify the damage from the outside. Tap on a support beam or floorboard with a screwdriver handle and look out for a dull, hollow, or paper sound. These sounds will confirm if an infestation is present or not.
- Moist patches on drywall: There are termites which are eating the wood or dry walls. While doing so, they release moisture into it, which can cause the paint to bubble, crack, and peel off.
- Difficulty moving the windows and doors: The reason why the windows and doors in your house are sticky or are having problems while closing is because the termites burrowing into the windows and doors also releases moisture into the wood causing it to swell.
How Do I Know If I Have Termites?
If you are asking, “How do I know if I have termites?” You can always ask for a professional bug and termite controller to check signs of termites in home. However, for self-inspection, you can follow these simple steps.
- Tap Test: As described above, use a screwdriver to tap hard on beams or wooden parts of the wall. In case you hear a soft and hollow sound, or there is no resistance when tapping on the surface, then the wood is damaged.
- Checking the Foundation: Walk outside your home and check for mud tubes that reach the concrete foundation or the exterior wall of the house. When you see any mud tube, simply cut a piece off and observe whether they rebuild the broken section within two or three days; the colony is active.
- Swarmers: If the flying insects in and around your house look like ants and are similar in thickness from its waist till the antenna (without a noticeable bend), you have discovered a termite colony.
- Sound signals: Your house should be silent. But if it starts producing sounds of clicking or rapping originating from inside your walls or pillars, then there is a giant colony of termites directly below the wood. This noise comes from the alarm signals by their soldier termites.
Apart from these, if your windows and doors are suddenly feeling tight without any rain or if your floorings or tiles are sagging or loosening up, there is an obvious sign of termites in your house.
Areas Where Termites Commonly Hide in a House
Termites in houses prefer dark, damp areas where sunlight does not reach directly and they are not exposed to dry and open air. These areas help them keep their body temperature low and retain maximum moisture.
- Foundations and Slab Edges: Your home’s foundation and garage doors can provide easy access for bugs and termites to travel from the soil into your house. These areas are the first place you must check due to low ventilation and high moisture levels, which are extremely favourable for a termite colony.
- Wood-to-Soil Contact: Fences, porch supports, and firewood stacks touching the ground provide a direct “bridge” for termites.
- Utility Entry Points: Termites utilise plumbing penetrations, gaps around electrical lines, and small wall voids, feeding on studs and the paper backing of drywall.
- Wooden Furniture: Drywood termites can enter furniture through small cracks and live entirely inside the piece without needing soil contact.
What To Do If I Notice Signs of Termites in Home
If there are any signs of termite in home, you need to take fast action without being hysterical.
Avoid Disturbing the Infested Area: Any action on your side, for instance, breaking of mud tunnels or spraying readily available pesticides, will force the termites into the ground, hiding them from the pest control expert who can deal with them.
Record Evidence of Invasion: Capture any indication in photographs, such as mud tunnels, winged termites, and the affected wood.
Get Expert Help: It will be difficult to eliminate the invaders on your own. The experts have special tools like moisture and infrared detectors, which they use to analyse the situation and remove the infestation for good.
Tips to Prevent Termites in the House
Prevention begins at the first signs of termites in home. If you know there are symptoms of termite infestation, you must immediately use these techniques for immediate prevention.
- Ensure No Wood Touches the Ground: Termites feed off of wooden structures. Ensuring that the door frame, wooden porch support or siding of your house touches the soil can prevent a direct path for these termites to enter.
- Manage Moisture Levels: The insects thrive in wet surroundings. If there is a leaking water line or even a blocked gutter, then it must be addressed properly in order to avoid an infestation.
- Maintain your yard properly: By putting mulch on your garden, your garden soil will stay wet, so it will be easier for them to penetrate in. Maintain mulch six inches away from the foundation of the house. In addition, keep your stored firewood twenty feet or above the ground.
- Seal Entry Points of Insects: Fill the entry points of the building by caulking and grouting them. The cracks within the foundations and utility lines that lead to the building are the entry points.
- Have an annual inspection: Hire professionals to inspect your house once a year to check for any infestation, regardless of the presence of termites.
FAQs
-
How do I know if I have termites in my house?
They will include mud tubes on the foundation, cast-away wings around your windows, frass (termite droppings) in small mounds, and wood that looks hollow or seems like it gives way under light tapping. Another obvious sign is live creamy-white termites in disturbed wood or while carrying out construction works.
-
What are the first signs of termites in home?
In most cases, you’ll be able to identify the presence of termites by a termite swarm or shed wings on windowsills in spring. Other signs include the discovery of mud tubes and sudden stickiness in your doors and windows.
-
Can termites damage a house without visible signs?
Yes, since termites are silent, meaning they operate within your walls and inside wood pieces in your compound. Before exhibiting symptoms like warping or swelling of floorboards and bubbling paint, termites can go on feeding for several years.
-
What does a termite nest in the house look like?
The termite nest within your home would look different depending on what type of termite built it. The common subterranean termites are an underground colony builder. The Formosan termites would build a mud “swarm castle,” while the drywood termites would build a nest within the wooden galleries they had eaten out.
-
Are termite symptoms similar to water damage?
Yes, the symptoms do overlap. In both scenarios, we see bubbling paint, warped window frames, and swollen floors. If you are sure of no plumbing leak within recent days, termites may be the cause.
-
How quickly can termites damage a house?
While termites eat 24/7, inducing structural damage may take up to 3 to 8 years to become severe. However, even a small colony of 60,000 termites can consume two feet of a 2×4 wooden block in just one year.
-
Should I call Universal Pest Control after noticing a sign of termites?
Yes, Universal Pest Control is a licensed pest control company that you can contact immediately upon noticing any sign of infestation. With techniques like termite fumigation and termite tenting, they can make your home free from termites.