Termites don't crawl all over your walls and eat your home in front of you. They come up from the ground and devour the wood of your home from the inside out. They do this silently, with little or no visible signs.
Clicking. As termites feed on wood, a unique clicking sound comes from the wood cavity. Termites also make clicking or rustling sounds with their mouths when tunnelling through wood.
Look for bits of mud or dried dirt in the galleries they hollow out. Termites chewing into dry wood usually leave a thin veneer, which may appear blistered or dark and breaks through easily when pressed. Formosan termites may be building satellite nests between joists or studs.
Advanced termite damage can greatly affect the structural integrity of your home, even causing ceilings or floors to collapse. However, if damage does not affect your home's structure, your family's experience at home can still be impacted by ruined carpeting, walls, furniture or flooring.
Termites will not go away on their own. We bet you know why. While many pests need to find a food source inside your home in order to stay, termites do not. Your home IS the food they eat.
Some of the most common indicators, Webb says, are mud tubes. Termites use their saliva to glue these tunnels together for travel. Homeowners may see the pencil-width mud tubes spreading out like veins on their home's foundation.
Leaky pipes, improper drainage, and poor airflow all create moisture issues that attract termites. Dampwood and subterranean termites in particular thrive in humid environments. While dampwood termites prefer water-damaged wood, subterranean termites are unable to live unless surrounded by enough moisture.
The colony may be 18-20 feet deep in the ground. The ground serves as a protection against extreme temperatures and provides a moisture reservoir. Termites reach wood or cellulose materials above ground by constructing and travelling through earthen (mud) tubes.
Sawdust-like piles near wood surfaces or elongated, pellet-shaped droppings. Dirt or mud-like tubes or trails on outside walls, wooden beams, or in crawl spaces. The mud tubes are typically about the diameter of a pencil, but can be thicker. Darkening or blistering of wooden structural members (like windowsills).
Papery or hollow sounding timber - Termites usually consume woods from the inside out, leaving a thin veneer of timber or paint. So when you knock or tap on an area that has termite damages, it will sound hollow or papery due to parts (or all) of the timber having been eaten away.
Termites are responsible for billions of dollars worth of damage every year in the United States alone. Ignoring them would be a big mistake and could end up costing you a lot of money in wood damages, including structural damages that could cause your home to become unstable.
Swarming typically starts between March and May when the weather is really warm and humid. This activity indicates that termites are breaking off to begin new colonies. The chances of a new infestation occurring are high during this time.
A new colony can have about 100,000 workers at the ready, but an older colony can have about 2 million termites. With about 2 million termites working in the right condition they can cause significant damage within the first few months. A home can be totally destroyed in a year or two.
Common signs of termite infestation include sagging floors and ceilings, traces of dust similar to dust, piles of wings that resemble scales and areas that seem to be slightly water damaged.
Termite colonies can take 3 to 5 years to fully mature. While there is no accurate way of calculating the exact age of an infestation, there are ways to make accurate predictions of their age. It can take anywhere from 3 to 8 years for termite damage to show up depending on the size of the colony.
Termites take a very short time to spread. Within a few days, they can multiply to what's considered an infestation. Homeowners need to take every percaussion possible, and be sure to act quickly in order to protect their homes.
Winged swarming termites emerge from cracks in your walls and foundation in large numbers. They can also come out though holes in the soil in your yard. They emerge through swarm tubes made by worker termites. Unfortunately for them, not every termite survives to form a new colony.
Old termite damage without the presence of live insects simply means that your home was once invaded by these wood destroying pests. It does not mean they are still present and wreaking havoc on load baring walls, support beams, or other wood.
Boric acid is often recommended for the elimination of termites. Boric acid is a natural pesticide and usually comes in the powder form. You can sprinkle it in the area of infestation or mix it with water to spray in the area. It might be best to use goggles, masks and gloves while spraying the acid.