Termites are small but powerful insects that can consume food 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They can cause serious damage to homes without warning if not stopped. Termites are estimated to cause billions of dollars in property damage worldwide each year. It is critical to check for these signs of termite infestation on a regular basis, especially if you have heard of infested homes in your neighborhood. The sooner you discover them, the better for your family.
Signs You Have a Termite Problem
Few of the most common signs you have a termite problem.
Windows Or Doors That Are Squeezed
Is there a window or door you frequently have trouble opening or closing? This may point to the presence of termites. Termites prefer to attack exposed and easily accessible wood, such as windows and doorframes.
As termites eat through the wood, the frames of your windows and doors may warp, making it difficult to open and close them properly. Aside from stuck windows and doors, termite damage can cause other structural issues in your homes, such as floor and ceiling sag or crumbling baseboards.
Paint Or Wallpaper Damage
While feeding on cardboard and wood paneling beneath the surface of your walls, Tiny pinholes, and tunnels called termite galleries are evidence of the damage caused by termites (called exit holes).
They may do this without scratching the surface’s thin coat of paint or wallpaper, making the damage invisible until it is stripped away. As a result, termite damage is more likely to be discovered during home repairs and renovations.
Swarmers Of Termites And Discarded Wings
Termite swarmers inside a house or building indicate an active termite infestation. Termites have castes that include workers, soldiers, and swarmers. Termite swarmers, also known as alates, are reproductive termite members. They are distinguished by two pairs of huge pale-colored wings that are roughly 1/4 to 1/2 inches long. A swarmer sheds its wings after leaving the colony and finding a mate.
Tubes of Mud
Next, look for mud tubes on your property. The mud tubes along your home’s exterior look like a network of tiny veins. These conduits arise from the ground and move to locations with bare wood.
To protect themselves from dry air, termites build mud tubes. Subterranean termites, the most common type, have thin exoskeletons that dry out quickly. As a result, they require a humid environment to survive. They can safely travel from their colony to their food source thanks to mud tubes.
Termite Excrement
Another sign of termite activity is termite droppings, also known as “frass.” To avoid buildup, termites eat through the wood, digest it, and push it out of the colony.
Read More: Do Termites Cause Expensive Damage?
What Should You Do?
Frequently Asked Questions
Start with windows and doors that stick or are hard to close, since termites go after exposed wood like frames first. Then look for pinholes and tunneling under paint or wallpaper, discarded wings near windowsills, mud tubes on the foundation, and small piles of frass. Sagging floors or ceilings and crumbling baseboards point to damage that has been going on a while.
They look like a network of thin veins made of soil running up the outside of your home. The tubes start at the ground and head toward any bare wood. Subterranean termites build them because their thin exoskeletons dry out fast, so the tube keeps the trip from colony to food source humid and safe.
Usually, yes. Swarmers, also called alates, are the reproductive termites, and they have two pairs of pale wings roughly a quarter to a half inch long. A swarmer sheds those wings after it leaves the colony and finds a mate, so a pile of wings inside your home points to an active colony nearby.
Walk your foundation, crawlspace and any exposed wood a few times a year, and pay extra attention in spring when swarms happen. Check again after any water leak or grading change near the house. A DIY look does not replace a professional inspection, which most homes should have annually.
Call as soon as you find mud tubes, frass, discarded wings or wood that sounds hollow. Retail sprays only kill the termites they touch and leave the colony intact. A professional inspection confirms the species and how far the activity has spread before any treatment goes in.