You can check your own home for termites with a flashlight, a flathead screwdriver and about an hour. The trick is knowing where termites actually get in and what damaged wood feels like, which most DIY guides skip. One of the most common comments under a popular termite inspection video sums up the problem: "WHAT AM I DOING WITH THE SCREWDRIVER?!?" This guide walks you through a full check, room by room, explains exactly what to look and feel for, and is honest about what a homeowner can't see. It's based on guidance from the University of Kentucky, NC State, UC IPM, the EPA and Clemson, plus tips from termite inspectors.
To check for termites yourself: walk the outside of the foundation looking for mud tubes and wood touching soil, then check the crawl space or slab edge, garage, the wood trim inside, and the attic. Tap wood with the screwdriver handle and listen for a hollow, papery sound, then press the blade in: sound wood resists, termite-damaged wood gives way and often shows soil-packed tunnels.
What it can't do: a DIY check can't see inside walls, under slabs or behind insulation. Finding nothing is reassuring, not proof. If you find any sign, get a professional inspection.
What You Need
- A bright flashlight. You'll use it in the crawl space and attic, and to rake light across walls.
- A flathead screwdriver. The handle is for tapping, the blade for probing. The EPA recommends probing exposed wood "using a flathead screwdriver or similar tool."
- A small sealable bag for any winged insects or pellets you find, and your phone to photograph tubes and damage.
- Gloves and old clothes for the crawl space. Widow spiders like the same dark spots.
One inspector, commenting under a DIY video, suggested a homemade long probe for eaves and high trim: a cut-down paint roller handle on an extendable pole.
The Screwdriver Test: What You're Feeling For
Termites eat wood from the inside and usually leave the outer surface intact, the University of Kentucky says, so damage can look fine until you test it. NC State describes the two-part test:
- Tap. Knock the wood with the handle of the screwdriver every few inches. Sound wood gives a solid, dull knock. Damaged wood sounds hollow or papery.
- Probe. Press the tip of the blade firmly into any spot that sounded hollow, felt soft or looks blistered. Sound wood resists. Damaged wood gives way, crumbles, or lets the blade sink in. A Reddit r/LifeProTips poster (via Google search excerpts) gave the same advice for house hunting: with termite or rot damage, "the screwdriver will sink into the wood."
- Look at what comes out. This tells you what caused it:
- Soil or mud packed into tunnels that follow the grain: subterranean termites. The University of Kentucky says moisture and carpenter ant damage "will not have this appearance."
- Clean, smooth tunnels with sawdust-like shavings: carpenter ants. See carpenter ants vs. termites.
- Tiny six-sided pellets: drywood termites.
- Wet, spongy or stringy wood with no tunnels: rot. Not termites, but damp wood attracts them.
- Look for a thin, gritty gray-brown film on the wood surface, another sign NC State lists.
Probe gently on finished trim and visible woodwork. You're testing, not digging.
How to Check for Termites, Step by Step
Step 1: Walk the outside of the house
Go slowly around the whole foundation. Look for:
- Mud tubes about the width of a pencil running up the foundation, piers, porch steps or the slab edge. UC IPM calls tubes the most commonly seen evidence of subterranean termites.
- Wood touching soil: siding, door frames, trellises, steps or deck posts that sit on or in the dirt.
- Mulch or soil piled against the siding, which hides tubes and lets termites bypass the foundation.
- Brick weep holes near doors. One homeowner on the Gulf Coast found two mud tubes running from the ground into weep holes beside a door with damaged trim.
- Moisture: leaking faucets, AC drain lines and downspouts that soak the soil next to the house. UC IPM advises fixing plumbing leaks, bad grading and damaged exterior wood right away.
- Stumps, woodpiles and buried scrap wood near the house. Swarmers coming out of a stump in the yard don't necessarily mean the house is infested, the University of Kentucky says, but swarmers emerging next to the foundation or from a porch or patio mean there's "a good chance" it is.
Step 2: The crawl space or slab edge
Crawl space homes: this is where most subterranean termite activity shows up. Shine the light along the sill plate where the wood sits on the foundation wall, then the floor joists, the piers and anything touching the ground. Tap and probe the sill and the ends of the joists. Look for tubes on the piers and inner foundation walls, and pick up any scrap wood lying on the soil.
One former termite inspector warned that termites often come up through the hollow inside of concrete block walls and eat the sill "from the inside out," so a quick look for tubes on the outside can miss them. That's why probing the sill matters.
Slab homes: check the outside slab edge, cracks and expansion joints, and anywhere pipes come through the floor. A commenter under a termite inspection video pointed to one spot people miss: the access panel behind the bathtub drain on slab houses, where plumbing passes through the slab.
Step 3: The garage
Check the base of the walls, the door frames and any wood framing at floor level. Stored boxes pushed against garage walls hide tubes and block inspectors too. One homebuyer worried their termite inspector couldn't check a garage "packed with boxes." Pull items a few inches away from the walls.
Step 4: Inside the house
- Baseboards, door frames and window frames: tap and probe, especially on outside walls and in kitchens and bathrooms.
- Windowsills and light fixtures: look for shed wings or dead swarmers.
- Drywall: the University of Kentucky says termites occasionally bore tiny holes through drywall or plaster with bits of soil around the edges, and leave rippled or sunken areas under paint or wallpaper.
- Outlets and switches: a Reddit r/HomeMaintenance reply suggested taking the cover off and looking for termite debris inside.
- The flashlight "shadowing" trick: turn off the room lights and hold the flashlight flat against the wall so the beam rakes across it. Mud tubes under drywall show up as faint raised lines. Attorney Tom Campbell of Campbell Law demonstrates this in a YouTube video.
Step 5: The attic
"Signs of termites in attic" is one of the most searched versions of this question, and the answer depends on the type of termite:
- Drywood termite pellets: small piles of hard, six-sided pellets below rafters, sheathing or framing. Drywood termites live entirely inside wood and need no contact with soil. Clemson's survey found the eastern drywood termite mainly in coastal South Carolina counties. UC IPM's test for whether they're active: clean up the pellets and check a few days later for new ones.
- Swarmers or wings around attic vents, windows or lights.
- Mud tubes or damage high up: subterranean termites need moisture, so above-ground activity usually points to a moisture source such as a roof or plumbing leak. NC State notes infestations sometimes develop above ground. In a Charleston study cited by Clemson, about 6% of infested buildings had above-ground colonies.
A Reddit r/raleigh commenter put it plainly: "Termites in the attic is not normal and really not good." If you find any of these, call a professional.
What Your Findings Mean
| You found | What it likely means | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Mud tubes | Subterranean termites. Break a small section open: creamy-white workers mean active termites. An empty tube doesn't prove they're gone, the University of Kentucky says | Professional inspection |
| Wood that sinks under the screwdriver, with soil in the tunnels | Subterranean termite damage, old or active | Professional inspection |
| Six-sided pellets | Drywood termites | Clean up, recheck in a few days, then have them identified |
| Swarmers or wings indoors | Almost always an infestation, the University of Kentucky says | Bag a few and call for an inspection |
| Soft, wet wood with no tunnels | Probably rot | Fix the moisture source. Damp wood attracts termites |
| Clean tunnels and sawdust | Probably carpenter ants | Look for a moisture problem and the ant nest |
| Nothing | Good news, but not proof | Recheck each spring and keep up a yearly professional inspection |
For photos and more detail on each sign, see signs of termites in your house, walls and wood.
What a DIY Check Can't Find
Termites are hard to spot even for professionals. A termite inspector commenting under a video wrote that a thorough inspection can find no evidence "but that does not mean there are none," and a Reddit r/Termites reply noted it's "not that easy to spot termite evidence, especially if it is a fairly new infestation." Common blind spots:
- Inside walls, under slabs and beneath flooring
- Foundation walls covered with foam board insulation, and sealed (encapsulated) crawl spaces. Commenters noted some termite companies won't warranty these without changes
- Areas blocked by stored items, insulation or finished basements
- Roof eaves and high trim you can't reach
Professional inspections have limits too, but a good one is thorough. One homeowner commented that their termite company had "NEVER gone into the attic" in more than 20 years of service, and an inspector from Myrtle Beach with over 30 years in the business complained about "so called inspectors who never even go inside a home." A real inspection includes the crawl space or slab, the interior and the attic, and the report lists anything that couldn't be inspected.
Buying a home?
In South Carolina, most home sales and lenders require a CL-100, the state's official wood infestation report, which only a certified inspector can issue. North Carolina and Virginia use their own wood-destroying insect reports. A DIY check is useful before you make an offer, but it doesn't replace that report.
How Often to Check
Do your own walk-around at least once a year, ideally in late winter or spring before swarming season, and again after any leak, grading change or new landscaping against the house. Keep a professional inspection every year as well. See how often to have a termite inspection.
If you find signs, don't panic. North Carolina's agriculture department says termites "will not cause significant structural damage in a matter of weeks," so you have time to get a proper inspection and compare options. Our termite control service handles inspections and treatment across South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
Key Takeaways
- Bring a flashlight and a flathead screwdriver. Tap for a hollow sound, then probe: damaged wood gives way.
- Soil packed in the tunnels means termites. Clean sawdust means carpenter ants; spongy wet wood means rot.
- Follow the route: outside foundation, crawl space or slab edge, garage, inside trim and walls, attic.
- In the attic, six-sided pellets mean drywood termites, and tubes or damage up high usually mean a leak.
- Finding nothing isn't proof. Walls, slabs and insulated areas can't be checked by eye.
- Found something? Don't panic. Bag a sample, take photos, and book a professional inspection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. With a flashlight and a flathead screwdriver you can check the foundation, crawl space or slab edge, garage, inside trim and attic for mud tubes, damaged wood, wings and pellets. A DIY check can't see inside walls, under slabs or behind insulation, so it doesn't replace a yearly professional inspection.
Tap the wood with the screwdriver handle and listen: damaged wood sounds hollow or papery. Then press the blade into any suspicious spot. Sound wood resists; termite-damaged wood gives way or crumbles. If the tunnels you expose are packed with soil and follow the grain, that points to subterranean termites.
Start outside along the foundation, porch steps and anywhere wood touches soil, then the crawl space sill and joists or the slab edge and plumbing openings, the garage walls, baseboards and door and window frames inside, and finally the attic. Moist areas near leaks deserve extra attention.
Small piles of hard, six-sided pellets below wood point to drywood termites, which live inside wood without soil contact. Swarmers or wings near attic vents and lights are another sign. Mud tubes or damage high up usually mean subterranean termites have a moisture source such as a roof or plumbing leak.
Termite-damaged wood has tunnels lined or packed with soil, usually following the grain. Carpenter ants leave clean, smooth tunnels and push out sawdust-like shavings. Rot leaves wet, spongy or stringy wood without tunnels, though damp wood can attract termites.
Follow the mud tubes. Subterranean termites travel from the soil through tubes up the foundation, piers or slab edge, or through wood touching the ground, mulch against the siding, brick weep holes and plumbing openings. Break a small section of tube to see if workers are inside.
Not necessarily. Termites hide inside wood, walls and slabs, and new infestations leave few signs. Finding nothing is reassuring, but keep up a professional inspection every year and recheck after leaks or landscaping changes.
At least once a year, ideally in late winter or spring before swarming season, and again after any leak, grading change or new landscaping against the house. Pair that with a yearly professional inspection.
Most home sales and lenders in South Carolina require a CL-100, the state's official wood infestation report, issued only by a certified inspector. A DIY check before you make an offer is useful, but it doesn't replace the report.
Sources: M. F. Potter, "Termite Control: Answers for Homeowners", University of Kentucky Entomology ENTFACT-604; P. Alder and C. Hayes, "Termites: Biology and Control", NC State Extension; UC Statewide IPM Program, "Pest Notes: Termites" (Pub. 7415) and "Pest Notes: Drywood Termites" (Pub. 7440); U.S. EPA, "Termites: How to Identify and Control Them"; K. Hathorne, P. A. Zungoli and E. P. Benson, "Termites of South Carolina," Clemson HGIC 2448; Clemson Cooperative Extension, Formosan subterranean termite guidance; Clemson Department of Pesticide Regulation, CL-100 wood infestation report; NCDA&CS Structural Pest Control, homeowner's guide to termite service agreements; TermiteTom (Campbell Law), "Proper Termite Inspections", YouTube; Reddit r/LifeProTips, r/HomeMaintenance, r/Termites and r/raleigh (via Google search excerpts); YouTube comments under termite inspection videos.
Photo credits: Alton, CC BY-SA 3.0; z22, CC BY-SA 3.0; Newell Post, public domain; via Wikimedia Commons.