Four Warning Signs Your Home Has A Termite Problem

Termites can cause structural damage to your home, and they can also cause damage to furnishings and other items in your house. Knowing what signs to look for can help you to contain a termite problem before it gets out of hand. Here are some warning signs you won't want to ignore.

Piles Of Wings

Termites with the job of reproducing for the colony shed their wings during their life cycle, and piles of the wings in your home can be a telltale sign of an infestation. You may find the wings in a windowsill, on the floor, or outside of your home. They can also become stuck in cobwebs or spider webs in the attic and basement areas. If you see wings, contact a pest control expert to help eliminate the threat to your house.

Noises In The Walls

Sometimes, termites can be quite loud,. You might hear a large swarm of them inside the walls when they are eating, or you may hear a series of loud noises after knocking on your walls. If you suspect you have a termite problem, try knocking on a few walls in your home, and listen to see if you hear any termites knocking around in the space behind your drywall. Be careful not to try to remove them yourself, as you may have an infestation of a different type, or you may release the swarm into the interior of your home.

Mud Tubes

Mud tubes are not used by every type of termite, but if you do notice what appears to be long tubes under your porch or crawl space, or in the area around your home, you may have a termite problem. Contact a professional exterminator to inspect the tubes, as some other types of insects create nests in the ground that look similar to termite tubes. For example, mud daubers, a type of wasp, build tube-like nests in the dirt that can sometimes be mistaken for termite tubes. While these wasps aren't known to be aggressive, it's still a good idea to avoid disrupting their nests.

Wood Damage

Of course, the sign of a termite infestation you don't want to find is damage to your home. However, you may discover cracked paint or tiny holes on the exterior of your home that termites can use for access to their desired food source. Because termites tend to eat away at the walls from the center, you may not always notice the damage with the naked eye. You may find that you hear a hollow sound when knocking on the walls in your home, which can be another sign of a termite infestation.

Your pest control expert, like Yuma Pest Termite Systems, can properly diagnose the type of infestation you have, and he or she can help you to determine the proper course of action for handling the problem.