Signs Your Home Has Termites And What To Do About Them

If you think you have termites at your home, it is important that you get this checked out as soon as possible. Termites can cause a lot of structural damage to your home, as well as to anything outside that is made of wood. Below is information on signs you can look for to know if you have termites, as well as what you can do about them.

Signs of Termites

One big sign that you have termites is seeing mud tubes, which is much like a tunnel. This is what the termites use to travel back and forth from your home to their nest. You will often see mud tubes in the attic and close to the foundation outside. In the attic, the tubes will be around the wood beams in most cases. They are very easy to spot outside if they are close to your foundation. If you see mud tubes, then your home is likely infested with termites.

If you do have an infestation, you will hear the termites eating wood. You may hear this sound while you are outside close to your home or while inside. Look at wood and see if you see any holes as termites can easily chew their way through wood, especially if there are a lot of them. Tap the wood to see if it sounds hollow. If so, then you likely have termites. You will see droppings from the termites, which will look like sawdust and will be in piles in different areas. 

Contact a Pest Control Company

Because termites are so dangerous to a home, you should never try to take care of this problem yourself. Instead, contact a pest control company to help you. They will come to your home to look for signs of termites. If the pest control company determines that you have termites, they have different methods they can use to get the termites out. 

There are baits the pest control company may set up that will attract the termites. These baits are placed outside around your entire home close to the foundation. These baits do not attract termites but as the termites are moving to and from your home, they will enter the baits. Once they do, there is an insecticide in the bait that will kill the termites. 

The pest control company may also treat the soil that surrounds your home as this is where termites live. They will first dig a trench around your home and then put a special insecticide that is made to kill termites in the trench. This is a barrier that will kill the termites before they can enter your home. 

The pest control company will likely want to come back to your home a few times to ensure your home is free of termites. Reach out to a company near you that provides termite removal services.