According to a study by Orkin, termite infestation affects over 600,000 American homes each year. As a result, American households pay between $5 billion to $6 billion annually to pest control companies for termite control. Overall, the damage caused by termites to crops and properties is estimated to reach $30 billion annually. In worst cases, a homeowner may spend up to $6,000 on termite control for severe infestations, not to mention the cost each homeowner need to spend to repair the damage caused by termites. If you want to prevent spending such substantial sums on termite damage and property repair, you need to know what to do when you find termites on your property.
What are The Signs of Termite Infestation to Look For?
Early detection is the key to saving you trouble and additional expenses. Though termites love to hide and are generally a challenge to detect, there are several signs that they could be on your property:
Damaged Wood:
A termite-infested wood is not as straightforward as it looks. Wood gets damaged due to age and weathering too. The damage caused by termites on the wood is primarily from the inside as they eat through it. Unless the tunnels and boroughs are prevalent (which is the worst case), you can check for wood damage by tapping them. If your tapping produces a hollow sound or a dull thud, these indicate that termites have already eaten the wood from within. Though termites eating wood have some preferences for species, most varieties of softwoods and hardwoods are susceptible to termites. When looking for termites, start with your doors, kitchen cabinets, wooden wardrobes, wall dividers, wooden floors, and beams.
Mud Tubes:
Mud tubes are the most apparent and typical signs of termite activity. Mud tunnels have a flattened, muddy exterior and are usually found along exterior walls, on pipings, beneath the flooring, over the sidings, and other fixtures. Mud tubes shelter termites and protect them from the elements as they travel between their nests and food sources.
Discarded Wings:
Termites leave scattered wings when they look for areas to set up their nests. Once the conditions are ideal, such as when it is humid, they will venture from their hiding areas and look for lighted areas. If you find termite wings near your doors, cabinets, wardrobes, and window sills, there is a chance that there might be a termite colony on your property.
Visible Termites:
Though termites prefer hiding, swarmer termites who can fly will venture out of their hiding places once their population grows to the extent that they require additional nesting areas. On the other hand, worker termites, with their small, light-colored appearance, are afraid when exposed to light. While swarmers often appear in lighted spaces, worker termites typically crawl on darker areas. To any extent, once you find dead or live termites, you may have a termite population issue in hand. Placing termite baits near susceptible areas, such as dark and damp places, or near wooden furniture can help with early detection.
Termite Droppings:
Another sign of a healthy termite population is termite droppings. These feces, also known as frass, are similar to sawdust in appearance. On closer inspection, they resemble pellets. Once you see these droppings, you have the presence of dry wood termites.
Swollen Floors:
Termites thrive in humid areas. As mentioned, worker termites would prefer to crawl through unlighted spaces. That makes the area under your wooden floors an ideal place to live. Once they eat through your wooden floors, these floorboards will swell. The elaborate passages they create cause swelling or cause your floorboards to swell.
Bubbled or Cracked Paint:
Since termites avoid direct light, they also build nests and munch through wood within your walls. Once they develop their passageways, the coating or paint on your walls will bubble or crack.
What Should You Do Once You Detect These Signs Upon Termite Inspection?
The worst thing you can do once you see these signs is to disturb the termites. Once they are disturbed, they will move to another spot in your property and further damage it.
- Do Not Apply Chemical Treatment Yourself
Aside from physically prying the areas where you detect them at first, applying typical household fly sprays or even termite-treatment chemicals yourself will only cause them to move elsewhere.
- Once You Find Indications of Termites, Scan Your Entire Property
Once you detect termites through any of these signs, it may be a tell-tale sign of termite infestation. Though seeking professional help is advisable, you may scan your entire property to help your pest control expert to look for them. In dry states, such as Arizona, you might deal with multiple species of termites.
- Prepare to Plan for Regular Termite Treatments
You don’t have to wait for a termite infestation to appear if you want to avoid substantial damage to your property. You can head off termite infestation by coordinating with your pest control company to do regular inspections and treatments.
- Get Rid of As Many Materials That Attracts Termites As Possible
Does mulch attract termites? Yes. Moreover, keeping old newspapers, firewood, lumber, and material made from cellulose attract termites and can present ideal nesting areas for reproductive termites. You should limit stocking too many of these materials and keep them in a fixed location where you can regularly clean and dry them out. Moreover, since termites love damp and dark places to crawl, you need to have these cleaned out and dried.
- Seek Professional Help from Pest Control Specialists Immediately
These silent destroyers are the bane of homeowners everywhere. Once you see them, you need to seek help immediately. Especially with Arizona’s specific environmental conditions, you need dependable termite pest control services that know what to do. Arizona Termite and Pest Solutions will conduct thorough inspections of your property and formulate a comprehensive treatment plan to deal with any species of termites. Such treatments as applying beneficial nematodes, boric acid, liquid treatment, and other precautionary measures can be more cost-efficient if done under the supervision of pest control experts.
Takeaways: Arizona Termite and Pest Solutions Are Your Dependable Choice for Termite Control
Thanks to the incredible damage they can do to your property, hesitating to control these silent killers is the worst thing you can do once you detect them. With the help of experts in termite extermination in Arizona to help you, you can depend on us to deal with any species of termites present, whether they are subterranean termites, drywood termites, and other termites that are specific to Arizona. Once you call us, we will send one of our licensed and experienced pest control experts to conduct a free inspection of your property. They will give you a free estimate and explain our treatment methods to address your current termite problem and help manage future infestations. We understand the needs of our clients. That is why you can call (480) 359-9600 24/7. You can also fill out the contact form on our contact us page to provide details of your termite problem.
