Termites

Of all the creatures on planet earth, there are few things as destructive to our homes as termites. Each year termites cost your fellow Americans around 5 million dollars in damages. If you are the unfortunate enough to get an infestation, you will be looking at spending around $4,000 in repairs. This estimate can change depending on the size and scope of the infestation.

General Information

Termites eat wood. They range in color from a deep brown to tan. There are different types of termite. As their name suggests, dry wood termites eat wood that is dry. They often get into a home with used furniture. Damp wood termites live in areas with a lot of moisture, and only eat wood that is rotting. If you have water damaged wood, you increase your risk for an infestation of damp wood termites. The damage done by these two types of termite are negligible compared to the subterranean termite. Subterranean termites live in the soil, but they build a network of enclosed mud tubes so they can reach new sources of wood. Subterranean termites have massive colony sizes. A colony can house more than a million termites, while a dry wood termite colony will only be a few thousand. Because of the massive colony size associated with subterranean termites, they can cause a lot more damage at an alarming rate.

The Signs of an Infestation

Dry wood termite damage makes wood sound hollow. If you sit in your inherited rocking chair and the arm sounds hollow when tapped on, or if the arm breaks off revealing tiny tunnels and galleries, you have your sign. Damp wood termites have to have high moisture wood. If you have leaky pipes that are rotting out part of your home, you might find damp wood termites as well. Because of their reliance on rotting wood, damp wood termites infest homes a lot less frequently than other species. The best way to identify a subterranean termite infestation is with their mud tubes. You will find the mud tubes snaking up your foundation to your home. Remember though, if you have a crawl space they could be building them in there as well.

Treatment

At Pointe Pest Control the first thing we do when treating an infestation is to identify the pest. Not all termites are created equal, and treatment options are different depending on the species. Once the type of termite has been identified, we create a treatment plan that hits them hard. We use a variety of treatment approaches that enable us to target termites in all of their life cycles. Once the problem has been solved, we can take steps to make certain they never come back. If you have concerns about termites, we want to hear about it. When you want to say goodbye to a termite infestation, you can count on Pointe Pest Control to deliver.