Subterranean termites are the most common species in our area. They attack from below and continue to move through your home until they run out of real estate (so to speak). Once they run into your foundation in search of moisture, they will exploit tiny cracks to make their way into your home.
Much depends on the type of foundation your home has. For instance, the weakest foundations are very prone to cracking—slab foundations. Those with concrete foundations that are reinforced with rebar are in decent shape to keep termites out. But on a long enough time scale, even the best foundations will crack.
Worse still, most homeowners won’t recognize that there’s a problem until its too late. Not only do termites attack from areas of the house that you don’t usually consider, but once they’re in your home, they destroy wood from the inside out. For that reason, you should have your home checked for termites regularly.
Managing Termite Infestations
Major termite infestations need to be handled by professional pest control experts. Why? Well, over-the-counter anti-termite remedies do exist and they will kill some of the termites, but once you stop using the product, the termites will rebuild their population once again. You don’t want to reduce the termite colony’s numbers, though. You want to eradicate the entire colony.
How to Identify Termites
Termites and ants are closely related, which is why some homeowners confuse termites for white ants. There are a couple of different ways to tell the difference. Termites have light-colored bodies which are slightly translucent. White ants tend to appear more solid. The best way to tell the difference is to inspect their thorax and abdomen.
Ants tend to have a clearly defined thorax and abdomen whereas termites appear to have only two segments as opposed to three. If you’re not sure if you have an ant or termite problem, you can simply kill one and then bring it to us and we’ll identify it for you.
How to Identify Termite Activity
Termites create small mud tubes that they use to get from one place to another. This is one of the first things that you’ll notice if you have a termite infestation. It’s how they get from outside your home into your home.
Termites also eat wood from the inside out, meaning that you won’t necessarily see the damage they’ve done until it’s too late. Some folks, however, can actually hear them chewing and confuse the sounds for squirrels or rats. Eventually, they’ll hollow out the wood that supports your home, so if you hear anything, contact a pest control expert immediately.
Another key to identifying termite activity is looking for discarded wings. Only the reproductive termites have wings, which means that if you see them, then you have a full-fledged colony on your hands.
You can also identify termites from their poop, which is white. It will look like piles of salt on your floor.
