Amongst the innumerable insects and rodents which create a lot of inconvenience and harm to house owners around the world, the most dangerous of them are the termites. Being called the “white ants” in common wat, termites unaided can ruin and destroy all the supporting wooden structures of the house within a couple of years. So the answer to the question how to get rid of termites is interesting to owners of wooden houses of all countries.
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- Is it possible to detect traces of termites at an early stage?
- What are the first signs of termites?
- Useful articles
- Conclusion
- Video
Before you start to get rid of termites, do not be amiss to know what serves them as food. The main food of termites is cellulose, which contain the wood, the leaves of the trees and the grass. So getting into the house, termites can cause significant economic damage and because they are not limited to wood, they eat everything that contains a high proportion of cellulose.
In natural environment, termites eat dead branches and rotting parts of tree trunks. A number of species feed on grasses, collecting their dry shoots at the camera in their underground nests (termite mounds). Some termites feed on dead leaves and humus of tropical soils.
Is it possible to detect traces of termites at an early stage?
Since termites lead a secretive way of life, to detect them at an early stage is quite difficult. The first 5 years they will be almost hidden, but this time is more than enough to lead to horrible destructive consequences, which will make you spend a great sum of money to cope with the consequences.
Unfortunately, it often happens that homeowners see signs of a termite infestation only after the termites have already managed to inflict a great damage. You’d better be very careful. There are some signs of termites that will help you to get rid of them at an early stage and to avoid serious problems.
It is also important to determine what type of termites you have: subterranean or dry wood. The first live in the ground and wooden structures of the house, and the latter live only in wood. In addition to wooden structures, subterranean termites can dwell in piles and dung heaps near the house.
Subterranean termites cause much more significant damage than drywoods do. So tackling them may require different tools. Drywood termites eat not only wood, but also all everything that is made out of it: wooden floors, walls, window sills, tools, window sills, windows, railings, floors, ornamental plants, books, etc.
Learn more about subterranean termites: signs of their activity; best methods of treatment and DIY methods. Eastern subterranean termites and their tunnels and tubes with photo.
Recommendation! If you do not see direct evidence of insects, it does not mean that you need to remain indifferent to the problem.What are the first signs of termites?
Be careful with these evidences. They can help you to find out the early signs of termites infestation:
Small wood pellets
Dryood termites live inside the wood and as they don’t like sunlight, they never come out. Drywood termites live inside of wooden constructions including the structural beams, furniture and hardwood floors. Due to the fact that they live in places where they feed themselves, they are almost never seen out of the colony.
Learn more about drywood termites: signs of their activity; best methods of treatment: spot treatment and DIY methods; how to get rid of them in furniture?
Nevertheless, they leave traces of their presence. Making their way, they also leave small holes through which they get rid of their fecals. They look like small granules the color of wood color or a little darker. They are often taken for dust. But if they appear again and again, this means that you have termites.
Swarms
Swarms are young termites which leave their colonies to start new ones. Most often swarms fly during the day and very often after rain. If you see them in your garden or house, this means that termites have already got into your garden, or will soon appear. Therefore it is better not to waste time and immediately start fighting with them.
Dropped wings
If you find the wings, it means that the king and queen have lost the wings and might have begun to lay eggs to start a new colony. You may detect dropped wings in the basement, the attic, windows, doors, outside wooden structures.
Obvious damage to wood
Termites eat wood and different wood surfaces. Attention: carefully inspect all the wooden furniture in the house: floors, walls, windows, ceilings, as if it’s not detected in time, then it may just fall off. You can see various openings, holes, tunnels.
Another sign is wood sawdust with fecals and mud, which appear when the termites make their way. Damaged tree sags, it droops, becomes hollow and bubbled.Knocking
Another early symptom of infestation by termites is a dull sound when tapped. Take a hammer or screwdriver and tap on wooden structures. As damaged and infested wood is empty inside, you will hear a completely different sound than when you knock on a healthy tree.
Also when tapped you can hear a knock in response. This means that the termite soldiers warn the other termites of danger.
Tubes
Tubes are typical signs of early infestation. If you found some, it means you have subterranean termites, living underground. They are afraid of light and love humidity, so they do not come to the surface of the earth. Termites make them to get their own food. To find the tubes, you will need a flashlight.
It is recommended to check the basement, as well as the area around the house. These pipes are very small and thin, diameter of a pencil, but you can find them. These pipes may disappear in different cracks (doors, window frames and so on).
Here you can learn more information about effective treatment method called tenting (fumigation): dangers for termites, preparing for fumigation and cleaning after, how long does this procedure last?
Useful articles
If you interested in more information of termites we recommend you to read the following articles:
- All types of termites. Are they harmful to humans? Can they bite you? And what is the difference between drywood and subterranean ones?
- What does swarmers of different species look like: drywood, subterranean, formosan?
- Signs of infestation outside and in the house: in walls or furniture.
- What does termite holes look like? What is droppings and is it toxic to humans? Do termites make noises?
- Posible termite damage, how does it look like? Examples of damage in walls and wood floors.
- All about flying termites: how do they look like, swarming season and what to do if there are swarmers in your house?
- How do they do nests and mounds? How to find it in your garden or inside the house?
- Termite life cycle – from egg to larvae. And social hierarchy: workers, soldiers, queen.
Conclusion
If you have not found the termites following these early signs of termite activity, carefully check the places where they can seek food once again: in the fallen leaves, stumps, in stacks, in stages, in furniture, in the attic, in the basement and so on. After all, they can infiltrate almost anywhere.
The whole house and your garden require a very careful control. After all, the main goal is the prevention of serious consequences that can bring these small insects. If you detect signs of termites at an early stage, you can get rid of them yourself.
As for measures that will help to get rid of already existing termites, they are:
- fumigation;
- hot and cold treatment;
- chemical treatment;
- microwave;
- electrocution and others.
If an infestation with termites is too large, and your house is too important to you to give insects a second chance, and you are worried that you will not be able to handle it yourself, you can always call in a special pest control service that has special equipment for getting rid of termites.
In this case, the experts professionally and efficiently and most importantly with a guarantee, will undertake the treatment of infested premises. Some firms give a power of attorney in which the customer is entitled to free regular check-UPS already processed the room.
The validity of such an agreement can last from 1 to 2 years.Remember that it is easier to carry out checks every month than to try to get rid of insects that have managed to multiply into millions of individuals.
Useful tips:
- The most professional means of protection against insects is available in the free market, you can do pest control so for a small fee, without the services of professionals.
- The destruction of the borers, which have already developed in wooden construction, should be conducted comprehensively, using structurally-chemical events.
- Simultaneously with the fight against the termites it is necessary to carry out the antiseptic and repairing of buildings and of all structures.
Video
Watch video about beginning signs of termites: