How To Ensure Your Home is Termite-Free All Year Round

As a homeowner, one of the biggest concerns that you need to deal with is protecting your house from termites. You should know that termites are usually drawn to homes because they find shelter and food there. Usually, these pests live in underground colonies and you’d hope they could stay there.

The good news is that becoming familiar with the behavior of termites will empower you to stop them before they have a chance to do damage. This post is meant to arm you with knowledge on how to keep your home termite-free at all times.

Don’t Feed Them

You may unknowingly provide termites with a regular food source if there is raw wood in your home. Termites seem to be most attracted to the sap found inside raw lumber, especially that made with pine.

There’s no delicious thing for termites to munch upon than firewood piles.

Firewoods have a large amount of cellulose in them that termites need to survive.

On top of that, firewood is a softwood that has a lot of moisture. Moisture, and cellulose, are two critical elements that termites need to be alive.

And that’s not all. Firewood is also a great place for them to build their colonies or nest.

Firewood piles kept on the soil without adequate protection from rain are a perfect place for termites to nest and eat.

So, if you’ve got a firewood pile in your yard, you need to know how to store firewood so that termites don’t damage it. Read more at How to Murder Pests

Be Careful About Your Neighbor

You may need to be a bit cautious if your neighbor’s house has a termite invasion. However, they may not even be aware of it – until you tell them. But the following post sheds light on this issue:

Even though you might be worried whether you will get the termites too, there is no need to panic. Your house does not necessarily need to be treated for termites only because your neighbor’s house had a termite infestation. But it’s always a good idea to get an inspection done to ensure there are no termites thriving in your home.

Subterranean termites are soil-dwelling insects and they move around in the soil searching for cellulose-based food. They can travel up to 230ft in all directions as they do not follow any clear directional pattern. They also cannot tell the difference between the new and old building. This is the reason why sometimes termites invade new buildings but very old ones never get exposed to them.

However, if your house is of a similar age, type, and material used as other buildings in your neighborhood, and the soil moisture level is the same, there’s a high probability that termites might spread to your property as well. Read more at Chemfree Exterminating

Know The Signs of a Termite Invasion

Termites can be rather quiet creatures, at least when they are not chowing down on the timber in your home. As their name suggests, subterranean termites live underground, inside the soil. They are not readily visible. How do you know you’re in trouble?

One of the most common signs that you might have a termite infestation is if you see damaged wood. This could indicate that either you currently have termites in your home or that you had a termite problem in the past. It’s hard to know for sure if wood is damaged without opening it up. However, one thing you can do to check whether your wall, table or another wooden item might be damaged is to lightly tap it with a hammer. If you hear a dull or hollow sound, then the wood might have damage.

Another sign you can look out for is mud tubes, which can indicate subterranean termites are present. These pests build most of their tunnels inside soil, sheetrock, walls, the foundation and other areas of a structure. You’ll likely see signs of mud tubes instead of the tunnels themselves. Read more at ABC Home and Commercial

You don’t want to take any chances with termites since they are silent killers. But at Backyard Bug Patrol, we know just what to do to keep termites from invading your home. Our preventative termite control package will save your home from the devastating effects of termite damage. Call us today for more details!