Termites will cause significant damage to your home in a matter of six months. Approximately 600,000 homes are infested each year causing billions of dollars in damages. These infestations can be difficult to spot, but recognizing what to look for makes it much easier to identify problems and treat them sooner.
What Are Termites?
Termites are tiny insects, about ⅛ inch long, creamy white to dark brown with a narrow oval-shaped body. Using a saw-toothed jaw, they eat wood 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In nature, this is beneficial in reducing the amount of deadwood and debris on forest floors, but for homeowners, this spells disaster for any wood structures they infest. Over time, this constant eating will lead to the total collapse of your home.
Why Are Termite Problems So Hard To Spot?
Termite problems are difficult to spot because they live their entire lives underground or inside the wood they’re feeding on. The only time you may spot a termite out in the open is when the swarmers leave the colony to pair up, reproduce, and create new termite colonies. These colonies grow rapidly, consuming five grams of wood per day on average, and often go undetected. Termites cause $5 billion in damages across the country each year, and most repairs due to termite infestations are not covered by insurance. It is crucial to schedule an annual professional inspection to defend your home against these pests.
Signs Of Termite Activity
Termite infestations are difficult to spot, but not impossible. It’s always a good idea to err on the side of caution and have the professionals perform an annual inspection, but there are some signs that you should watch for as well:
- Mud Tubes: Termites build and use mud tubes to travel outside of the home. They are long tunnels made of wood and soil and can be found near the exterior walls of your home.
- Swarmers and Discarded Wings: Swarmers are reproductive termites and the only ones with wings. When a colony has grown too large, they will fly away, pair up, and settle down with their mate to establish a new colony. Once they have settled into a new spot, they will shed their wings. Finding these wings near doors and windowsills indicates that swarmers have infested your home.
- Frass: Frass, or insect excrement, will be found in small piles near termite nests. Termite frass resembles sawdust.
- Wood Damage: Wood that sounds hollow when it's tapped on, darkening or blistering wooden structures, uneven or bubbling paint, and tight-fitting doors and windows are all signs of termite damage in wooden structures.
Keeping your property well-maintained and in good repair is your first line of defense regarding most pests. Sometimes those problems are too challenging for the average homeowner to take on alone. Luckily the professionals at Augustine Exterminators are just a phone call away.
The Professionals At Augustine Exterminators Can Help
Our highly trained, licensed professionals have been providing top-notch pest control to the Greater Kansas City area since 1966. In fact, a significant percentage of our business comes from referrals made by other satisfied customers. We exclusively use the most advanced methods along with Integrated Pest Management strategies to assist you in defending your Greater Kansas City home. When it comes to termites, we know no two infestations are alike. We customize our treatment plans to best suit the termite activity found at your property. We use liquid termite treatments, termite baiting systems, and we offer the highest level of termite protection with our Platinum program. This recurring home pest control plan offers comprehensive protection for your Kansas City Metro home. Whatever your pest or termite needs, we have you covered.