A termite infestation can be detrimental to the structure of your home and cause costly repairs. If you suspect you have termites, you need to pay attention to common indicators that termites are near or in your home, and then make sure you treat your property and wood belongings before either become food for this destructive insect.
Don’t know how to tell if you have termites in your walls? The following are several signs that termites are in your home, hanging around, or about to invade.
How To Tell That You Have Termites in Your Walls? Here Are The Signs
The following are signs that if you notice them on or around your home or property, you need to contact a professional as soon as you can.
Tunnels or Thin Lines on Drywall
Tunnels or drywall lines indicate that termites are tunneling in or through your drywall to get to edible wood.
Small Holes in Walls
Small holes in your walls, wood or otherwise, indicate termite presence and that they are on the move. Except for their excrement and when infested wood collapses from weakness, you will not likely be able to tell you have termites.
Swarmer Termites Flying Around
Swarmer termites are attracted to lights and fly around by the hundreds and sometimes the thousands. Look for shed wings on the ground near lights.
Difficult to Open Doors or Windows
If your windows or doors are suddenly difficult to open or close, you may have termites. Termites eat the wood in your walls and weaken them. Over time, they loosen and sag, rendering what used to fit ill-fitting.
Carpenter Ants Near Walls
Carpenter ants will eat termites. So having carpenter ants on your floors or near one particular place in your walls or door jams is a sign you might have termites. Carpenter ants are also a wood destroying insect so it’s important to contact a professional for help eliminating carpenter ants as well.
Frass or Termite Dust At the Base Of a Wall
Termites will eat openings in your walls or whatever wood they have infested and push their waste out of the holes. Look for piles of sawdust-looking substances that have small, sand-like pellets.
Faint Ticking or Clicking Sounds In The Wall
If the nest is large enough, you might be able to hear termites gnawing away at your wood. You will hear faint clicking sounds that run wherever they have infested.
Mud Tubes Along Baseboards
Occasionally, you might see mud tubes along your baseboards or in the ground outside your home up against your foundation. Tunnels let termites travel safely from their nest to your walls.
Termite Damage
You might have termites if you see excrement from termites or sawdust next to a wooden structure or piece of furniture. Additionally, if wooden objects are lighter or seem more fragile, they might be tunneled out by termites.
Termite Prevention: Routine Inspections & Early Detection
The best way to prevent termite infestation is through regularly scheduled home inspections. A professional pest control specialist will look inside and outside your home and take note of tunnels, mud trails, or stains indicating termites in the area.
Routine inspections are vital because termites are always on the move. When you notice a problem, it might be too late, and they might already be in your home or infesting your wood.
Some homeowners think that they can perform an inspection and determine if they have termites. Termites, however, can be tricky. For example, they might infest whatever is beneath or behind the tile in tiled rooms. You may never see obvious signs they are there.
A professional knows the early warning signs and can pick up on them before you have a major issue. Additionally, they will know what you need to do to get rid of the termites as soon as they determine the extent of your issue.
Termite Problem? We Got Your Back!
The only way to handle a termite infestation is early detection through inspections and quick treatment when an infestation has been discovered. Call Stampede Pest control to get started with an inspection so you can have peace of mind that termites cannot invade your living space.