Tips From the Termite Professionals at MightyMite Termite

A termite infested home is every homeowner’s nightmare, but do you know the signs of termite infestation? Knowing how to spot these home-destroying insects is an important step in establishing effective termite control. If you have termites in your house, you’re not alone, because termites cause billions of dollars of damage to homes across the country each year. Here, we talk about the signs of termite infestation and why having an annual termite inspection is the best way to begin termite treatment and prevent a termite infestation.

Why Are Termites So Common?

Often, homeowners don’t realize their home is termite infested until significant damage has already been done. Termites can cause significant damage to houses, from degrading the structural integrity of the house by chewing on the wooden beams that support it to ruining wooden furniture inside a home. Termites eat cellulose, which is found in wood and other plant materials. This means anything made with plant fibers, from cloth to paper to cardboard. What’s more, to access the cellulose they crave, termites will use their powerful mandibles to bite through anything in their way. Since hundreds of thousands of termites can live in one colony, it’s easy to understand how they can quickly wreak havoc on a house. The best way to stop them? Prevent them from taking up residence in your home in the first place, and be vigilant about noticing signs of an infestation.

Common Signs You Might Have Termites

Here are some signs of termite infestation to keep an eye out for:

Shed wings: Most termites are wingless, but reproductive termites, also called alates or swarmers, have wings. These wings have a specific purpose- to help alates find mates. In mating season, reproductive termites leave their nests, find other swarmers, pair off, and start new colonies in new locations. Once they decide to settle down, they shed their wings, so if you see shed wings in your window sills or around doors, you likely have a new colony forming in your house somewhere.
Mud tubes: Subterranean termites need moisture to survive, so they do not come out into the air. Instead, they build tunnels leading from their underground colonies to the wood inside a house. If you have a subterranean termite infestation, you are likely to see these tubes running along your walls. Seeing these tubes is a bad sign because it means termites have already infested your home.
Damaged wood: When termites infest wood, they sometimes create blisters or a rippled appearance because of tunneling close to the surface. Wood that’s been damaged by termites might also sound hollow and have weak points. You might also spot holes in the wood and piles of frass, a sawdust or sand like substance, underneath the holes.
Termite droppings: Also called frass, the waste termites leave behind looks like little piles of sawdust or sand. These droppings can be found on the floor under holes termites have bored, typically along wooden floorboards, on carpeting, on window sills, and on wooden porches. It’s also common to find termite frass on the attic floor or in the crawl space.

How Can I Prevent Termite Infestation in My Home?

If you spot any of these signs, it means you already have an active infestation, and it’s time to call in the professionals. Pest control specialists can treat your home for termites and give you advice on how to keep these insects out of your house in the future. Some good preventive measures for thwarting an infestation include trimming shrubbery away from the foundation, storing firewood away from the house, limiting the use of mulch, and quickly addressing any problems with moisture buildup or airflow. These are important steps for termite control, but termite companies can provide preventive treatments to keep termites out of your home that are even more effective. Calling in an expert in termite control is the best way to get rid of termites in your house and prevent them from coming back to your home in the future.

Take the Right Precautions for Termites

If you have termites in your house, it’s time to call the termite control professionals at MightyMite Termite Services. At MightyMite, we’ve earned a reputation as experts in California termite control. We perform termite inspections to ensure that your home is free of termites and work hard to help you keep it that way, using treatments that are naturally derived and have a low impact on the environment. We diagnose and treat infestations with the most effective methods and unmatched warranties, solving your termite problems the first time, with an industry best “no call-back rate.” That, combined with our experience, technology, and highly trained professional staff, makes us the leading extermination company in the Bay Area. We understand that your home is your most important investment, so we work hard to provide excellent service, utilizing best practices to solve our customers’ termite problems. For more information, email Info@mightymitetermite.com, call us today at 408.335.7053, or contact us through our website.