Termites have the potential to do a lot of long-term harm to your residence. If you suspect you have a termite infestation, you can count on a professional termite inspection company. Florida environmental shared information on termite inspections, which can be beneficial for DIYers.
It’s important to get in touch with a pest control provider as soon as you suspect a termite problem. Orkin Pest Management estimates that households in the United States spend $5 billion a year on termite control and damage repair. That may not be within your means.
Termite inspections are the strongest defense against infestation. However, many pest control businesses will conduct your initial termite examination for nothing unless it’s a real estate transaction.
Everything you need to know about termite inspections is provided below, including how to prepare and what to look for during the inspection.
Inspecting for Termites: The Detailed Procedure
To be honest, it’s a piece of cake. The first step is to make an appointment for a termite inspection with the business of your choice. You can do it either online or by phone.
You’ll have to be at home to give them access to your house and garage, as well as any other structures that you want checked for. Make an appointment with a licensed technician who works for you.
When it comes to preparation, some firms don’t expect you to do anything before they arrive, while others expect you to go through a number of steps ahead of time.
Always make sure that the inspection expert has access to all important areas, such as your attic and sink, as well as your garage and crawl space, if you have one. Remove everything from your attic, garage, and under your sink, including anything that can obstruct the opening to your crawl space or sink.
Your expert will look for telltale indicators of termite activity and infestations, including mud tubes and shed wings on the interior and exterior of your home.
They’ll look in every crevice and crack for signs of subterranean and dry wood termites, respectively. The time it takes will be determined by the size of your property and the accessibility of your woodwork. But it will take around 45 minutes on average.
If you need treatment, the technician will give you a cost after the inspection is complete and they’ve identified the wood-destroying organisms.
What To Look For During Termite Inspection?
Termite inspectors are on the lookout for a number of important pieces of evidence when they start on the hunt. All of these signals can be picked up by you as well.
Termites might be hard to detect until after they’ve already caused havoc on your home’s woodwork. Termite checks are crucial because of this.
1. Tubes For Storing Waste
Termites living underground build mud tubes to connect their colonies to the wood they devour. These soil-and-wood-and-soil tunnels are about the width of a pencil.
A variety of factors motivate termites to build mud tubes. Additionally, they serve as a barrier between termites and predators and a source of water.
The presence of mud tubes is a sure sign of subterranean termites, but that doesn’t imply you’re free of the pests altogether. Subterranean termites can still exist, and dry wood termites don’t even build mud tubes.
2. Wood Deterioration
The sound of hollow wood when tapped is a strong symptom of termite infestation. Termites inflict a lot of damage to the structural joints in your wood, causing them to crack or crumble.
To find any hidden tunnels, use a screwdriver to probe the wood. Termites living underground have a particular tunneling pattern, constantly following the grain of the wood.
3. Swarms’ Signs
Subterranean termites swarm when it gets warm enough for them to leave and form a new colony. They throw away their wings when they move on to new pastures, sometimes leaving piles of them behind.
4. Frass
To use a technical phrase, frass is nothing more than termite droppings. Frass consists of oval-shaped granular pellets that are as tiny as possible.
There will be frass along baseboards and door frames, as well as on windowsills if termites have taken up residence at your home.
5. Sagged Paints
Paint may bubble or peel if you have subterranean termites. Moisture and air can become trapped between the paint and the drywall when termites destroy it. As a result, the moisture beneath the painted surface may begin to buckle.
Termite activity isn’t often obvious when your paint bubbles up for other causes besides termites.
6. A Colony Of Actual Termites
Termites in the wild can be quite difficult to locate. Make sure you can tell it apart from an ant if you’re unlucky enough to find one in your home.
Workers, soldiers, and reproductives are the three main subterranean termite subgroups. The majority of these teams are creamy white in color.
Most notably, reproductives have wings, which gives them the appearance of being flying ants. Reproductive termites can be differentiated from flying ants in a number of ways.
To begin, let’s talk about the wings. There are two sets of wings on flying ants and termites alike. Termites and flying ants have the same wings length; however, flying ants have longer front wings than rear wings. Additionally, flying ants have curved antennae and are thicker along the middle.
The Final Pick!
That’s all there is to it. Termite inspections are the same whether you do it yourself or employ a pest control firm to get the job done for you. In either case, make sure you finish the job properly because no one wants their house to become a termite banquet.
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