How to Spot Termites Before They Destroy Your Home

When it comes to pests and their control, the old adage that prevention is better than cure holds true. This is because of the fact that failure to act when the termites are still in their infancy could result to huge expenses when you have to deal with the full-blown colonies. This is why you should educate yourself on what to look for when you want to find out if you have any termites lurking in or around your home. Once you find out the telltale signs that you are under attack, the next step will involve finding out what kind of termites have camped in your property so you can go about exterminating them.

One of the ways to know that termites are in your home is by spotting their waste. This will usually appear as hard pellets which are elongated and have numerous concave sides (6 actually). In addition, you should be keen to observe if there are any sawdust falling from either the wall or ceiling. This will be a sure-shot sign that termites are eating their way through your precious wall or wooden structure.

Another sign that should have alarm bells ringing in your head are the presence of mud tubes which could appear on the wall. Mud tubes are the tunnels used by termites to move from one place to another. These are made of mud and saliva and will easily be spotted around your house if you are housing termites. In addition, you can take your search a little further by looking around to find if you will spot any termites roaming about. Alternatively, you might end up spotting wings which will still indicate that there are termites around.

Once you find out that you have termites, the next step will involve deciding what kind of termites they are. The following are the major types which have bugged homeowners to no end. In fact, most of the Phoenix pest control companies have to contend with these among their extermination activities.

Firstly, we have subterranean termites which are usually located underground and in wooden structures. They construct tunnels in the wood to make passage ways. Among the other termite types, these are the most destructive as they cause homeowners to incur heavy damages. Secondly, there are drywood termites which prefer to build their colonies in wood, hence their name. You will usually spot them in furniture which makes it hard to quite eradicate them as you are likely to move with them as you relocate from one place to another. Finally, we have Formorean termites which originated in Asia and probably arrived by ship during the World War 2. They are also quite destructive as they like feasting on any wooden particles that they can find around.