Damascus residents are aware of how damaging termites can be to their homes. To prepare and prevent a termite issue, it is important to know the common signs of infestations. Termites are quite sneaky and you may not realize you have them. unless you are trained to control termites, you may have difficulty noticing signs of infestations. A Damascus pest control company has experts who are familiar with the common signs of termite infestations, so they know how and where to treat these pests. When inspecting your house for termites, here’s what you should pay attention to:
Mud Tubes
Subterranean termites tend to breed and live in the ground. They construct mud tubes that link their colony to your house. Such mud tunnels are made using tiny pieces of soil, wood, debris, and termite feces. With these tubes, termites gain access to sources of food below and above ground. Also, they protect termites from predators and keep moisture within them. Termite mud tubes can be found around your home’s foundation or hanging from your attic or basement rafters. A lot of them can be hidden from view or found behind walls.
Swarms
Drywood and subterranean termites make swarms when they reproduce. Both species are drawn to light, so they can be found in light fixtures in windowsills or around homes. Usually, male termites fly into the light cover on ceiling fixtures and a huge number of swarms may be found lying in the cover’s bottom. Subterranean termites build huge colonies and produce up to thousands of swarming termites. But drywood termites only produce up to a hundred per colony.
Droppings
Drywood termites leave behind droppings known as frass once they eat wood. The color of these droppings depends on the kind of wood consumed. Strangely, termites push their droppings out of the nest and into your home. These droppings will form tiny piles often found beside the infested wood. finding such piles of feces can indicate a termite infestation.
Discarded Wings
Moisture contributes to the increase in termite activity. During termite seasons, winged male and unwinged female termites will mate and build new colonies. The male termites will shed their wings after the reproductive cycle. While discarded wings can be hard to identify and notice, you may find a pile of them around your house. Such wings look like fish scales.
Warped Wood
Initially, signs of termite activity in your house may look like water damage. Warped floors, buckling wood, wall cracks, and swollen ceilings may indicate a termite infestation. Determining whether they are signs of termites or water damage can be hard. However, you must get such areas checked. Either problem should be addressed right away. When left unresolved, both issues can lead to further problems.
