Termites become more active in the spring. They swarm, they mate, and they strike out to establish new colonies. To help remind property owners of this, Termite Awareness Week is the first full week before spring.
You are usually required to get a termite inspection before you sell your home. However, it is a good idea to get a termite inspection every year during or around Termite Awareness Week. Remember, the longer the termites are in your home, the more it will cost to eradicate the colony and repair the damage they have caused.
Termite Damage Can Be Catastrophic
Few creatures can literally eat you out of house and home. Termites can. They eat the wood in buildings and, if left alone long enough, can cause buildings to collapse. Since termites do not sleep, they chew wood constantly, doing more and more damage every minute.
Termites cause billions of dollars of damage every year across the United States. They are most notorious for eating wood, but will also damage paper, books, insulation, swimming pool liners, and swimming pool filtration systems.
Signs Of Termites In Your Home
In addition to the damage termites do, it is very upsetting to have thousands of winged insects swarming inside your house. If you see swarming insects like these, they are almost certainly termites. You can vacuum or sweep them up to get rid of them, but that doesn’t solve the problem.
By the time you see swarms of termites, they have been there for a while and there is a well-established, mature colony under your home or nearby. Earlier signs of an infestation are:
- Mud tubes going from the soil to your house
- Darkening and blistering of structural wood holding up the house
- Thinning of wood so that a screwdriver or pocketknife can easily punch into it
If you see any of these signs, it is time to call a pest control service immediately.
Termite Eradication -- Not A DIY Project
Getting rid of termites is hard. You need special training and special insecticides to do so. There are no pesticides approved for home-owner use in California that are effective against termites. That means you will need help.
Bay Pest has a special termite control program. When you call us, we will come out and inspect your home for termites. If we find any, we will formulate a plan to eliminate them depending on whether they are subterranean termites or dry wood termites.
Subterranean termites nest in the soil around your home as well as in your home. Your Bay Pest technician attacks them by:
- Drilling small holes around your foundation and filling them with termiticide. The holes are then sealed with soil or mortar Spot treating active nests in your house.
- Digging a trench around your house, filling it with slow-acting termiticide, then filling the trench in. As a termite passes through the termiticide, she picks some up on her body. She then spreads the termiticide around the colony, killing her nestmates.
- Placing bait stations around the perimeter of your house. Termites eat the bait, tell others in the colony about it, and cause the elimination of the whole colony by slow poison.
- Dry wood termites nest solely in dry wood, such as building lumber. They are a little harder to eliminate. Your house will have to be tented and fumigated. This takes three days, which means you will have to stay somewhere else during that time.
Bay Pest can find and eliminate your termite problem. Call us today at (408) 413-0336 for peace of mind.