How much do you know about termites in Mooresville? Do you know what termites look like or how to find warning signs of termites on your property? Do you know that the termites we battle are called Eastern subterranean termites and that they can do a lot of damage to structures on your property? How about termite prevention? Do you know how to stop termites from growing their population near your home? These are essential to know if you want to avoid termite damage. If only there was a short article with the answers to all these questions… Wait a second—there is. Today, we're going to look at termite identification and detection, facts related to how termites damage properties, and what you can do to make your property less interesting to termites. We'll also share the best way to get rid of termites if you've already found warning signs on your property. At the end, we'll quickly tell you how the termite experts at Lake Norman Pest Control handle termite pest control in Mooresville. Does that sound like a plan? Great. Let's dig in. (If you need immediate help with a termite problem, please don't hesitate to jump over to our contact page and reach out to us. We are standing by to help!)
Signs Of Termites On Your Naples Property
Some termite signs are easy to see. Unfortunately, the easy signs aren't great signs. Why? Because you'll only see these easy signs after termites have had years to damage your property. Let's look at these first.
- Termite damage can let you know you have a termite problem, but the majority of the damage that termites do is hidden inside the wood timbers of your home. Subterranean termites avoid coming out into the air because they require high levels of moisture. For this reason, they often secretly damage homes in Mooresville for years. When you notice a floor sinking down, a wall bulging, or your doors and windows sticking, you know something is wrong. But damage like this only appears after years of infestation.
- Seeing termite swarmers in your home is a noticeable sign. Eastern subterranean termite swarmers are black with long white wings. The black and white contrast makes a group of these insects quite noticeable, even though each swarmer is only ⅜ of an inch long. But a nest doesn't produce these winged termites until it has matured, and that can take over three years. It is also not good to see swarmers in your home because it is a warning sign of a severe infestation. Swarmers don't want to leave the nest and enter into structures. They want to emerge outside. Finding them inside means the nest is near or underneath your home. That's not good.
The best way to detect termites is to look for the subtle signs of infestation. You can protect your property by detecting termites early if you know where to look.
- Termite damage. Yes, you read that correctly. It is possible to see termite damage if you go looking for it. If your home has wood-to-soil contact, you can dig away at the soil to reveal damage just below the surface. These are "subterranean" termites after all.
- A termite swarmer. Notice that we're talking about a single swarmer. When you see one swarmer in your yard, you may not have an infestation yet. But it is probable that you're about to have one. The job of a swarmer is to mate and establish new nests. If that swarmer and its mate survive, you could have a nest on your property.
- Wings. Termite swarmers shed their wings during the mating process. You may find these wings on your property if you check spider webs. While it is good to remove spider webs to reduce spider populations, they're helpful for catching the subtle signs of pest activity, like swarmers or their wings.
- Shelter tubes. When termite workers feed on structures, they often make shelter tubes to protect themselves from the drying effects of the air. They create these tubes in humid and dark spaces, which makes them hard to detect. A shelter tube is made of mud and is likely to look like a wiggly line about the width of a pencil.
- Worker termites. It is rare to see termite workers. Unlike swarmers, workers don't reveal themselves. You have to uncover them, and when you do, you need to recognize them. A worker termite looks like a fat, pale-colored ant and is about ⅛ of an inch long. You might see workers when you pick dead branches up in your yard or when you move objects (particularly wood) from one location to another. Don't expect to see them for long. They disappear into wood and soil quickly.
Ongoing inspections are critical for early detection and damage prevention. You can perform these inspections yourself or have a technician from Lake Norman Pest Control do this for you. Our technicians use equipment and specialized knowledge to find the slightest of signs.
The Extent Of Property Damage Termites Can Create
When termites are detected, what should you do? How destructive are termites really? Subterranean termites cost U.S. property owners $5 billion annually. We can't tell you how much damage they'll do to your Mooresville home, but we can tell you they are destructive. Here are a few facts about termite workers to help you estimate the threat for yourself.
- Termites are simple organisms that do not need sleep. They are only slowed down by environmental conditions such as the cold of winter.
- Termites travel as far as a hundred yards in search of food sources, which means more than one nest of termites can feed on your home at the same time.
- When termites find food, they recruit other termites to feed on the source, but all the termites do not focus on one food source. Many of the workers continue to look for more food. What this means is you can have termites feeding on wood in your yard and in your home at the same time.
- A colony can have 60,000 to as many as 1,000,000 individual termites.
- Termites are solely focused on finding food and growing their populations. There is no time for recreation in a termite colony.
When you find evidence of termites, take action to protect your property, and if you need assistance with termites in Mooresville, contact Lake Norman Pest Control. If you don't have a termite control problem yet, there are many steps you can take to prevent one.
Handy Tips To Prevent Termites Around Your Property
Termite workers enter your yard looking for food. You can deter them by removing food and altering conditions that make workers believe they might find food on your property. Here are a few suggestions:
- When you pick up dead branches in your yard and landscaping, store them in a bin rather than pile them on the ground where termites can easily get to them.
- Do you have a wood source sitting on the ground in your yard, such as campfire wood, construction materials, scrap wood, or wood pallets? Put wood on a rubber mat or elevated platform to prevent termite workers from having direct access. They'll have to make shelter tubes to get to wood that is not directly on the ground.
- Refrain from burying wood in your yard. Even pressure-treated wood will turn into termite food if it is put in the soil.
- Do you have a junk pile? Termites don't just eat wood. They'll eat cardboard, clothing, certain vegetables, and other items that have cellulose. Store junk and garbage in receptacles.
- Address moisture problems. A clogged or damaged gutter system will cause perimeter dampness. Damp soil is attractive to termites. Moisture in the soil keeps termite workers hydrated and workers may know that moist soil is likely to have rotting wood resting on it.
These, and other strategies that remove termite food and address conducive conditions that lead to an infestation, are essential if you don't have professional termite control for your home.
The Most Effective Termite Control For Your Property
You have the ability to decide just how much you'll allow termites to cost. When you get professional termite control, your property is protected and you can put the cost of your termite control neatly into your budget. Doing this will prevent unwanted surprises when you go to sell your home, or in your retirement years when you want to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Termite protection is like getting termite insurance.
Are you in Mooresville? If so, let the certified pest control professionals at Lake Norman Pest Control help you keep termites from eating your equity. We use the award-winning Sentricon® System with Always Active™ to guard properties against termite damage. Sentricon® provides active protection against termites and uses worker termites to strike back at the colony that sent them. Best of all, Sentricon® provides easy detection so that you'll know if termites ever try to take a bite out of your home investment. Connect with us today to learn more about Sentricon® or to get active termite protection for your Mooresville home.
