August 15, 2011. Bill Szydlowski
credit: BY-YOUR-⌘Termites are nasty little creatures that can wreak havoc on a home, often found gnawing and imbedded in the wood in and around your home. Many home owners may confuse termites with ants and this can be a very costly mistake.
The most common termite found or noticed by a home owner is a white termite or worker termite and these do look like ants, but the color is drastically different, where ants are brown or black termites are white. If you’ve located one termite in your home more than likely you have hundreds of thousands.
Once you begin spotting termites extensive damage has more than likely occurred around your home. Termites snack on wood, so look around any wood items in your home, such as floor boards, base boards and wood furniture. Termites leave a trail of feces as a trail to lead the rest of the colony to the food source, wood, when they find it. If you notice saw dust around wooded areas, clear wings in the windows and near light sources around your home or holes and tunneling around windows and door you most likely have a termite problem.
Most termites burrow through your foundation before they find their way into your home and it is said that they only need an area of 1/64 on and inch to enter, so look for tunneling around your foundation. If you notice any signs of termite infestation or suspect you may have termites contact a professional right away. Getting rid of termites through professional pest control can be extensive, but the cost of any exterminator is nearly as costly as the possibility of having to replace the foundation, windows or doors of your home which insurance companies may not cover. Always keep wood away from the house and watch for signs of termite activity to save you money in the long run.
Updated August 15, 2011. Published July 24, 2011. Bill Szydlowski
