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Damage

​Termites are discovered in more than 5 million homes on average each year in the United States. Unless you call Alaska home, your house is not safe from termite damage. The National Pest Management Association estimates termite damage costs U.S. homeowners $5 billion each year and is rarely covered by homeowners insurance. 

How can they cause so much damage? A subterranean termite colony can include millions of termites, and the worker termites forage for food 24/7. Their food is the wood in your home: your floors, walls and ceilings. And a termite may only need a 1/16" space to pass through your foundation and reach the wood above.

Signs of Termites
​How do you know if you have termites? While it’s always best to have an inspection done by a pest management professional, termites will occasionally leave clues. If you do investigate, here’s what to look for.

Swarming

Termites often swarm in warmer weather and after a rain shower to start new colonies. The swarming event can be brief, so even if you do not see flying termites, you are likely to see the discarded wings around window sills, doors, heating vents, bathtubs and sinks after a swarm takes place. Termite swarmers use their wings to move away from their original colony. Their wings break off and they pair up and find locations with a wood source where the male and female can begin a new colony. Whether you see the swarm or think there might have been one, call a professional immediately.

​Mud Tubes

Foraging worker termites, the ones that eat wood to feed the rest of the colony, must stay in moist conditions and away from natural enemies like ants. To get across barriers between the soil and the wood above, termites construct small, meandering “mud” tubes from moist soil and excrement. The tubes are about the diameter of a pencil, though they can become wider. Tubes can be seen on foundation walls or inside walls, on plumbing pipes and spanning crawl spaces between the ground and the subfloor. These termite highways are a sure sign termites are or have been in the home.

Damaging Wood

Termites eat wood from the inside out along the grain, so damage often isn’t visible until it becomes significant. Termite inspectors often will tap to listen for hollow-sounding wall studs, baseboards and floors. If the wood gives way, it may reveal a hollowed-out honeycomb pattern. The wood also will include some “mud” similar to mud tubes, plus live termites.

Formosan termites are an especially robust, destructive species with large colonies. Walls of infested buildings may contain carton nests that hold enough moisture to allow the colony to live entirely above ground, sometimes causing bulging walls. 

Live Insects

When building or remodeling in your home, keep an eye out for soft-bodied, light-colored insects about the size of a grain of rice. Termites avoid light, so they are seldom visible in open areas.
​SENTRICON® IS THE NO. 1 BRAND IN TERMITE PROTECTION.


Here’s why: The Sentricon® System is scientifically designed to eliminate the entire subterranean termite colony — including its queen. Never had termites? Keep it that way with Sentricon.


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OUR TERMITE PROTECTION SYSTEM

At O'Donnell's Termite & Pest Control, Inc, keeping your home protected is our #1 priority. By choosing the Sentricon® Always Active System you get 24/7/365 protection against the constant foraging of subterranean termites.  To learn more about how the Sentricon® Always Active System can keep your property protected, please visit their website at www.sentricon.com.



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