The National Pest Management Association (NMPA) established Termite Awareness Week to educate homeowners about the destructiveness of these pests. Each year, Termite Awareness Week is the first full week before spring, just before termites become more active.
As the ground warms, termite activity increases. In spring, usually after a rainstorm, mature colonies will send out swarmer termites (also known as alates or reproductives) to find new real estate where new termite colonies can be established so that even more termites can eat, drink, and breed. The NPMA is working hard to help homeowners protect their property from termites, and so are we.
A Property Owners’ Worst Pest Nightmare
Named “silent destroyers” for good reason, termites are one of the most destructive pests that could infiltrate your home. Yearly, termites cost US property owners five billion dollars. And termite damage is not usually covered by home insurance plans, causing property owners huge financial setbacks. Furthermore, termite infestations can destabilize the structure of your property, putting people at risk.
How Can Tiny Insects Cause So Much Damage?
Termites eat 24 hours a day/seven days a week. They don’t sleep. They get their water from the moisture in wood. They only take a break to make more termites! And they can make a lot more termites. Some species of termites, like the Formosan termite, can lay up to 1,000 eggs a day. As soon as the eggs hit the nymph stage of development, they are assigned to a caste and get to work eating away at your property or protecting the termites that do.
Termites can be found in every state. Even though they have a relatively short lifespan of just 1-2 years, in that time, termites can consume about 8 pounds of wood! Talk about taking a chunk out of your home.
Termites tunnel through wood. Any wood will do. They will eat their way through framing wood, joists, doors, window frames, and even that fancy new shiplap you installed in your kitchen. Over time, the damage can be catastrophic. When extensive damage occurs, properties become uninhabitable. Properties must be abandoned until the structural integrity can be confirmed.
Termites are hard to spot. They typically infiltrate homes from the ground when there is soil-to-wood contact. Once inside, tucked away in their wood tunnels, they can eat their way through your home without you even noticing. That’s why it’s important to keep a vigilant eye out for signs of a termite infestation. Being proactive could save your home.
What Are The Signs Of A Termite Infestation?
Termites enter properties by being transported inside by infested wood, or by happenstance when they stumble upon your home because of its proximity to wood debris, mulch chips, decaying trees, or other termite hot spots. Once termites begin ingesting the wood inside your property, they excrete a sawdust-like material that serves as a clue that termites might be around. This excrement, called frass, tends to pile up outside termite colonies. Frass is only apparent if you have a drywood termite infestation. Subterranean termites do not leave frass.
The termite frass also blocks air from circulating, which causes bulging or sagging walls, ceilings, floors, doors, and windows. When the moisture gets trapped in the wood, it swells and causes tight-fitting doors and windows that are difficult to open. If property owners knock on termite-infested walls and underneath the flooring, they will hear a hollow sound because of the termites’ labyrinth of tunnels. During swarming season, look out for the shed wings of termite swarmers around your property as that is a sure sign that termites are near. The indicators of termite infestations are:
- Bulging or drooping walls, ceilings, or floors
- Tightly-fitted windows and doors
- Shed wings of termite swarmers
- Sawdust-like piles or particles
- Hollow-sounds in walls or flooring
Get Peace Of Mind, Call Pest Pro Pest Control Today
Do you want peace of mind that your Salt Lake City property is safe from termites? Call Pest Pro Pest Control and schedule an annual termite inspection now.