Termite inspection, free guide to the abatement

If you don’t see any termites, it doesn’t mean that they don’t live in your house. They use a number of tricks intending to hide their presence. Only careful termite inspection will find out the problem.

Check your property using our termite inspection tips or call free service. Making these steps you will definitely protect your house from termites’ infestation and damage.

How to inspect your house for termites

Termites are very hideous insects, but being vigilant, you will be able to make an inspection in your house for termites yourself. This routine procedure should be carried out at least once a month and will guarantee you safety and solid nervous system. Because the earlier you notice termite infestation, the easier are ways to get rid of them.

• Check your garden for any loose timber that has contact with the soil. Cut out dead trees and stumps together with their roots. Inspect also the flower-bed plastic for any suspicious signs or damages.
• Check the territory around the house on the point of weep holes and places that can be entries for termites.
• Getting armed with a torch and a screwdriver, inspect the interior of your house. Here hold the screwdriver by metal end and check all timber parts by light tapping on them. If you have termite infestation, you will hear a hollow sound, meaning that wood structure is already damaged. The torch will help you look for any unusual visible defects, like spots or leeks.
• Check your roof, especially above your bathroom space.

If you think or suspect termite infestation, it would be better to schedule free termite inspection. It is strongly recommended not to pierce the wood, because in this case the termites will leave this spot and try to find another. So you will provoke new damage. And the termite examination will have less chance to detect them.

Free termite inspection

As a rule, termite inspection is absolutely free to make a general examination of your house for termite infestation. Moreover, the termite inspector may inform you about threats of termite colonization, which places or conditions in your house may be attractive for termites. If you have no time or wish to make the inspection yourself, highly trained professionals will assume or reject your guesses about termites’ living in your house.

Free termite inspectors have a set of special tools helping them to make a thorough investigation. They will examine the exterior and interior and give you a document in which you will see whether or not you have termites in the house. Inspectors also will recommend effective treatments, educate you on the type of termites you have. You will have full information on the existing problem before you make a decision of the ways to get rid of them.

They will check your house from the foundation to the attic, every window and door frame.

If you are lucky and have no signs of termites’ activity, free termite inspection will give qualified advice on how to protect your house from the hazard.

Signs of termite damage

There are signs that point the termites:

• Mud tubes on the exterior or interior walls or your house foundations.

• Sometimes the termites tunnelling can be combined with bubbling or paint damage. You may think that this is just a bubble and nothing serious. But tap the place with a hard tool or carefully pierce it with a knife and you may see that wood is much damaged in this place. The termites create the illusion that the wood is good because they chew it from inside, leaving only a thin border with air. This step protects their soft and gently bodies from negative environmental effects. They rarely appear out of their shelters.

• Hollow sound while tapping the wood. Sometimes you can hear some rattling sound that means that soldier-termites bang their heads on the wood if they are threatened.

• Termite swarmers. They usually appear after rainfall in warm weather. Termite swarmers are winged termites that leave their nests looking for new placing. Mind that termite swarmers do not make any damage to your property. They only indicate the problem of termite infestation.

It can be invisible because of a thin wood or paint making you sure that the wood is OK. But tap the wood construction – hollow sound will indicate the infected timber, eaten out by termites. Opening the place will reveal the problem.

These are typical signs of Subterranean Termites. They usually live in the ground and reach the desired wood by building mud tubes to avoid direct contact with open air.

Termites break into your house through cracks in the concrete slabs. They resemble pencils rising from the foundation upwards.

Termites can ruin the wood both along and against the grain. Usually Subterranean termites eat wet, soft timber along the grain, while drywood species make tunnels in two directions.

Drywood termites never contact the soil. They settle in the wood high above the ground and demand little moisture. They can eat the wooden house construction from the attic to the foundation.

Sometimes termites infest the roof or vents of your house. And you may notice little mud tubes hanging down from the ceiling. It is also an indication of termite infestation.

Leave no way to escape

• Use liquid or foamed insecticides to poison the termites. For this purpose, dig out a drain around your house approximately 6 inches width and depth. Mix the insecticide with the appropriate amount of water and fill the drain. This method will kill Subterranean termites that live in the ground.
• Place baits wherever it is possible. There are different baiting systems to install outside your house. They usually have a piece of wood, closed in a plastic trap. The wood is an allurement for termites. Processed with special poisonous substances, the wood can course large massacres of termites.
• All means are possible. Make baits from cardboards. Though they will not kill al lot termites at a time, but also help in getting rid of the insects.
• Use natural means against termites – nematodes. They are little worms that act like parasites on termites, feeding on them. Spray nematodes in the garden, and they will quickly do their work.