Among all other insects, rodents and pest animals one that causes much worry to homeowners are termites. Your home is most likely your largest and most precious investment but without proper care and regular maintenance, termites could do serious damage within a short space of time.
Understanding the Kinds of Termites that Damage Your Home
There are different genus of termites and one genus can include many kinds. There’s Coptotermes, Pericapritermes, Microceretermis, Nasutitermes, Heterotermis, Descuspideteremis, just to name a few. The subterranean termites are the most destructive when it comes to house damage. They usually create a colony under the soil and move their way up to the structure and beams that support your house.
Termites eat 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. They do not rest or sleep. That is why they can cause massive destruction to a house within the first 24 hours of infestation. The drywood termites eat drywood used to build houses, weakening it day by day. The subterranean termites, on the other hand travel through underground tubes under the house, destroying its foundation. What makes them even more destructive is the fact that it is not easy to notice their presence in your house. They can stay in a place for a very long time before your realise their presence. In this time they could have caused massive destruction.
Termites live and eat in colonies. The colonies can consist of up to 1 million members.
Owing to the great damage termites can cause, it is only prudent that you prevent them from infesting your home. If they have already infested your house, you must find practical solutions to get rid of them for good. Lacking information on how termites eat your house can put your home at huge risk.
Here are some practical solutions that can be applied:
1. Application of Chemical Treatment for Infected and Surrounding Areas
You can get rid of termites by using chemical treatments. However, this requires the assistance of professionals who are well trained in pest treatment and control. The most common chemicals used in this process are termiticides. These chemicals are injected all around the house and into the soil where the insects are. These chemicals are very effective in suffocating and dehydrating the insects, causing their extermination.
2. Creating Spot Bait
Setting up baits can also help in killing termites. Materials like cardboard that contain cellulose can help attract termites to a certain spot. By adding a termiticide like Nemesis, they can kill termites and infect others in the colony. These baits can be set up in areas where the insects are suspected to be hiding, and therefore needs the assistance of professionals as well.
3. Other Forms of Termite Prevention
The best practical solution is to prevent the termites from building colonies before they can infest your house. Termite solution providers and companies can provide recommendations for measures of prevention even when there are no infestations yet. You can hire professionals to do maintenance and monthly check-ups just to be sure that your home is free from them.
Additionally, some basic actions that can help and that you can do as a homeowner are: keep wood away and drain water away from your house, keep gutters and pipes clean and dry and seal all cracks and crevices in your house.
If you understand how termites eat your house, you will be in a better position to prevent their infestation and even notice any infestation in the early stages to avoid massive damage to your home. Termites are the worst enemies of all homeowners when it comes to pest infestations but early prevention will help greatly in maintaining the good condition of your home.
