3 Easy-To-Miss Signs Of An Active Termite Infestation
Do you live in an area where termites are common? How long has it been since you had a termite inspection or a preventative termite visit? Although your home may seem fine now, you're playing with fire by not dealing with the termites before they become an obvious problem. Termites can cause thousands of dollars in damage and can even destroy entire homes if left unchecked. If it's been some time since you had a professional out to investigate the situation, here are some signs that you may actually have an active termite infestation:
Droppings: If you don't look closely, the initial droppings (also known as "frass") left by a colony may appear to be nothing more than ordinary household dust. But when this so-called dust keeps appearing in the same location, or in nearby locations, even after cleaning, you may have a need for residential termite control. Termite frass, when looked at closely, differs from the droppings left behind by other species of insects. Under magnification, termite frass is short and six-sided, somewhat resembling very tiny whole peppercorns due to their sort of wrinkled appearance. If this is what you see, you need to get help immediately in order to eliminate the colony as quickly as possible.
Stuck doors and windows: Although you might think that suck doors and windows are a sign of solid wood that has no termites, this isn't always the case. Termites can bring a lot of moisture with them as they tunnel through your door frames and wall studs. This moisture can cause the wood to initially swell as it's being eaten from the inside out. If you suddenly have trouble opening or closing doors and windows that were fine before, you may just need a carpenter to fix the issue but it's also possible that residential termite control options are going to be necessary.
Odd-looking ants: When you see a small insect scuttling around on the kitchen counter, most people are going to assume that this is an ant. The two species do look similar to each other at first glance. Termites are naturally secretive creatures because exposure to too much light can kill them; this means that the average person probably hasn't seen a termite up-close before and so isn't going to be able to tell the difference. Residential termite control may be necessary if you put down ant bait and get no results, especially if these supposed ants are a light yellowish or white in color. Ants come in numerous shades of brown, yellow, and black but cream-colored or white "ants" are actually termites.
Contact a service, like American Pest Control Inc, for more help.
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