A termite infestation can ruin your home. Termites can burrow into your house, tunnel through the wooden walls, and destroy items inside your property. You can always hire termite control services in Chesapeake to get rid of them, but first, you need to know how to spot an infestation.
Termite droppings
Termites leave clues that they are burrowing into your home. All you have to do is to keep an eye. Check your house for termite droppings, termite wings, and even dead termites, and you will know that you have an infestation.
Termite droppings, also known as termite frass, look like sawdust. You could mistake them as such if you see some on your windowsill. To figure out if the small clump of “sawdust” you see is actually termite droppings, you will need a magnifying glass to check out their shape.
Termite frass looks like granular pellets upon closer inspection, while sawdust looks like tiny slivers or shavings of wood. Also, termite droppings vary in color. If you look closely, you will notice that some sport a dark coffee color and others have a lighter color like mocha.
Small holes
Termites leave small holes in wood. Check your walls for any cracks or small holes. The trick here is to check for sawdust on the floor. If you do find any near a wall, it is possible you have found termites tunneling through your house.
These pests also create tunnels. These are easy to spot despite how small they are. If you notice a long trail of what seems to be dried mud on the surface of your walls, chances are that is a termite tunnel. They often create those tunnels to use as a passage.
Cracked paint
Another way to spot a termite infestation is to check the paint on your walls for cracks. When termites are colonizing a house, they create tunnels near the surface for easier access. When they do that, their tunnels push the paint outwards, which is why you will see cracks or bubbles in your painted wall.
Termites can also create colonies in doors, window frames, baseboards, and any other area of your house that is made of wood. So, check those areas, too. See if the paint has bubbled or cracked, and you will find your termite infestation.
Hollow sound
To see if termites have created a tunnel through your walls, knock on them. You should not hear a hollow sound, and if you do, it is possible that termites have tunneled their way through your walls. Another sign that you have these pests in your home is if you have rotting wood.
You should also check your concrete walls for infestation. Termites cannot eat concrete, but small pockets inside your concrete walls are big enough for these pests to crawl through.
Do not let termites sneak into your house, wreak havoc, and cause structural damage. Keep an eye out for these signs, and you will be able to prevent a termite colony from damaging your home.
