Categories: Home Improvement

Dealing With A Termite Invasion

November 5, 2016

Termites serve a great purpose in nature. They break down dead wood and cellulose, which is commendable and utterly useful in ridding the environment of dead matter. Termites form an integral part of our ecosystem. Now, as much as they do a great job, it would be best if their breakdown of wooden material were left in the woods. When they bring their services into your home, they become some of the most destructive insects known to man.

Types of Termites

The first step towards being able to fight termites effectively is knowing which type you are dealing with. There are three main known types:

  • Dry Wood

They do not need contact with soil or moisture to survive. They live in colonies and are stubborn to eliminate.

  • Subterranean Termites

This type lives underground where the colony has access to soil and moisture. They attack from under, and it may be difficult to tell when you have them until they have eaten away half of the pillar in your house. Subterranean termites have more than one species, with Formosan being the most destructive. They are cunning too; they form a carton nest so that they can reduce the reliance on the soil. This way, they can penetrate into areas that have no soil while still getting their required level of moisture.

  • Dampwood

This type cannot do without moisture and humidity. They live in decaying wood and are the largest in numbers in the United States.

Now that you know your enemy, it’s time to ensure that they have not invaded your home. Termites do not need much space to get into your home, just a little crack, and enough motivation.

They could get into your house through:

  • Joint areas
  • Hollow block walls
  • Cracks in the foundation
  • The side of foundation walls

How to Get Rid of Them

If they are yet to get into your home, you are lucky. If you already have them, then it is not too late to start with treatment. Go for a professional who knows how to handle termites to ensure the best results.

  • Pre-treatment

Before building your home, you could have the wood pre-treated with Timbor. It is efficient and lasts as long as the wood does. It is an effective preventive measure with which you would never have to worry about termites ever.

  • Termite Fumigation

Fumigation terminates all the colonies of termites in your home in only a few days. A professional pest control company pitches a tent around your home and releases chemicals that kill all the termites in only a few days. The chemicals are not harmful to people or pets, but you may still decide to move out for the few days that fumigation is ongoing.

  • Spot Treatment

When you identify the type of termites that are on your turf, you could apply spot treatment to get to their point of occurrence. This method of treatment entails injecting a dry termiticide into selected parts of the wood to repel the termites.

  • Heat Treatment

Termites can only take so much heat. With this method, there are no chemicals involved; just a little more heat than is normal. The house is sealed off, and the heat cranked up. It is left on for several hours until such a time when all the termites have been eradicated.

Most of these treatments are repeated a few times to ensure that your home is free of the little homewreckers. The best thing about involving a professional service provider is that they apply the techniques that will keep your home safe for more than one year.

Written by BugOut Pest Control & Lawn Care. BugOut Pest Control & Lawn Care offers the best service for pest control in Columbia, MO.

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