A great number of the nightmare pest stories you’ll hear involve termites, and for good reason. These wood-boring pests are common and destructive, causing untold damage to human homes and businesses every year. Only by preventing their colonies from forming and turning to can you hope that your property never has to join the growing list of termite horror spots.
Termites: Destructive & Dangerous
As insects that eat wood, termites pose a unique threat to human properties. Rather than contaminating your food sources or leading to gross messes around your property, termites are content to toil away unnoticed and their constant activity can quickly lead to big hazards. Every year, millions of dollars are lost in the United States because of termite damage. This impacts everyone from homeowners to farmers to small business owners. These subterranean invaders can make it inside your walls without you ever even seeing them, and colonies can form outside and grow within a matter of weeks. That’s why it pays to know and how you can stay on top of preventing them in the first place.
What Attracts Termites
Termites form tunnels or mounds in loose soils that are close to sources of wood. While this includes the forested wilderness, termites are also common inhabitants of urban America thanks to the abundance of wood found in human buildings and yards. Colonies are initially formed by flying swarmers, or “alates,” which emerge from mature colonies to seek out new territory to form their own colonies. :
- Soil Contact: Anywhere that dirt touches wood is a prime spot for a termite colony to form, grow in numbers, and then grow in destruction. This is why yards are often the first target of forming colonies, which then go after structures as their primary food source.
- Wood: Not only do you need to be mindful of the safety of your buildings, you also need to be keeping in mind that stored wood or yard debris can attract termites.
- Moisture: Some termite species only eat damp wood, others simply take advantage of the access that water damage provides to drier, interior materials. Either way, preventing termites requires limiting excess moisture.
Termite Prevention Tips & Tricks
To address the factors that attract termites, you need to be taking regular action to address these things. Properly managing a property , because the damage they cause can be swift and irreversible. Here are ways to do that:
- Crack Sealing: Fortifying your exterior, by checking for and fixing any holes you may find, is an important step in keeping pests from crawling inside. No space is too small for a tiny insect to squeeze through.
- Moisture Control: Water damage can make termites’ job of chewing through exterior woods a whole lot easier, so proper pipe maintenance and drainage is crucial.
- Landscaping: Keeping your yard free of debris, as well as keeping grasses and decorative plants trimmed down and away from your exterior, will help reduce insect populations.
The Best Protection From Green Home Pest Control
With so much to have to worry about to be successful in preventing termites, it’s understandable that you might be overwhelmed. Fortunately, you’ve got a local resource that’s eager to assist you with . At Green Home Pest Control, we can answer any questions you might have and provide you with even more tips on how you can defend your property. We’ll get started right away on an inspection of your property, checking for termites or any factors that might attract them. We’ll not only work to address those existing problems, we’ll follow up to make sure they stay gone. Only that kind of dogged service can truly keep you safe from the destruction that termites cause.
Avoid costly repairs and by calling Green Home Pest Control today.
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21 years of pest control experience
Founder and Owner of Green Home Pest Control
13 year resident of Arizona
