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June 14, 2022Wildlife

Are Termites in Your House? Look for These Signs

Your home is one of your biggest investments. Unfortunately, termite damage is a leading cause of diminished home value. Termites are colony pests that work together in large numbers to destroy your home’s structural integrity and diminish its equity. You can protect your greatest asset by preventing termites and responding to signs of infestation as early as possible. So, what should you be on the lookout for around your home? Bug House’s best advice is below.

Recognize the early signs of termites.

Let’s start with the bad news: termites can be in your home long before you notice these signs. The good news? The sooner you call Bug House, the faster we can resolve the issue and prevent further damage. What are the early indicators that termites are in your house? There are specific clues around your home that can indicate the presence of termites. These indicators help you spot the presence of termites–hopefully before it becomes a full-blown, costly infestation.

• Wood that sounds hollow
• Drooping or discolored drywall
• Buckling floorboards
• Loose tiles from added moisture
• Peeling paint

Schedule an inspection with an expert.

Professional termite treatment saves you money by eliminating termite colonies in one fell swoop. Don’t wait for a termite infestation to get worse–it will only cost you more money. Bug House offers free home pest inspections and consultations! When we inspect your home, you receive a comprehensive evaluation and service quote at no cost to you. Period. Our Bug House inspectors are experts in home inspections and pest management, specializing in pest identification and treatment in Georgia. When Bug House comes to inspect your home, we make sure you’re comfortable by explaining everything up front–no surprise costs, no sneaky upselling.

At Bug House, we offer two different types of termite systems – The Sentricon Termite Colony Elimination System and The Termidor System. To learn more about our termite services, click here. Calling on pest professionals does more than eliminate your current termite infestation. Only professional-grade termite treatments also protect your home from future infestations.

Eliminate termite attractors.

What attracts termites to your home? Termites eat wood and anything else made of cellulose. This includes books, boxes, wallpaper, drywall, carpet backing, and furniture. In addition to wood inside the home, termites are drawn inside by moisture, wood in contact with house foundations, and cracks in building exteriors. Different combinations of these factors attract different species of termites. Geographic location also plays a role in how likely homeowners are to experience termites and infestations.

Homeowners can reduce the risk of termite attack by eliminating wood in contact with the ground, not letting moisture accumulate near the foundation, reducing moisture and humidity in crawl spaces, and not storing firewood or wood debris against foundations or inside crawl spaces. Check out our blog to learn about the importance of proactive termite pest control.

Do termites go away on their own?

Short answer: yes, but they’ll do significant damage first, and they can always come back. Some DIY-ers attempt to use boric acid to eliminate termites because termites die if they ingest the substance. However, the use of boric acid by homeowners will only kill a small number of termites, not the entire termite colony. Termite colonies can only be destroyed with thorough, professional treatments from pest control experts like Bug House.