How to identify if you have termites

Despite being a social insect that travel in large groups, you can have termites infest your home and stay for a long period of time without your knowledge. During this time, they get to extract all the cellulose they need for their survival at the cost of damaging your property. This shows how concealing these tiny insects can be.

The specie of the termite doesn’t matter, whether it’s a subterranean termite, which is known for burrowing underground to devour wood from underneath, or a drywood termite that burrows into the wood right at the surface to devour it, these voracious and discreet insects can be quite difficult to find before they get to cause a significant level of damage.

Having them in your home automatically puts you at risk of damages as a result of their activities. To keep these damages as minimal as possible, you need to get acquainted with some of the warning signs that you might have termites in or around your property.

The following are some of the warning signs that you might have termites in or around your property.

1. Blisters on the surface of wood flooring

One of the quickest ways to know that you might have a termite infestation at hand is by noticing blisters in your wood flooring. What blisters do is to make your wood flooring look like it has been soaked in water. These kinds of warning signs are common with the infestation of subterranean termites.

2. Hollowed woods

Another obvious warning sign that you need to look out for when trying to know if you have a termite infestation, is looking out for hollowed woods. In search of cellulose, termites chew through wood, creating long channels and groves inside the wood. If this continues for a while, it creates structural damage and gives it an empty sound.

3. The presence of mud tubes

Depending on the species of the termite, some species of termites create mud tubes which are usually in the shape and size of a pencil in order to keep the humidity within their home high. The presence of these pencil-sized mud tubes around trees or wood in your house is a clear indication that you might have a termite infestation problem.

4. Visible evidence of swarms

Another way to know you might have a termite problem is by looking out for signs of swarming. Swarming is a medium by which termites disperse themselves to a new environment and start up a new colony.

If you have a termite problem, the first sign of termites swarming that you will notice is termites of equal sizes in or around your home or property. When you notice this, there is a high probability that you have termites around you.

5. Termite droppings

Though this might seem weird to you, the fact is that termites also pass out droppings just like every other household pest. For instance, drywood termites have a natural behavior of creating tunnels inside wood as they consume it. But being an insect with a cleanliness instinct, they pass their excrement outside their tunnels. These excrements usually look like coffee grounds or sawdust. If you happen to notice this on the surface of a wood or around it, then there is a possibility that you have termites around.

In conclusion, not seeing any of these signs doesn’t mean you don’t have the termites around. These sneaky insects are known to be able to stay in a place for years without being noticed.