You may have the most beautiful house on the block, but if you have termites, it’s not because your house has curb appeal! Termites are attracted to a home that has damaged wood already, or to a home where any part of the wood structure directly touches the soil. Does your home have any of these conditions? If so, you could be inadvertently inviting termites to your Long Island NY home.
- Damaged wood- this wood could be damaged by the weather or it could just be old wood that was never protected with a wood stain or with paint. This wood is very easy for termites to infiltrate, so it is important to replace damaged wood before it attracts hungry termites.
- Wood touching soil- termites live in the soil, so if the wood of your home is touching soil directly, termites have easy access to the buffet they know is inside your home. If you have a deck that has posts directly touching the earth, have cement bases poured so that the wood has a barrier between it and the soil.
Remedying these conditions can make your home less attractive to termites that have formed colonies on your property, but it will not totally eliminate the possibility of an infestation. Termites live underground and will travel to your home to find wood to feed their colonies. Because termites feed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, they need as much wood as they can get and if the best source they can find is in your home, they will enter your home even if there is no direct passage or no damaged wood. What can you do to protect your home from termite damage? Stay proactive!
To be proactive against termites, the pros at Parkway recommend having a termite inspection done periodically. A termite inspection performed by a trained and experienced termite inspector will locate any termite damage as well as any current termite activity. This can appear as wood that looks weather damaged to you, but the trained eye of a termite inspector can see it for what it really is- termite damaged wood! At Parkway, if we detect termite damage or even an active termite population, the Sentricon® Termite Colony Elimination System can eliminate these pests and help keep them from returning.
For termite control serving Long Island, Parkway can help. If you are concerned about termite activity in your Long Island home and would like the peace of mind that comes with knowing these wood-destroying insects are not around, schedule a termite inspection today!
We also service areas in Westchester County, throughout the Five Boroughs and locations in Connecticut.