Termites have a very bad rap, just saying their name can elicit a very negative response from any homeowner, but the truth is that they have this bad rap for good reason. Termites are a very damaging pest (they cause over 5 billion dollars’ worth of damages each year across the U.S), and signs of an infestation are very difficult to spot! Parkway Pest Services wants to help you become more familiar with the signs of termites, what to do to protect your home and let you know how we can help!
Before we go over the signs of termites, it is first important to understand why termites are known as “silent destroyers”. Termites live and travel underground and infest the inside of wood, worker termites are rarely ever seen, they are not like ants, you won’t be finding them wandering around your home. Also, any signs that they start to leave behind to alert homeowners of a problem, generally only become visible after termites have caused months or years of damages.
Though they take a lot of time to spot, listed below are some of the most common signs of a termite infestation:
- Mud tubes; termites create mud tubes to travel through from your home back to their colony, in order to protect their delicate bodies. These mud tubes are about the width of a pencil and can be found along the ground and going up the exterior foundation and walls of your house.
- Finding piles of wings on the ground, especially around windows and doors. These wings are from reproductive termites that have “swarmed” from the colony in order to mate and start their own new colony.
- Termite damaged wood sounds hollow when you tap on it.
- Paint on walls and wood that have been damaged by termites may have started to appear blistered or splintered.
- Doorways, window frames, ceilings, and flooring may start to sag.
- You may start to notice mud coming through the cracks of damaged wood and walls.
The absolute best way to know whether your home has been infiltrated by termites is to schedule a termite inspection. Termite inspections performed by Parkway’s trained and experienced inspectors will let you positively know one way or another if termites are present in your home. If termites are discovered very early on through an inspection, treatment can be immediately started minimizing their damages to your home.
At Parkway Pest Services we specialized in providing our New York customers with the most effective and safe termite control services possible. We offer our customers successful termite control through the very eco-friendly and non-invasive Sentricon® Termite Colony Elimination System or with a treatment of a liquid termiticide. One of our friendly and knowledgeable professionals will sit down with you and discuss which is right for your unique termite situation.
To get started on protecting your home from damaging termites, call us today to schedule a termite inspection from the termite control experts at Parkway Pest Services!