TERMITES – PICTURES AND INFORMATION

Could the gas leak out and get you sick?

I would say. you should be happy he is doing that !
Otherwise you may be getting termites soon too
Silver lining dude.. Silver lining

i am engaged in pest control business. i want to see new gadgets to be used in detecting presence of termites in a house.

Basically, termites are discovered by property owners in one of three ways. First, when a colony swarms in the first warm part of early spring, winged adults can be seen on the inside or outside of a building moving toward the light, a window, or other lit opening.

Second, as we have already said, termites build mud tubes to travel between the ground and a structure. These mud tubes can often be found on the outside of a slab between the earth and brick line, or on piers which form the foundation of a building.

Finally, because termites like to eat the paper surface of sheetrock, pin holes are left behind when sheetrock has been damaged. There also will be some tubes in the wood indicating that termites have been eating through the wood and making their way from one side of the area to the other.

You will probably rarely see any actual termites because they tend to avoid light and open air spaces. The tunnels give them the ability to go virtually undetected while reaching their food source, wood. Therefore, destruction can be “undetected” as well.

There are a few ways that termites can infest buildings. Since they like to eat damp, cellulose such as is found in wood and leaves, they will stick to where their food sources are most abundant. Your structure is probably framed in wood, but they also like drywall as well. Here are some places that allow termites to come into your home:

Wood to ground contact
Foundation cracks
Debris beneath the house
Uneven drainage
Joints between porches and foundations
Pipes and the insulation around them
If there is any area of your home where water has accumulated, chances are good that termites are going to be in that area. We’ll talk about prevention later on, but just about the only way you can tell on your own if you have termites is to look for tell-tale signs that they may be around.

While we have already described the damage, you might be better served with some termite damage pictures to help you identify termite damage.

Unfortunately, infestations can go undetected for years, after substantial damage has already been done. Signs of activity are not always easily detected. However, watch for wood debris near wood surfaces, like window sills. Mud tubes or trails may be found along the foundation, leading up to structure. Swarming termites have two clear, evenly-sized wings.

What Do Termites Look Like?
Termites are white, translucent and are about the size of a cooked grain of rice. They differ from ants, aside from their color, in their body shape. Ants have an hourglass shape and three body segments. Termites have two body segments. Furthermore, termites have straight antennae while ants have bent or segmented antennae.

How To Detect Termites
Unfortunately, infestations can go undetected for years, after substantial damage has already been done. Signs of activity are not always easily detected. However, watch for wood debris near wood surfaces, like window sills. Mud tubes or trails may be found along the foundation, leading up to structure. Swarming termites have two clear, evenly-sized wings.

What Do Termites Look Like?
Termites are white, translucent and are about the size of a cooked grain of rice. They differ from ants, aside from their color, in their body shape. Ants have an hourglass shape and three body segments. Termites have two body segments. Furthermore, termites have straight antennae while ants have bent or segmented antennae.

What Should I Do About Termites?
Colonies of termites are destructive to your home and property. Termites feast on wood and cause millions upon millions of dollars of damage every year. Contrary to popular belief, termites don’t live in wood, they commute from their subterranean homes. Because they live underground and burrow into the wood, they are not always easily detected. If you suspect termites, have found evidence of them, or have not had a termite inspection in the past few years, you should call a professional termite inspector to assess the situation and provide you with a recommended treatment.

How To Exterminate Termites
Unfortunately, treatment is not a do-it-yourself job. You will need a professional exterminator to apply a treatment to destroy colonies and active infestations. Whole house treatments will eliminate active infestations. Additional treatment is required to shield your home from subterranean colonies.

Whole house treatments involve a tent that enshrouds the house. It is filled will a toxic gas, or it can be filled with hot air to heat the house until the timbers reach 120 degrees (F). This treatment eliminates the active termites in the home. The colonies living underground must be dealt with separately. Typically a toxin is injected into the ground to shield your home from the termites.

Spot control can be applied to active infestations. However, they do not treat infestations in other parts of the house. Even if there is no outwa

We are having our house "tented" for termites right now. When they are done, do we need to throw out our paper products, like paper towels, toilet paper and kleenex tissues? They did not give us any instructions for after the fumigation. Need advise
Thank you

it would probably be a good idea to ask the people that are doing the work what they recommend, In Ga ( usa) pest control companies dig around base of house and apply pestcide, also drill into brick & block, termites ( subterraniun) have to go back into ground to drink, when they get chem on them, it kills them

The house is a single-family home in a residental area with neighbors homes all around, and a scattering of pines around the house. When we bought the house last year, a terminte inspection was done as part of the purchase/contract, and now 1 year later, I’m curious how often this should be done. Annually?

Probably at least annually. I live in Dallas, and I had to have a sentricon system put in. They inspected every month for a year after the system was put in (I had termites). Now they just inspect every three months.

Check if you have little mud tunnels up the side of your foundation from the ground, or if the wood around the bathtub/shower area has been eaten on.

Snakes?!!? Yikes!

Although termites sometimes feed on wood mulch, it is not a preferred food source because it has low nutritional value for them. Mulch of all kinds can create a perfect environment for termite activity because it helps maintain soil moisture and moderates soil temperatures. Since moisture is the main attractant, the type of wood mulch used makes no difference. The amount of mulch is a more important factor.

There are a freaking lot of termites that swarmed in front of my house for no reason. They are really annoying. How do i make them die? I don’t wanna have to go outside and give them a chance to get beyond my doorstep.
i had the house treated recently. are they coming from my house even after i had it fumigated? (or gassed or whatever you call it)

buy three cans of spraypaint(any color), three people are poised around the swarm .pointing the nozzles upward and start spraying in the air-guaranteed kill

without tearing out a wall or floor, how can i tell?

Look for white trails in your wood. If you see some….push it with your finger and see if it’s soft

it can depend on what part of the country and what type of termites you are dealing with and the structure of the home. On a monolithic slab in N Texas the average seems to be $800-$1000 for a 2000 sq ft foundation…same sized foundation that has a crawl space may be a few hundred dollars more. in parts of the country with floating slab foundations and basements the amount of material used will be more so possibly higher in cost. For tenting a house for dry wood termites I see quotes from Florida companies for $1000-$1400 for the 2000 sq ft foundation…same house in Dallas Tx where dry woods are rare the cost can be $6000-$9000 because the treating company may have to travel 250 miles from Houston.

I have black ants around my house, but there always there does this mean that there aren’t any termites living in my house?

Having a lot of black ants in your home doesn’t mean anything other than you have black ants in your home.

Ants will battle and attempt to eat termites if they can find them, but ants will invade homes for lots of other reasons too.

If you’re worried about whether you have termites or not, get a pest control company to come out and give you a FREE inspection. Don’t ever pay for one. If they say you DO have termites, get a second company to come out and do another inspection.

If they offer pest control for the ants, their price is reasonable and they also offer a guarantee, might as well take them up on it.

I’m buying a house, and my termite inspection report says that there are termintes in the soild, but not on my house yet. So what are the stuff to buy and how to use it?

The absolute best products you can use are the termite bait traps. They are the same as the pros use now. You don’t spread dangerous chemicals around. See the links below. Also if its a new house as you go around the yard and find buried lumber, remove it. Its common practice now a days for contractors just to bury lumber on site.