What do I do if I Find Evidence of Termites at Home?
Evidence or signs of termites at home can be anything from finding droppings, frass, termite swarmer wings, termite damaged wood, and termites themselves throughout your home.
There are 3 things you should do if you find any kind of evidence of termites at home.
1. Don’t Panic
Termites at home do not pose a physical threat to people or animals. Termites do not bite or feed off people or pets. Also, termites do not immediately cause significant damage to wood when they start a new colony. Even if a new swarm did start a new colony somewhere in your home today they would not produce a significant amount of damage right away. Termites can cause significant structural damage to the homes they infest but it does not happen immediately.
2. Document All Termite Evidence—Take Pictures/Video
Homeowners are likely to find termite droppings, termite wings, excessive termite damage, or termite themselves in their homes. Whatever the evidence is, it is important to document termites at home it in real-time as much as possible. Evidence of termites can be beneficial in determining the size and depth of the infestation of termites at home; it can also give clues that an inspector can back-track to hopefully locate the source infestation(s). Most termite evidence can be easily cleaned or blown away by the time an inspector arrives. Real-time documentation of the evidence can help the inspector to provide direction and context to best assess the size, depth, and location(s) of the infestation.
3. Schedule 2 Inspections—Initial and Follow-up
A qualified and licensed termite inspector should immediately perform a detailed and thorough inspection of your home. The inspection should include all areas of your home where wood members are accessible. This should include attics, crawl spaces, room interiors, and all exteriors.
The purpose of the first inspection is to find termite infestation(s) currently present in the wood members of your home. Based on findings, the inspector can give recommendations to re-mediate the termite infestation(s) found at the current time. The inspector can also provide recommendations for structural repairs needed.
The second inspection is just as crucial as the first. It is possible to have a new swarm introduced into your home and to have that swarm begin a new colony in your home’s wood members. In that case, the brand new infestation of termites at home is very unlikely to produce any noticeable evidence that can be found at the time of the first inspection. The second inspection should be a follow-up inspection scheduled 12 months from the time of the first inspection. The purpose of the second inspection would be to find any new colonies and infestations of termites at home that developed over time since the first inspection. This inspection should be as detailed and thorough as the first.
When it comes to finding evidence or signs of termites at home, the one thing to NEVER do is to ignore the evidence. Termite evidence or signs of termites at home can easily be cleaned away, or go away on their own. However, termite infestations themselves never go away on their own. If ignored, termite infestations and termite colonies continue to multiply and consume the structural wood members of your home.
We continue to be Southern California’s preferred termite and pest control service, provider.
Super helpful information