You should not wait for termite infestations to take over your home or building. Treat your home and exterminate them as early as possible. One of the first things you should do is look for signs that you have an existing termite infestation on the property.
Once you identify the infestation and the kind of termites your home has, it’s time to look for the best treatment to use. Even with existing DIY solutions, it is advised to always call professionals first. It’s because DIY solutions usually don’t get to the root of the problem.
These DIY solutions will only leave more room for the pests to infest. That’s why you have to call in experts so that they can effectively stop the spread of the infestation to other parts of your house or building.
Prevention Tips for Termite Infestation
If you want to catch termites in your home or building, you will need to start looking by spring. This is the season for termites to establish new colonies and this is also the best time to prevent them from spreading throughout the property.
Reducing Moisture
Make sure that your home has little to no moisture around. This is an environment that termites like to thrive in, Make your environment dry and clean all the time. Wipe away areas that tend to be wet and make sure they are dry and smelling clean.
Inspecting the Home’s Foundations
Your home’s foundation is one of the most vulnerable spaces that termites like to attack. Do regular inspections and note down if you notice any changes. It;’s often too late when you find out that termites have chewed on them, which is why regular documentation of the changes helps a lot.
Check for signs of bubbling paint, mud tubes, and wood that have hollow sounds when you knock on them. This would mean that there is an open space behind the surface that has possibly been eaten by termites.
Repairing Leaks
If you notice that there are areas in your home that have leaks, make sure to repair them quickly. These leaks could lead to more moisture accumulating in your home and more chances for the pests to thrive.
You should also look out for leaking water pipes and exterior AC units. If you don’t regularly inspect your home from the inside out, you might miss these signs of termite infestation. That’s why it’s crucial to always check your water pipes, faucets, and AC units to prevent leaks.
Monitor Parts of the House Made of Wood
Termites like camping wood may be on your windows, skirting boards, door frames, or furniture. If you know that you have wooden parts in your house, make sure that there are no holes that start appearing on them.
This goes not only for indoor wooden furniture and items but for your exterior wooden areas as well. Check if there are sudden changes and if the wood has a hollow part. This would give you an idea of which item has possibly been infested with termites.
Replacement of Weather Strips
If you have weather strips in different parts of your house, it’s time to replace them. Try to look for damaged or old ones and replace them with fresh ones. You should also fix the loose mortar in your cellar foundation as well as the windows.
Diverting Water Away From Your Home
If you notice that water has been entering your home through the gutters, splash blocks, and downspouts, it’s time to fix them. Try to divert them away from your property so that they will not affect the outside or even the interior of your home.
Best Treatments for Termite Infestation
When you plan on working with pest control services, it helps when you know and understand what services you should get from them. Different treatments work for different termite infestations and you can learn more about them below.
Termite Baiting Stations
These are eco-friendly and very effective ways to treat infestations in your home. You place a bait where the termites are drawn, and they carry it back to their colonies. Once this happens, the entire colony eats the bait and gets destroyed.
This prevents the colony from existing and spreading without having to touch the insects at all. You will be using the bait as the main driver for the pest extermination process. As the colonies subside, you are saving your home from further damage.
Fumigation
This is a process where gas is injected into the soil that’s around the infested structure. The goal of fumigation is to kill the termites and their nests immediately. One of the most common fumigant types would be the soil ones.
If you are looking for instant termite pest control solutions, then fumigation would be your best option. One thing to note is that it is quite complicated to set up and needs a lot of preparation for it to work. People will need to leave their homes for several days while the fumigation treatment is being applied.
One more thing is that if you are on a tight budget, fumigation might look a bit more expensive. This is charged per square foot by pest control, which is why you should think about which areas you want to apply fumigation to.
Soil and Barrier Treatments
Another treatment you might encounter is soil and barrier treatment. This is where chemicals are applied around the home to create a solid barrier for the termites. The treatment is applied to make the termites unable to cross through.
It’s a treatment that works well for new homes and can even be applied years after that. Think of it as making a chemical barrier to stop termites from entering your new home. For barrier treatments, instead of using the soil, the use of a plastic, metal, or sheet barrier is involved.
Choosing Which Treatment Is Most Effective
Don’t be too confused about which treatment to use when you want to remove termite infestations from your home. You can always ask pest termite control, services about which treatments are best suited for your home or property.
They will conduct an inspection beforehand to see the state of infestation on the property. They will make reports and study them so that they will know what their next step is. The great thing about working with professionals is that you can ask them any questions.
Experienced termite pest control services will know which system is most effective to use and which one is more practical for you. Not only that, but they can also give you good advice on how to prevent further termite infestations in the future.
