What Every Hartford Homeowner Needs To Know About Termites

If you have ever tried cleaning your Hartford home while toddlers are playing, then you have an idea of what it is like to have your work undermined. You may be picking things up and sorting things out everywhere you go, but those little rascals are undoing all your hard work as quickly as you can accomplish it! It is a never-ending task (until they go down for a nap) in a parent's day. The same can be said of termites, only termites are doing their undoing in secret.

While you are working hard to pay off your home, remodel, and keep it as beautiful as possible, termites can be eating away at the inside of your walls and support structure, causing (sometimes) irreparable damages. But it doesn't have to be this way. There are ways to tell if termites are undoing all your hard work and ways to stop them from doing so.

How To Tell If Termites Are Eating Away At Your Home

• Mud tubes. If you have active termites, you may find mud tubes on the outside of your foundation in shady places. Termites build these tubes because they need to be protected from the drying effects of the sun and air. If you find a tube, break a piece off. If it grows back in a few days, you know you have an active termite infestation.
• Wood damage outside in moist, shady places. If you are fortunate, you may be able to see damage on the outside of your home, in areas where the wood is moist, especially if the wood of your home is touching the ground. This damage will look like a myriad of carving knives attacked your home. If you are really fortunate, you might actually see the termites at work in these dark, wet places.
• Damage seen when doing renovations. If you tear out a wall, and termites are at work, or have been there, the damage will be unmistakable. The wood will look tattered and have many hollow places.
• Windows and doors that no longer work properly. If termite damage has been going on for years, you may start noticing that windows will not open, or will get stuck in the open position, or doors may not open and close easily anymore.
• Floors, ceilings or walls that are sloping or bulging. When damage is extensive, structures will begin to warp and change, causing all kinds of structural anomalies.

Termite Prevention Tips

• Repair leaks. Termites are drawn to moist or rotting wood, so fixing all leaks around your home will reduce the chances of having wet wood. Repair leaky spigots. Fix broken or clogged gutters. Repair leaky pipes.
• Install gutters. If you have water running down your home, install gutters and make sure the water is directed well away from your home.
• Replace rotted roof shingles.
• Trim all vegetation back from your foundation. This will allow sun and wind to get into those areas and dry things up more efficiently.
• Make sure there is at least an 18-inch gap between the soil surrounding your home and the wood of your home. Putting down a strip of crushed rock is helpful with this.
• Inspect your home for the presence of mud tubes, chewed fencing, chewed window frames, or discarded termite swarmer wings.
• Keep woodpiles well away from the perimeter of your home and up off the ground. Also, move construction materials away and keep them elevated. If you have other wooden materials or items in your yard, store them as far from your home as possible.

How American Pest Solutions Can Help

Detecting termites is difficult, so difficult in fact, that the staff at the White House was totally unaware of an infestation that grew for years, just a few hundred feet from the West Wing. It wasn't until termite swarmers emerged that the infestation was detected. If termites can elude the watchful eyes of the White House staff, they can evade the watchful eye of anyone.

At American Pest Solutions, we use the Advance® Termite Bait System, liquid termiticide perimeter treatments, and other industry-leading solutions to not only prevent termite damage but actively eliminate colonies when they come to attack your home. For more information or to set up termite protection, reach out to us today for immediate service.