Uniondale Property Owners' Complete Guide To Subterranean Termite Control
April 15, 2021 - Termites
What is worse than finding a bug crawling across your kitchen floor? Learning that there are thousands of bugs tunneling beneath your floors, slowly eating your home’s wood. This is all to say, termites are not like other pests. These invasive and hungry insects do not invade homes to search for food on countertops but rather to harvest sources of softened wood. If you do not like the idea of subterranean termites chewing their way through your Uniondale property, here is a complete guide that will help you keep these pests away from your home.
What You Need To Know About Subterranean Termites
There are many species of termites that live around the globe. In our area, there is only one species you have to worry about. They are called subterranean termites and they are the most destructive home-damaging pests in North America. Something that sets subterranean termites apart from other pests is where they decide to build their nests. Underground. These nests are found nearby sources of gatherable wood such as a dead tree, piles of untreated lumber, a wood pile, or a section of your home’s structural wood.
Why Subterranean Termites Are So Destructive
A fully mature colony of termites will not destroy your home in a week. It takes these invasive pests months, if not years, to deal a considerable amount of damage to property. What makes these pests so destructive is not how fast they chew through homes but now quietly and undercover they are able to do so. In the case of subterranean termites, they live underground and stay deep within structures of wood when inside homes. This stealthy behavior allows them to eat unhindered up until the point homeowners start to notice termite-related damage.
What Are Termite Swarmers?
There is only one time you are likely to see a live subterranean termite and that is when it is born with wings and buzzes around your home. As strange as this seems, it is something that happens every year. Fully mature colonies looking for ways to expand to new locations produce what are called termite swarmers. These winged reproductive members are tasked with leaving their nest and finding new locations to establish new colonies. You can identify these insects around your home by their white, ant-like bodies, and long, oval-shaped, almost see-through wings.
Practical Prevention Tips For Termites
In order to prevent termites, you have to limit their options to food and eliminate entry points around your home’s exterior. To do these two things well, here is what our experts recommend.
- Use a caulking gun to fill in holes, gaps, and cracks around your home’s exterior.
- Make sure there is a non-wood barrier between exterior soil and your home’s structural wood.
- Address moisture issues in and around your home by fixing piping, repairing broken gutters, and using a dehumidifier.
- Repair or replace structural wood that is negatively affected by rot, decay, or water-damage.
- Store firewood and untreated lumber a good distance from your home’s exterior.
- Avoid using wood-based mulch on your property.
- Clean up sticks, leaves, and other wood-based debris from your yard.
- Remove dead stumps and fallen trees from your property.
How To Guarantee Termites Stay Out Of Your Home
There is only one way to identify a termite infestation early and that is with industrial-grade pest control equipment. To make sure your home is termite-free, do not hesitate to get the experts at EM Pest Control involved. Our team has the tools, experience, and treatments needed to identify, prevent, and eliminate destructive termites. We would be happy to put these assets to use around your property. Call us today to schedule your Uniondale home for a detailed service visit.
Highly recommend this company. They are trustworthy and reliable. They provide great service and fair prices.
