Signs of a Termite Infestation

One of the first signs of a termite infestation which termites leave behind can be spotted before they reach your house which helps in avoiding unnecessary property damage. This first sign is the droppings that the pests leave behind. These dropping appear to be piles of small wooden pellets. They’ll leave these near where they’ve carved holes for nesting and feeding and so can be spotted around trees and stumps near your home before they start burrowing in your floorboards. If you are uncertain whether the pellets you see are actually termite dropping you need only look nearby for burrow holes in wood around where you saw the pellets.

If you didn’t spot them before they reached your house the second of the signs of a termite infestation is slightly harder to miss. This is the structure damage they cause in your home, common signs of damage include sagging floors, small burrow holes in floors and walls, and they can also create patches that appear to be water-damaged. As the infestation grows these will grow more noticeable and when found should be dealt with immediately. Floors tend to be affected first as termites will migrate underground and surface to forage for food, the way that they end up in peoples homes is that the surface through cracked foundations and find floorboards to eat through which can cause the sagging before you see any holes since all the holes are in the bottom of the boards.

Yet another of the signs of a termite infestation are the winged swarmers, which as the colony grows will become more common, sometimes you can see them flying about when an infestation is near but failing that they also shed their wings on occasion and when found look much like fish scales. If you spot these beware, it means that a nearby colony of termites is spreading its territory in search of more food and your home is likely to be on the menu. Keep in mind that dealing with the flying pests is not enough to prevent termites from invading your home, these are only a sign for you to notice that a colony is near, the real termite problem tends to be more underfoot slowly burrowing its way underground.