22 Steps to identify and reduce termites’ intrusion in a building.

Termites love water.  Some termites need water from below, some need water from anywhere.  Some chew fast and some chew very slowly.  In some parts of the country, such as New Orleans, the speech goes, “every house had, has or will have termites."  It is impossible to keep them out of your house.  

There are two main species: 

Subterranean Termites: These termites come up from the ground, and should be treated with baits and chemicals in the ground.  You can tell by their version of an highway:  tunnels and large grooves that generally run along the grain of the wood.  The most aggressive species of this kind of termite in the United States is the Formosan subterranean termite.  They will beat you up and eat your young; chew through sheetrock/drywall, trees, a recent addition to your house, and create nests in doors, walls, roofs and trees.

Drywoods: These termites are very hard to get rid of - they live in the wood and don’t need much water.  You can tent a building, use Premise© or equivalent to spot treat...but they are the devils, little monsters whose signature leave behind is brown sand-like poop balls.

There is no one solution to slow these wood monsters down.  The best solutions are to keep moisture away from the base of a building and minimize water infiltration everywhere else.

1.  Eliminate wood to ground contact near or under house by removing stumps, debris, stakes and form boards.

2.  Never store firewood or lumber near the house.

3.  Plants, trees and shrubs should be removed from edge of building walls and foundations.

4.  Don’t allow plants to grow on walls.

5.  Don’t allow plants to grow on roof.

6.  Keep landscape timbers or railroad ties in yard away from building.

7.  Gutters and downspouts should be cleaned regularly.

8. Ensure external grade of the property slopes away from the house and does not cover the brick veneer, siding, stucco.

9.  Divert sprinklers away from the house.

10.  Promptly repair leaky faucets and roofing, notably leaks at hose pipes.

11. Divert air conditioner condensate drains away from the structure.

12. Make sure the condensate water coming out of the inside Central air unit blower is not leaking into building, or window unit condensate water drains away and not on exterior of building.

13. Maintain subterranean termite contract on your building with a pest control company.

14. Watch for Termites crawling up or making tunnels up piers.

15. Watch for Termite tracks at sill plate.

16. FIND DAMAGED WOOD WITH ice pick or screwdriver at sills, baseboards, etc.

17. Landscape timbers make great bridges for termites! They travel by treated landscape timbers from the timbers to the untreated wood and beyond.

18. See bubbling in sheetrock?  Watch for termites that chew through sheetrock to get to wood bubbling could mean a water leak from above and that water leak can feed the termites need for speed in chewing their way through to wood.

19. Keep mulch that stays nice and wet away from the base / foundation of buildings.

20. Check wet windowsills – termites crawl in, chew through the sills and up, down and around the window.

21. Juicy Joists – inspect the supporting wood members that go from one side of the building to the other, and/or support between supports, (concrete, brick and/or pilings).

22. Termites construct shelter (“mud”) tubes from a mixture of soil, frass (feces - tiny round brown balls), saliva and cellulose for protection as they actively search for sources of food.

These tubes are the only visible sign of a termite infestation.  Once a food source has been located, termites preferentially feed on softer parts of the wood, avoiding the hard wood along the grain.  If the wood gets wet from a bathroom above, the “squishy” floor could mean water soaked wood floors and sometimes water soaked and termite chewed wood.

Termites summarized - sometimes you see them, sometimes you don't.  When in doubt, have a professional check on a periodic basis.  

If you decide to treat them yourself, make sure you wear the appropriate PPE(Personal Protective Equipment) when touching or getting close to those chemicals, and keep away from children and pets.