A termite infestation in your home can be a disaster if left to progress over time. Unfortunately, in many cases you won’t even be aware that you have an issue until a large amount of damage has been done. Termite prevention is incredibly important in order to avoid an infestation and the damage that it can bring. Below you will find four termite prevention methods that you may want to consider using.
- Install Monitoring Stations
If you suspect that you may have termite activity in or around your house, monitoring stations can be installed in order to confirm your suspicions. Subterranean termites burrow down in the soil surrounding your house before tunneling their way into the structure of your home. Installing these monitoring stations will allow you to determine if there is current termite activity. Once an infestation is located, bait stations can be set up in order to kill off the entire termite colony. The bait will be ingested by the worker termites, which will bring it back to the other members of their colonies. The slow-acting poison will eventually take care of the entire infestation, although this process is certainly not the quickest approach.
- Limit Outside Wood Sources
The main thing termites are on the hunt for is a source of wood to feast on, so limiting their access to this outside of your home can prevent them from coming in. Never leave wood stacked near your home, and remove any dead trees, bushes, or stumps from your yard as quickly as possible. If you have wood mulch in your landscaping, be sure to keep it several inches from the foundation of your home, and cut back any vegetation from the walls. Wooden shingles and other wood items affixed to your home can also be a source of a termite infestation, so inspect them frequently for activity.
- Limit Water Sources
Termites need moisture in order to thrive, so limiting their access to all water sources is important. If you have leaking faucets inside or outside of your home, have them repaired immediately. Make sure there is no standing water near the foundation of your home or on your roof. Check basements and crawlspace areas for moisture issues, and fix any air conditioner condensation lines or leaky plumbing.
- Have a Yearly Inspection
Even if you had an inspection done two years ago and were deemed termite-free, there’s still a chance that you may have an active infestation now. Termites can appear at any time, and just because they weren’t there six months ago doesn’t mean they aren’t now. In order to truly rest easy and know that your home is safe from the damage that termites can cause, it’s important to have a professional termite inspection completed by a professional specializing in termite control as frequently as possible. A good rule of thumb is to have the inspection completed each year, but if that feels too frequent for you, it’s important that you don’t go more than two or three years between inspections. The amount of damage a termite infestation can cause in just a few months can be astounding, so staying on top of things is absolutely essential.
These few things will certainly increase the chances that termites will see your home as off limits. Making it more difficult for them to find access, and making the environment less appealing should they get there is essential to keeping termites away. The first step in termite prevention is ensuring that your home is currently termite-free, so if you haven’t done so, have a professional inspection done as soon as possible.
