Termite Infestations: What You Need To Know

Even in this modernized society we live in with all types of new technology and human advances, our lives and the infrastructure that surrounds them is usually still no match for Mother Nature. Whether it’s hurricanes that flood cities or a lightning strike that can spark massive wildfires, our society is often at the mercy of what nature can throw at us. Termites are just another part of nature that can cause havoc on our infrastructure. They can silently nest in your home, eating through the wood in your house and causing irreparable damage that you only discover after it’s too late.

It can be a scary thing to experience a termite infestation in your home. But you are not alone in this fight, and with the right pest extermination experts, you can expel these critters from your home. That’s where Providence Pest Control comes in. We have been providing high-quality local pest control services in McDonough and the surrounding areas for more than 20 years. We are family owned and operated, and we are proud to serve our community with a necessary service, because we provide a quality of extermination services with a commitment and compassion that other big companies just can’t compare with. We have decades of experience exterminating and extracting termite populations from homes all over Georgia, and we are happy to provide that service to you. Keep reading to learn a little bit more about termite infestations, what you need to know about them, and how Providence Pest Control can help.

Signs of a Termite Infestation

One of the most important aspects of fighting a termite infestation in your home is recognizing the signs of a termite infestation. There are a number of places and signs on the materials in your home that can point to termites, and the better you are able to recognize them, the more likely you will be able to do something about it before they cause too much damage.This list is not comprehensive, as termites can go unnoticed for even the most attentive homeowners, but if you notice any of the following signs in your home, contact Providence Pest Control ASAP.

Hollowed Wood

The biggest threat that termites pose to your home is their ability to eat through the wood supports and walls in their search for food (cellulose). They leave behind long grooves in wood found below and behind surfaces, which causes the wood to lose its structural integrity. You can determine what wood might be hollow by giving any surface with wood behind it a sharp rap with your knuckles and listen for a hollow, empty sound.

Wood Flooring Blisters

Your wood subflooring is also susceptible to termite infestation and damage. Subterranean termites that make a colony in the ground beneath your home can get into your wood subflooring, and start to eat away at it. Check your subflooring for what looks like water damage; it may mean you have a subterranean termite infestation.

Discarded Wings

When termites leave the nest, they have wings that offer them the mobility to both find a mate and find a place to start a new colony. When they have the place they want, they land, and discard their wings as they will never need them again. If you have a termite infestation, you might see discarded wings at potential entry points in your home, like windows and doors.

Mud Tubes

Subterranean termites will nest underground and dig upwards to forage for food, and their food source is often a man made structure, like your home or a shed in your backyard. In order to maintain livable temperature and humidity levels, termites will create pencil-sized tunnels in the ground wherever the ground meets a potential food source, so keep your eyes out for those.

Droppings

Like most living organisms, termites also have droppings from what they consume. Drywood termites can nest inside the wood in your home, and as they eat through the wood, they leave droppings. In order to keep their nest clean, they push their droppings outside of the wood they nest in. If you see small mounds of pellets that resemble sawdust or coffee grounds, you may have a drywood termite infestation.

What To Do When You Have Termites

If you find a termite nest in your home, as much as you might like to, try not to panic. The good thing is that you have discovered it, as some homeowners don’t even get that chance. You might feel pressured to do something about them in a timely manner, but while a termite infestation is a timely problem, a DIY solution is a risky idea.

If you try to use an over-the-counter insecticide or termite killing spray, it could cause them to do more damage. Termites have a natural survival instinct where if they sense a potentially harmful disruption to their nest or colony, they will actively move their entire colony to a new place, most likely a different spot within your home. So unless you were to methodically exterminate every single one (a termite colony population can range from 100,000 to 1 million termites), there is a good chance that they relocate to a new spot in your home. Now, you might have to tear up more of your home to find them again, and they might have caused too much damage at that point.

If you have already tried a DIY method, it’s still not time to panic, because you can still limit their ability to migrate. Use a strong tape and cover up any access or exit they have in their location to other parts of your home. Try to not to disturb them anymore then you have, and the tape should halt their relocation until you get a trusted exterminator on the job.

If you have a termite infestation, the only reliable way to truly protect your home from their presence is a trusted pest control service. And that’s when you can call Providence Pest Control to help out. Our team has been providing incredible reliable pest control and termite extermination services in McDonough for more than two decades. We have the training, the experience, and the right tools to safely exterminate a termite colony that has infested your home, with appointment times and prices that cater to you and your life.

Termite Extermination in McDonough – Providence Pest Control

Termites can cause serious damage to your home, and the quicker you utilize a trusted and professional pest control company like Providence, the better off you and your home will be. Don’t wait until it’s too late, contact the local pest control experts, and schedule an appointment with Providence Pest Control today.

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