Why Are Termites Called Silent Destroyers?

They may be creeping in your home and you don’t even realize it… They spend all their time eating away at the wood and never get tired… what are they? TERMITES! These wood destroying insects can be in your home for years without you even realizing it! Also known as the ‘silent destroyer’, a termite is an insect that eats wood as its main source of food. They build satellite colonies away from their food source and then travel to their food source to eat the wood from the inside out. If this food source is your home, you have plenty of reasons to worry!

What kind of damage can termites do?

Because termite damage isn’t obvious to begin with, their damage is usually overlooked for YEARS. As they begin their feeding on the wood in your structure, you may never even realize they are present. Eventually they hollow out the wood in your home’s structure, making it look water or weather damaged and packing it full of ‘mud’, which is really just termite excrement. Wood can look saggy or droopy and wood that has extensive termite damage can become structurally unsound.

What are signs of termites?

As we already mentioned, it can be challenging to recognize a termite infestation until the problem becomes out of hand. Some signs of termites may include:

• Mud tubes along walls- these tubes are used by termites to travel to your home from their colony, which is usually located outside and away from your home. Since termites dry out easily, the mud protects them and keeps their delicate bodies moist.

• Painted wood that has termite damage looks blistered and the paint can peel.

• Shed termite wings are a sign that termites have ‘swarmed’ in or near your home. These ‘swarms’ are what happens when the reproductive termites fly up out of the ground and attempt to find a mate. Once a mate is chosen, the termites drop to the ground, their wings fall off and they go in search of a place to build their new colony.

• Wood that has termite damage may sound hollow when tapped on.

• Door and window frames with termite damage look like they are sagging.

• Termite damage can present like water damage, but if you look closely, you may see termite mud seeping through cracks or fractures in the wood.

Since most of these signs are only obvious once serious damage has been done, termites have truly earned the title of silent destroyers.

If you are worried that you may have some of these silent destroyers in your home, it is wise to have a termite inspection done by qualified professionals. This type of inspection is best done yearly to keep serious termite damage from causing a problem in your home’s structure. A termite problem that goes untreated can become an expensive problem for you- a problem that is typically not covered under your homeowner’s insurance policy.

For more information on termite inspections or termite treatments, give the professionals at American Pest a call. Our pros are extensively trained on termite control solutions and termite inspections. Contact us today to put your mind at ease about these silent destroyers and to make sure that your home is protected.