3 Termite Control Methods to Protect your Home and Belongings
If you’ve ever noticed small wood dust piles accumulating underneath your couch, this is likely a sign of termite infestation. Once they get into your home and begin to feed on your home’s foundation or your expensive furniture, getting rid of them can become extremely difficult. Each year, termites lead to billions of dollars worth of structural damage, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
One of the primary reasons why termites are so hard to deal with is they’re not easily detected until after they’ve infested your home and have already caused significant damage. Because thousands of termites come together in colonies, eliminating them without professional help will be very hard. If you’ve noticed termites in your house, you’ll want to call in the professionals immediately to take termite control measures.
Termite Control Methods that Might Help Keep Them Away
What you can do, is try and prevent termites in the first place. Here are a few suggestions:
1. Foundation
During the construction of your home or when buying a home, ensure there’s a concrete foundation and ventilation space between the wood and soil. If there are any exposed wood surfaces, cover them with a metal barrier or sealant. Ensure the soil surrounding the foundation is kept dry through adequate drainage and grading, including maintenance of downspouts and gutters.
2. Reduce Openings
Decrease the number of openings that provide termites access to your home’s structure. Use grout, cement or caulk to fill in cracks you see in your cement foundation and any you notice around where utilities go through the wall.
3. Termite Baits
Install termite baits around your home’s foundation perimeter. Termite baits attract foraging termites. Then the toxin from the baits slowly interrupts the termite’s natural growth and kills them as they try to mold. Since the toxins from the baits produce a delayed action, it gives the infected termites a chance to bring the poison back to their colonies and transmit the toxins to other termites.
If you suspect you’re dealing with a termite problem in your house, you might be tempted to try and tackle the problem on your own. But, the reality is, termites are actually one of the hardest types of pests to eliminate. Trying a DIY termite treatment could actually end up costing you more down the road if you’re not successful in eliminating the termites. You’re best chance at eliminating the problem completely is by hiring a professional to come and perform a termite control treatment. If you detect termites in your home, contact us here at Home Run Pest & Termite Control to come and eliminate the problem quickly before it turns into a larger, more costly problem.
