Termite Identification

Here are some practical things that homeowners can do to decrease the chances of termite infestation in their homes.

* Repair immediately any structural and plumbing leaks. Termites thrive on damp soil and will find every opportunity to get into your home through structural cracks and leaks.
* Mulch and landscaping should be pulled back at least 6 inches from the foundation of your home. Mulch from cypress and maleleuca wood are found to be termite repellant.
* Remove piles of trash and debris from around the home.
* Keep firewood stacked away from the structure. Wood only encourages more termites and the closer these firewoods are to the structure of your home, the higher the chances of these termites getting in through cracks.
* Make sure downspouts are long enough to direct water away from the foundation. The less damp the soil around your foundation is, the lesser the chances of termites thriving near your structure.
* Keep gutters clean.
* Avoid direct wood to ground contact when building porches or decks.

As the term suggests, termite inspection exterior is the ocular inspection on outside areas for termites. It requires some knowledge of where termites are most likely to enter the home and where termites may possibly thrive.

Termite inspection exterior are usually done by professional termite inspectors. However, to avoid being lured into termite inspection frauds, you as the homeowner must know a little about how termites manifests their presence in your home.

The Importance of Termite Inspection Exterior

Every home needs to be inspected for termites. The sooner a house is treated for termites, the better. Termite infestation treatment starts with termite inspection. Depending on the results of the inspection, the homeowners can then decide whether there is a need for a termite control program.

Where To Start Termite Inspection Exterior

When scanning a particular home for termite infestation, start around the foundation of the house and pay close attention to any wooden part structure of your home that directly touches the ground or soil outside. These is usually where termites start to eat up the wood and enter your home.

If your home does not have any wooden part structure close to the ground, check the concrete walls or bricks near the soil for any cracks. Though termites don’t eat brick and concrete, it is very likely for them to enter through cracks in the wall, and into the wooden parts of your home.

People are becoming more and more aware of the need for termite inspection in their homes. Alarmingly though, along with this demand, termite inspection fraud cases have increased over the past couple of years as some studies have shown. As a client, know the possible modus operandi used in termite inspection frauds.

1. One common fraud is when the so-called “inspector” shows you with “evidences” of termite infestations like shed wings from swarmers and waste pellets. This act is to convince you that there are, indeed, termites in your home. Most likely, this “inspector” will offer you with termite control services.

As much as possible and if the location of the termite colony allows it, check out for yourself if there is indeed termites in the alleged “area”.

2. Another ruse used in termite inspection fraud is to show the clueless homeowner of the alleged “termite damage” done when in truth, it may is caused by some other factor.

The best thing to do here is to know a little about how a termite damage looks like.

To avoid termite inspection frauds, always go for a second opinion. Otherwise, you’ll be paying for termite control services that you never really needed in the first place.

If your doctor diagnoses you with a severe illness, you’d probably want to seek second opinion from another doctor. The same is true with termite inspection second opinion. And because termite inspection fraud is rampant nowadays, it even makes a second opinion doubly important.

Choosing Your Inspector

Before you hire an inspector, make calls and asks for the rates and cost estimates first. Only then will you be able to go for the right inspector which, by the way should be chosen not only in consideration of his fees but also with his years of experience and training on the termite inspection.

Getting The Verdict

It is a given that as a homeowner, you should know a little about evidences of termite infestation in your home. This is to avoid being pulled into a termite inspection fraud and to avoid paying for termite services that you don’t need. If you don’t know anything about termites, you can start reading up articles on how a termite looks like and the how termite damages look like can be found within this website.

If your termite inspector advises you to go for certain termite control programs, don’t jump in right away. Instead, call another termite inspection service from the original list you’ve come up with and go for second opinion. By doing so, you’ll be able to gauge how each inspector has thoroughly and accurately done the termite inspection.

Every termite colony cannot exist without a termite queen. Often mistaken as a white ant, the queen termite is white in color, and has a long elongated body that produces as much as thousands of eggs everyday.

The termite queen can be impregnated by different male termite. Even so, every colony will have only one specific male reproductive, the termite king.

Queen termites can grow as long as almost ten times her regular size when pregnant. This makes it harder for pregnant queen termites to get around in her colony, forage for food and feed herself. Fortunately, the termite queen has thousands of constituents - worker termites - who does the foraging of wood and who feed the termite queen. And when the queen termites need to move, she employs the help of hundreds or thousands of worker termites. Interestingly, the workers are rewarded with juice that the termite queen secretes from her posterior end. This way, all the worker termites can replenish their energy after having exhausted it on moving the queen for a few inches.

A mulsh is often used by people to landscape their homes. These landscape mulshes often provide various benefits including water and soil conservation, weed control, soil temperature buffering and soil organic matter improvement. With all these benefits, people then ask: is there a termite resistant mulsh?

Mulsh is primarily made of wood and other compost items. As such, it isn’t unlikely for termites to get attracted to it as another possible source of food.

Anti-Termite Mulsh

In 1999, there was a study conducted to determine which termite breeds are attracted to mulsh. One major findings of this study showed that the termites tended to avoid cypress and redwood mulshes.

Based on the study, there are two other woods that proved to be termite resistant mulsh. The first one is the Melaleuca Wood mulsh. The second is the Cypress Heartwood. These two wood remaine termite-free.

If you’re planning to use mulsh on your landscape, select the mulsh which is made of cypress and redwood and melaleuca.

One of the treatment methods for termite infestation in your home is a termite tenting preparation. Termite tenting is generally used when most of the interior structure of the house is affected by termites. In a termite tenting treatment, the pest control company sets up a large tent around the entire structure of your house and then release a termite-killing gas inside the tent.

Like any treatment that uses chemical pesticides, termite tenting preparation is also considered as hazardous, unnecessary, and overly expensive. However, if your home has a bad case of termite infestation, a termite tenting treatment may be the best option you have. Fumigation using termite killing gas kills all the worker termites. Since it is the worker termites that provide the colony with food, getting rid of the workers is already half the job done.

How It Is Done

The first step involved in termite tenting preparation is to cover the whole structure with tarp. Then all openings are sealed and secured. Homeowners usually stay out of the house for at least two to three days. Of course, it is a given that all food containers and food storages in the house are sealed to avoid the fumes contaminating the food. In most cases, pest control companies provide you with the necessary air-tight bag to keep your food in.

Once everything is in place and every opening sealed, the pest control company then releases the gas inside the structure and place fans inside to keep the gas circulating. Warning signs will be posted around your property to keep anyone away from the structure while fumigating.

One the second day, the tarp is removed and the house aired out. On the third day, depending on the severity of the termite condition, the pest control company can advise the homeowners about moving back into the house or waiting for another day until the home is cleared of gas.

This often leaves the question hanging: is termite tenting harmful to humans, then? While these chemicals are aimed at eliminating termites, its manufacturers have also taken into consideration the possibility of humans inhaling the gas. They have therefore designed the chemicals to be specifically potent enough to kill termites, but not humans. Since one can never be too sure when it comes to health, though, it is still advisable to follow the necessary procedure such as sealing food containers and temporarily staying out of the house while termite tenting preparation is on going.

If you think that your house has termites, it would definitely help to have termite pictures for termite identification. Here are some interesting termite pictures:

Photo by Ganeshbrhills

Photo by Panamapictures

Photo by Rictor Norton & David Allen

Termite identification becomes easier once you have a picture. You can start looking for burrow holes in damp or moist woods that can hold possible termite tunnels.

There are several kinds of termites which you can identify with. There are those that are white in color. These are the worker termites and since these are the foragers, they are the most damaging kind of all termites. Once you see one, its necessary to eradicate them as quickly as possible before they can do any more damage to your structure.

Another type of termite is the swarmer. Swarmer termites are winged and swarm during certain times of the year. These termites are reproductives and are responsible for laying eggs that will carry the colony into the future. Getting rid of these winged reproductives means getting of termites in the future.

The queen termite is also important as she is responsible for producing hundreds of eggs each year. The queen has a lighter-colored body compared to the king’s.

A better way to identify termites is to get different termite pictures.

If you own a property or structure, it would be impossible for you not to ask the question, “What does a termite look like?” Naturally, this is because as an owner, you only want to prevent your property from being damaged by termites.

What does a termite look like? The question can only be answered by taking a good look at the different kinds of termite in the colony.

White and Small

The worker termites are small, white, and closely resemble white ants. In the termite hierarchy, it is the worker termite that foragers for food for the entire colony. Eradicating the foragers means eradicating the colony’s food supplier. What better way to get rid of the entire colony than to start with the worker termites?

Winged Swarmers

The reproductives have wings and are known to swarm during certain times of the year. One of the best tell tale signs of termite colonies is the swarmer. As soon as these are observed around your house, it is time to check for termite mounds where possible colonies have thrived.

The Royalty

The king and queen termite usually confine themselves in the termite mound. Queen termites are long, large, have large, elongated bodies that are light in color. The king termite may be smaller than the queen but his body is darker in color.

Photo by Sheilaellen

In arid and tropical savannas, termite colonies construct large and elaborate mounds. Usually, these mounds have very distinctive forms with tall wedge-shapes. It is usually shaped for a reason: thermoregulation.

Hot air usually rises in these termite mounds above ground. This helps drive circulation currents inside the network or chambers inside the mounds, keeping it cool enough for the termites to thrive in.

In some cases, termite mounds can reach as high as six feet. However, most termite colonies build their mounds somewhere around two feet.

How does it work? Termite mounds are able to regulate temperature because of the ducts and holes within their structure. It may be difficult for millions of inhabitants in a single mound, located in single nest burind a meter beneath the ground but termites were able to address the problem of ventilation with these termite mounds.