Termites are a common concern for Pensacola residents. They live hidden in your soil and cause extensive damage to buildings when they find a way inside. If you allow them to remain in your building, they can put the structural integrity into question. Pensacola pest control professionals know how to find and remove these pests from your property. Keep reading to learn more about termites and how to protect your property.
You're Not Likely To Ever Actually See A Termite
Termites can infest your property and cause significant damage without you ever actually seeing them. They live in the soil and build mud tunnels to reach structures. When they get inside, they drill tiny holes into wood and eat it from the inside out. As a result, they remain hidden the entire time they're on your property.
Since you likely won't see these pests, you need to know the signs of their presence to avoid damage. The tell-tale signs of termites in your home include:
- Termite swarmers: Winged adults that leave their nest to create a new colony.
- Shed termite wings: They lose their white wings during swarming.
- Termite frass: Feces that appear like small piles of sawdust-like material.
- Holes in wood: Termites drill holes to reach the interior of your wood.
As you can tell, most of these signs are subtle, making these pests hard to discover. Rather than keeping a close eye on your wood, professional termite inspections can help you identify a termite infestation in your home.
A Termite Infestation Can Cause Extensive Property Damage
Termites eat cellulose, which is a primary component of wood. Unfortunately, many buildings in Pensacola are wooden structures, making them vulnerable to termite damage. As previously mentioned, these pests remain hidden as they invade structures and cause damage once inside. Some of the signs that termites are damaging your home include:
- Discolored drywall
- Peeling paint
- Hollow wood
- Holes in walls
Since termites are tiny and eat wood slowly, it can take years for visible damage to occur. However, structural damage from Formosan termites can appear in as little as six months. Regardless of the species, they're a threat to your structure.
Reasons And Factors For Termite Infestations
Like most other pests, termites infest buildings for food, water, and warmth. The difference is how they travel to structures and what attracts them. These insects tunnel through mud and soil to reach the exterior and eat through wood once inside. Some of the factors that attract termites in Pensacola include:
- Soil-to-wood contact
- Moisture near the foundation or in crawl spaces
- Wood piles next to the building
- Mulch up against a structure
When termites find a desirable building, there's plenty of wood and warmth to house termites for years. Eliminating these attractants is the best way to avoid termite infestations, but you'll need assistance from termite control professionals if they enter your building.
Contact The Pros For Total Termite Control For Your Home
Termites can cause extensive damage when they invade your Pensacola home. Their ability to remain hidden enables them to stay in your house for years without being recognized, potentially putting the structural integrity into question. Since they hide and feed in hard-to-reach spaces, professional termite removal is the best option to solve a termite problem.
At EnviroGuard, our service professionals will inspect your property to find the pests and determine what attracted them to your house. We can use trench and treat treatments around the perimeter of your home and inject foam into walls. We can also place bait stations around the exterior to prevent future infestations. Contact us to learn more about our termite control process.