There aren’t many worse feelings than finding out you need to pay for costly home repairs due to termite damage. Odds are, you wouldn’t even know your home was being damaged until it was too late. That’s because subterranean termites seldom make their presence known when they infest a home. As such, it’s important to take the proper preventive steps to help keep these destructive pests out of your Phoenix property. Moreover, should you find yourself dealing with a termite infestation, you need to know the effective termite control solutions that you can rely on to eliminate the termites before they can do any more damage.
Subterranean Termite Basics
Unlike drywood termites, which live inside the wood they are eating, subterranean termites — as their name might suggest — live underground. However, that doesn’t mean they’re less damaging than their counterparts. In fact, subterranean termites are the most common termites in the United States and are responsible for billions of dollars worth of damage every year.
Subterranean termites are small ant-like insects with segmented bodies, six legs, antennae, and strong mandibles. They are typically pale-yellow, red, or black in color, and the members of the reproductive caste have wings.
Subterranean termites live in colonies that are made up of three different castes: workers, soldiers, and reproductives. While workers are in charge of gathering food for the colony, soldiers are responsible for protecting the colony. Reproductives are charged with setting out and creating new colonies when the time comes, in a process that is called swarming.
Damage Caused By Subterranean Termites
As previously stated, subterranean termites live underground, from where they will travel to find wood to feed upon. As such, it is unlikely you will ever see a termite in your home. In fact, the only time you are likely to spot termites around your home is during a swarm. Termites are capable of inflicting costly damage to the inside of a property without the property owner ever knowing. If given the opportunity, subterranean termites can destroy structural wood, flooring, siding, decks, porches, window frames, door frames, and even furniture.
Subterranean Termite Prevention Techniques
Subterranean termites prefer to eat softened, moisture-damaged wood. Resolving any moisture issues around your property can help to keep these destructive pests out. Additionally, taking away any possible access points can also help to protect your property. In order to help prevent a subterranean termite infestation, you should:
- Remove or replace any rotting or moisture-damaged wood.
- Fix any leaky pipes or fixtures.
- Keep gutters free of debris to prevent flooding.
- Use dehumidifiers to keep moisture levels low around your property.
- Fill in any cracks in the foundation of your home.
- Limit wood-to-soil contact around the exterior of your property by adding gravel or cement barriers around deck posts or any other wooden objects.
If you are able to accomplish these simple steps, you should succeed in limiting your exposure to subterranean termites and their damage.
The Most Effective Subterranean Termite Control Solutions
Unfortunately, you can take all the preventive measures at your disposal and still end up having a termite infestation on your property. If this is the case, contact the professionals here at White Knight Pest Control right away and ask about our termite control program. This program consists of three steps: a thorough inspection of the property, termite treatment for the affected areas, and finally, the installation of our Termi-Shield Termite Monitoring system. Not only will we install this early-detection monitoring system, but we’ll inspect it for free. So don’t wait until it’s too late; give us a call today.