How To Tell If Your Tupelo Property Has A Termite Problem

Some termites are easier to detect than others. The ones that are difficult to detect are the termites that present the most threat to your Tupelo property. Today, we're going to take a look at two basic termite types: drywood and subterranean termites. Within these two types are several species, each with its own distinct characteristics. We're going to focus on detection. Here's what you should know if you want to protect your Tupelo, Mississippi property from termite damage.

Drywood Termites

This type of termite attacks wood from the air. Swarmers get in through gaps, cracks, and crevices and establish nests inside wood. Once inside your home, they will feed on hardwood. A common location they prefer to feed is in window and door frames because they derive the moisture they need from the wood they eat. Since exterior window and door frames are typically high in humidity, they make a suitable habitat.

Why It May Be Easy To Detect Drywood Termites

If your Tupelo property is attacked by drywood termites, you are likely to see frass. This is a material that is chiefly composed of hard, termite droppings. Drywood termites create tiny kickout holes and push this material out of their tunnels. You may find frass on brightly lit window sills as a clear warning sign that your home is infested.

Why It May Not Be Easy To Detect Drywood Termites

When frass appears, it can be mistaken for sawdust. The waste of drywood termites takes on the color of the wood they are consuming. If you're not aware of this, you might just think you're detecting sawdust. But, whether you're finding droppings or sawdust, both are a bad sign. Your home doesn't naturally produce sawdust.

Frass can be pushed out of kickout holes into the voids of your walls, floors, or ceilings. If this happens, you're not going to have this helpful warning sign. You need to watch for the appearance of winged swarmers or look for damaged hardwood inside your home.

Subterranean Termites

These termites typically live in the ground and most often come up from the ground to enter homes in sheltered areas, such as underneath a deck or patio. Once inside your home, they're not going to provide kickout holes or frass for you to see. Subterranean termites keep their waste inside their tunnels. This can make them extraordinarily difficult to detect. But, these are far from the only reasons these termites avoid detection.

Why It Is Often Difficult To Detect Subterranean Termites

If subterranean termites find wood-to-soil contact, they can directly enter your home without leaving any warning signs.

• Subterranean termites work their way up through rocks and the cracks of boulders. If they find a crack in your foundation, they're likely to work their way up into the wood of your home without leaving any warning signs.
• Subterranean termites often have nests in the ground outside of the structures they're feeding on. When swarmers are released, they're typically released outside where they can quickly disperse in under thirty minutes.
• Some subterranean termite species can create a nest inside the wood of a structure. If they do this in a structure on your property, they won't have to go in and out, and there is less of a chance that they will create warning signs for you to see.

Why It May Be Easy To Detect Subterranean Termites

Subterranean termites often create shelter tubes to go from the soil to the wood of a property. If these mud constructions are created in a spot that is easily seen, you'll know quickly that you have a termite problem. Unfortunately, they're more often created in hidden spaces.

When a subterranean termite nest produces swarmers, it is possible for them to come out inside your property. Unfortunately, this is a warning sign of a severe infestation. It means the nest is inside your home, or in the soil very close to your home.

Termite Damage

Over time, the damage caused by subterranean termites will alert you to their presence in your home. We don't recommend waiting to see this damage. If you're noticing bulging walls, sinking floors, splintering beams, or some other sign of damage, it is too late to prevent yourself from having to deal with costly repairs. It is best to be proactive about termite damage prevention. If you live in Tupelo, Mississippi, reach out to McCary Pest Control. We offer industry-leading termite control solutions for home and business owners. We can guide you toward the right solution for the protection of your property.

One of the best investments you'll ever make is an investment in termite damage prevention. There are only a handful of threats that can present a significant financial hardship for you; termites are one of them. Get protected today.