Getting Termites To Vacate Your Property
If you have a termite infestation in your home, you will want to take aggressive steps in trying to get to them to leave right away. Termites can cause major destruction to a home's foundation and interior structure, and the longer that they are left in a home, the more work you will need to do in repair. Here are some things that you can do to make your home termite-free.
Take Away The Desirability
If you make your home undesirable to insects, they may leave on their own to look for an area where they can readily find food and water. Termites love areas that are saturated with a readily available water supply. They often roost in areas that have water damage, such as in an area with a dripping faucet or a leaky pipe. Do a thorough check of your plumbing system and repair any areas that have leaks to help remove the termite's drinking supply.
Remove any piles of newspaper, magazines, or other paper products from your home. Termites will embed themselves in these piles and feed on the paper, since it is a wood product. If you have any other unfinished wood pieces in your home, remove these as well. Move any wood piles outdoors, far from your home.
Finding Their Home
Look around at the wood beams in your home to try and locate the area the termites have made for their central home. You may notice areas that have small holes in the wood, some sawdust on the ground in various spots, or hollow-sounding beams or poles when you knock on them. If you see a termite, follow it to see what area it will disappear. These are clues as to the area you will need to focus your attention when removing.
Baiting And Killing
In most cases, hiring a professional termite exterminator like Snowball Pest Control will be the best solution to rid your home of termites. Termites are extremely difficult to get rid of on your own, and a professional will have the proper chemicals needed to kill termites without damaging your home or making anyone in your home sick. Termites can embed themselves very far into wood structures, and you will need to have someone with the proper methods to remove them completely.
A termite exterminator will be able to confirm that you indeed have a termite problem, as sometimes carpenter ants can be mistaken for termites, needing different removal methods. The exterminator may try baiting the termites with a chemical-based agent, in order to have the entire nest killed. You may need to hire a contractor to remove any deceased termites from your wood structures.