How to Get Rid of Termites In Your Home, According to a Professional

A termite infestation can lead to costly damage to your home’s interior and overall structure. It’s easy to overlook these little critters at first, but it’s crucial to spot the first signs of termites in your home as soon as possible since it only takes them about a year to leave behind their destruction.

Think you have a termite problem? You might be wondering if it’s a job you can handle independently. If you’re wondering how to kill termites attacking your home, continue reading. The first step is knowing how to identify these creatures and what causes them in the first place. 

What Do Termites Look Like?

Most of the time, you don’t have to see the actual termites to know whether or not your home is crawling with a colony. But if you start to see several little creatures flying around your home, or a set of discarded wings, it’s important not to distinguish a termite from an ant.

Shaw says it’s easy for homeowners to get the two mixed up, but there are obvious differences that differentiate termites from ants. He gave us three differences to look out for. 

• Ants have three body parts: the head, thorax, and abdomen. A termite just has a head and a body, nothing in the middle.
• Check the antennae. Ant antennae are elbowed or bent to a 90-degree angle, while a termite’s antennae are sticking straight out.
• Termites have four wings that are all the same size, whereas an ant has one long wing and one short wing on each side.

Types of Termites

There are forty-five species under the termite umbrella, and they are divided into three main categories that depend on where they are geographically and what they gravitate towards

1. Subterranean Termites: This is the largest type of termite and is the most common. Living in the soil, these termites can feed on several food sources. 
2. Drywood Termites: Drywood termites are colonies that are smaller than their Subterranean counterparts and live in dead wood. They do not need the soil to feed.
3. Dampwood Termites: This type of termite needs wood sources with high-moisture levels and no contact with soil. These termites are popular in decaying wood. 

What Causes Termites?

There are several reasons why you might suddenly notice a colony of termites invading your home. The good news is that it’s nothing you did, but is mostly environmental factors that have to be just right to attract these critters to your home.

“In the south, we have a saying that there are homes with termites, and homes that aren’t yet with termites,” Shaw jokes. “Realistically, there’s nothing you can do to fully prevent termites; it’s what you can do to delay them.”

High moisture levels and lots of wood are the popular reasons for luring termites to your home. Putting these together, like rotted water-wood, is a feast for these little crawlers. Have mulch in your flowerbed around the front or back of your house? It’s time to swap for something different.

“Mulch, even though a lot of people use it, creates an environment that provides moisture and wood, which contains cellulose and is what the termites are really after," Shaw says. His alternative for a termite-free home is to use rock or stone. 

One cause of termites that isn’t the fault of the homeowner is location. Some areas in the country are more prone to termite infestations due to other causes, such as high moisture levels. Since termites love warmer areas, they tend to be a bigger problem in the south.

Signs of a Termite Infestation

There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to pinpointing termites in the home. Instead, there are several dead giveaways that your home is dealing with a colony or two. Here are some signs you may notice that indicate a possible termite infestation within your home. 

1. Mud Tunnels: This is one of the biggest indicators of a termite infestation. Mud tunnels are how termites travel back and forth from their colony to their food source. To notice these tunnels, Shaw says to look for a tunnel that's about the size of an ink pen refill inside walls or behind baseboards. 
2. Discarded Wings: If you have a lot of discarded wings around your home or in the tracks of your windows, odds are you’ve got termites. These discarded wings come from the reproductive termites that leave after reproducing to go start their own colony somewhere else. 
3. Interior/Exterior Damage: Damage to your structure or interior is another tell-tale sign of termites. If you notice small holes in the wall, damage to wood, or peeling paint, all of this can come from termites eating away at your home and making it visible. 

How to Get Rid of Termites

Try a Termiticide

Termiticide is a treatment you can find at your local hardware store to spray around your home to solve your termite issue. Termiticide, like Boric Acid, is a pesticide used for decades. It must be used cautiously and kept out of the way of children or pets. Though Shaw says this tactic works great for insects like roaches or carpet beetles, he recommends calling the professionals instead to keep your house safe

Liquid Treatment (Most Effective)

When you call a professional, they will use a liquid treatment or bait plan. The liquid treatment is the most effective and is fast-acting, and works to prevent termites from passing by the barrier the exterminator sprays around your home. Shaw gave us some specific insight into this treatment and how it works.

“This treatment works as a protective barrier that affects the soil around your house to make it a termite-free island," Shaw says. "The liquid seeps into the soil and deters the termites from passing through and wanting to get into the house.” 

Set Out Bait

The second option for treating termites when working with an exterminator is bait. Baiting systems go around the house every 10-15 feet. The termite that finds the wood eats it, then takes the food back to its colony for the rest to feed on.

The treatment that’s part of the bait acts as a growth protector to keep the termites from reproducing and forming a larger colony.

“What this does is eliminates the terminates by stopping reproduction so they don’t make it to the next stage,” Shaw says. “When the rest of the colony eats the bait, it sterilizes them so that no new termites can be created and make the problem worse.”

Ways to Prevent Termites

If your home has high humidity or leaky pipes, regulating the temperature and fixing the pipes will save you in the long run. It’s also important to make sure your home is free from wood contact.

“Keep your moisture levels to a healthy level, especially under a crawl space, and eliminate wood piles from your foundation unless it's treated wood,” Shaw says. “Any type of wood that goes into or lays on soil needs to be a pressure treated material because termites no doubt will get into untreated wood.” 

When to Call a Professional

For a tried and true method of getting rid of termites, it’s always best to call a professional if you suspect a termite invasion. These professionals have the right gear and equipment that aren’t sold at stores to diminish the problem quickly and effectively.

“There are some things home improvement stores sell that homeowners can try on their own, but a typical homeowner can’t get the product underneath a concrete slab like a professional can," Shaw says.

In fact, Shaw says trying to tackle the termite problem yourself can make it worse. The best way to know for sure that your home has a termite problem is to let a pest exterminator examine your home to check the soil and under the crawl space.