Termites, Do you know what to look for?
Termites, Do you know what to look for?
If you own Real Estate in a warm to hot part of America, then I am sure that you have heard of the prospect of Termite Damage. Here in South Florida Homeowners have a high probability of getting termites.
Check out the Map to see what region you live in.
However, do you know which signs of termite damage to look out for? Do you know how quickly you can go from not having a problem to having a large infestation? And do you know how long it will take a major infestation of some termites, notably the Formosan termites, to render your building dangerous?
If you do not know the answer to these questions, then you have two choices, either to learn quickly or hire an expert. In regions of termite activity, it is suggested that every property is screened at least once a year. There are about fifty species of termites in the USA, so it is not an easy job to identify which species you have.
Having said that, subterranean termites are the most awful and the Formosan subterranean termites are the worst of that bad bunch. They can live in colonies of between several hundred and several million and if a million Formosans decide to dine on your house, then you will have to react very rapidly indeed.
Naturally, you don’t want to lose your home to a termite infestation, and neither do your neighbors. Since termites eat wood, amongst other things, the best thing to do is look for wood damage around your house.
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Do not worry about what kind of timber, check it all, since there are termites that like dry wood, termites that like damp wood and termites that will eat anything.
If you suspect that a length of timber has or is being eaten, use a screwdriver gently to try to break it open. if you see white insects that look like ants, you have termites. Sometimes, flying termites swarm too, but so do ants.
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Termites are white because they hardly ever see the sun, they do not like light, so they build so-called galleries to walk through.
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These galleries can be through a length of timber or they might use chewed wood to make galleries leading to where they want to go.
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For, example pencil-like galleries may hang off the underside of your floorboards to the ground or be attached to concrete walls.
These tube-like galleries can be abandoned or active. Snap a few and see. If they are brittle they have been abandoned, but that does not mean that the termites have gone.
Sometimes, the tubes are made of earth and this is a very bad sign, because it means you have subterranean termites, most likely under your house. If you knock these galleries off the walls, they will leave marks called etchings.
Have a Real Estate Question or Interested in Buying or Selling Real Estate, just give Kathy a call at 954-347-0244 and visit Kathy’s Website of: www.KathyHyatt.com