Top Signs of Termites every homeowner should know

Termites are a Gold Coast wide problem resulting in millions of dollars worth of preventable damage each year. Having a professionally installed termite barrier on Gold Coast properties is a sensible, practical and inexpensive method of protecting your home before termites invade and cause massive amounts of damage. A termite barrier will help save you thousands in repair bills and maintain the value of your buildings, stopping these destructive pests.

These are the top signs of termites every homeowner should know:

• Blisters in woodwork or flooring

When you find what looks like blisters in your wooden floors or the woodwork around your home it indicates that termites are feeding inside the wood. Often the areas infected look like they have water damage, this often starts in the subfloor as the termites work their way through the timbers of your home

• Damaged or hollowed out wood

As the termites chew through the woodwork around your home in search of cellulose their food source they leave behind long hollow spaces or grooves in the timber, in the ceiling and roof areas in walls, under the floors as well as in door and window frames and other wood they can find. Often you can detect this by tapping and hearing a hollow, empty sound. These grooves will quickly cause structural damage to the wood as the termites create a honeycomb like effect inside the timber

• Swarm evidence

Termites swarm, often by the thousands from their nests looking for a mate and a place to form a new colony. When they land in what they consider a good place they discard their wings which are easily spotted in places around the outside of your home such as closed windows and door or on the floor under lights. They usually swarm at dusk or early evening when they have the protection of the darkness and are then attracted by any light source.

You can easily spot the discarded wings lying on the ground which is a sure sign they are now present

• Mud tubes

Mud tubes are tunnels that are about the size of a thin pencil that subterranean termites create when they want to travel on the surface. Termites are soft bodied and need to remain moist, humid and protected from predators. Usually they build them to get around objects they cannot dig through such as concrete or metal, as they search for food as an easy way to travel from their nests in the soil. A termite barrier on The Gold Coast is the best method to stop them

• Drywood termite droppings

Dry wood termites are the second type of termites commonly found in Gold Coast homes. These termites like to nest inside of wood so they can eat the wood they find there. As thy tunnel through the woodwork of your home they need to excrete their waste, so make very small holes so they can push out their droppings. These look like small piles of coffer grounds or wood pellets and are a definite sign of an infestation

Having a termite barrier installed in your Gold Coast property can prevent subterranean termites from infesting your home. If you see any of the signs call professional pest Controllers.