Four Signs Your Nashville Home May Have A Termite Problem

1. Termite Swarmers

One of the most obvious signs of a termite infestation in Nashville is the presence of termite swarmers on the inside of a structure. If you find hundreds of insects with white wings crawling around in your home, you can be sure that you have a termite infestation. This sign is hard to miss. But there are a few things you should understand about termite swarmers:

• Swarmers don't usually emerge inside. Since subterranean termites create their nests in the ground, it is far more likely that they'll emerge outside. If you wait to see swarmers inside your home, you can wait a long time—possibly forever.

• Finding swarmers in your home isn't a good thing. While you'll certainly be glad that termites gave you this obvious sign of their presence, a termite nest can take many years to produce winged termites. Seeing swarmers in your home means your home has been damaged by termites for years.

• Swarms don't last long. If swarmers emerge inside, they may mate, shed their wings, and go into hiding in the time it takes you to run to a fast-food restaurant. A swarm only lasts about 30 minutes, so it is important to be aware that finding white wings on your window sills or floors is a sign of a termite infestation.

2. Termites' Mud Tubes

If you see mud lines running up the sides of your foundation wall that looks a little bit like a river, you may recognize those as mud tubes. They are fairly easy to see when these tubes are created in places that are easy to see. But termites don't make it easy for you to detect them. Worker termites usually create these mud tubes in dark places because they don't like the light. In fact, they have such an aversion to light, mud tubes have been found on the inside of concrete piers inside dark crawl spaces. That means you can go into a crawl space with a flashlight and not see mud tubes. Fortunately, this is rare. But there are other, more common reasons you might not see mud tubes:

• Mud tubes can be as thin as a pencil. This can make them difficult to notice.

• Mud tubes are made from the soil around your home, so they can appear to look like a natural phenomenon.

• If termites are able to directly access your home at a point where there is wood-to-soil contact, they don't need to make mud tubes.

• If termites create mud tubes on your foundation wall below a deck, porch, or some other structure that is difficult to get under, it can be troublesome to do a proper inspection and see these tubes.

3. Termite Damage

When termites in Nashville attack your home, you'll see the damage, right? Don't count on it. Termites feed on the inside of wood. And subterranean termites are particularly sneaky about it. Millions of termites can feed in your home without any visible damage showing. If you see damage, it is likely to be structural damage that is the result of years of termite activity, such as sinking floors, building walls, splitting wood, bubbling paint, and ceilings that dip down. We don't recommend looking for the warning signs of termite damage to protect your home.

4. Worker Termites

You might be able to uncover termites around your home if you roll your sleeves up. Chopping into a dead tree, log, stump, or a tree that has heart rot, could reveal active termites. You could also check under wooden material at the point of soil contact, such as under boards that are lying in your yard, firewood stacks, mulch, etc. You may catch termites crawling around, or you might see damage on the underside of the wood.

Termite Protection Is Better Than Detection

If you live in Nashville, let the service team at All-American Pest Control help you protect your equity from the threat of termite damage. Proactive protection is far better than hoping that you'll detect termite activity before those wood-eating pests can damage your property. Reach out to us today if you would like to schedule service or to learn more about our residential and commercial pest control services in Nashville.

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