How To Prevent Termites By Knowing What Attracts Them
Termites are well-known to cause a tremendous amount of damage in both homes and buildings, eating away at the wood holding it up. It’s definitely in your best interest to learn how to prevent termites from getting inside in the first place. It’ll also be beneficial to understand what about your home is attracting these termites as well.
Termites are not harmful to the human health but just like they make holes in the wood, they also create big holes in your pockets. This means, that they can cause you to bear high repairing expenses.
They can be responsible for some of the most serious damages to your properties, especially those who have cellulose as their chief component.
There’s a famous quotation “Prevention is better than Cure”. We always emphasize to take precautionary measures to disallow these home ruiners from ever getting in. You should be aware of the things which attract the termites and steps to be taken in case of their intervention.
Termite Attractors and how to Prevent them:
This is very crucial to know about things which are very attractive for termites and lure them into our home. If we have sound knowledge about these attractors, we can control them in order to ensure that none of the termites would look towards our house. Let’s have a look at them.
Wood Stacks Near The Home:
It is mentioned earlier that all termites feed on Cellulose which is the chief building material of all plants in the world. Many people make this mistake, especially in cold areas; putting a stack of firewood near their home. The purpose is to consume that wood for heating purposes but you need to be cautious. Those pieces of wood could be the reason behind some of the unwanted guests in the house. Termites could be easily attracted to those piles because of the presence of cellulose.
Immediate removal of those wood stacks should be the 1st choice in order to avoid termites in the house and for heating alternate means could be used. Still, if wood stacks are essential to keep, then stack those woods further away and outside the house.
Proper Drainage:
Not only cellulose attracts termites, but there’s also another thing that favors them the most and that’s water. Water is the basic necessity of all living organisms. In the termites’ case, moisture is even more important because it’s essential to ensure the survival of their next generation. They use to live underground where they can find moisture quite easily.
We emphasize proper drainage because the accumulation of water around your house is a huge attractor for termites. The pooling of water due to improper drainage, or moisture because of any other reason should be avoided.
Rainwater should be drained properly and maintenance of gutters should be ensured to keep your house safe. Down-spout extenders and splash blocks could be used to ensure proper drainage of water from your house.
Excess Wood:
Take out the excess and rotten wood from your garden. Unnecessary bushes and woods in your garden lure termites and will be ideal place for them to nest.
Mulch:
Mulch is the source of moisture for termites. When using wood mulch it must be reduced and kept slightly away, at least 15 inches, from the foundations. Furthermore, the mulch must be monitored constantly to avoid invasion of termites in the house. Replace mulch with pine needles, as they aren’t attractive for termites.
Trees:
No doubt, trees have a very crucial role in maintaining the temperature and oxygen level of the environment. They serve to reduce the effect of hot summers and provide an excess of oxygen for humans. If you have planted trees outside your home and somehow the leaves or shrubs or any other part is touching the exterior of your house, then that connection shall be stopped through any source.
The reason is that it will create a pathway for the termites to enter your home. Furthermore, it can give them an opportunity to create new colonies near the house. Thus it will result in further destruction.
Fencing:
Some termite species live underground and use the tunnels to travel in search of food.
To avoid them use termite resistant fence posts. Or, you can replace the conventional wooden fence posts with those made of metal and rock.
Darkness:
We know why termites live under the ground, gutters and likewise areas. Besides damp surroundings, another reason for such a habitat is the darkness. Termites love to work in dark, that’s why they are most active in the night. So, if somehow you caught a sight of a termite, you need to turn on the lights. The Termites are highly vulnerable to lights. It won’t kill termites but will help you seize the activity of termites.
Warmth:
The third reason for the termites to live underground areas is the required temperature which they can enjoy at such locations. So, if your house is providing some sort of cozy environment then you must be ready to welcome the termites. Try to maintain high temperature as much as you can.
Protecting Wood:
No matter how much you cut down on the wood in your house, you will still have some wooden furniture, ceilings or floors left in your place. Being said, it’s better to protect the remaining wooden structures from termite infestation.
Several powerful wood treatments are available in the market which are effective repellents for termites and other insects. Simply roll them or spray them on the wood surface.
This will not only kill the existing termites in the wood but also prevent the wooden structure from getting infested with termites in future.
Seal the foundation:
If your house’s foundation has some cracks or holes, immediately seal them. These could be proving to be access points for termites.
Pre-treat your house for termites:
For all those constructing a new home, it’s better to pre-treat your house for termite prevention. This can be done with the help of a Basaltic Termite Barrier (BTB). This is made up of tightly packed rock particles placed beneath the house. Their tight packing doesn’t give passage to termites to cross and damage the house’s foundations.
Termite mesh is another way to keep termites away from house’s foundation. It is a screen made up of stainless steel with minute holes which the termites can’t cross. It is ideal to place in areas like cold joints in concrete.
It’s almost impossible for termites to invade poured concrete foundations, unlike brick and block foundation which develop cracks as it ages. So, if you are going for brick and block foundation, it’s important to have a capping of solid concrete, this will prevent termites from getting inside your house.
Several factors attract termites to your house and if they won’t be effectively controlled, they can result in serious termite infestation. If you’re living in an area vulnerable towards termite invasion, regular inspection and knowing how to prevent termites is very important.
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