Proactively Protect Your Home From Termites

It can be done. But to prevent an invasion of termites takes a little work. Most of the job involves preventive stuff that can have a beneficial effect on more than simply the keeping this terrible insect at bay.

First of all, what brings termites to your home? Like most living creatures, they’re looking for shelter, water and a nearby grocery store that stocks the food they like. What gives them sustenance is anything that contains cellulose.

Cellulose is the most common organic compound on Earth. Around 1/3rd of the composition of all plants is cellulose. To put things in perspective, termites would probably rather eat cotton than wood. Cotton is nearly 90% cellulose while wood falls in the 40-to-50% range. Aside from wood, these mini-monsters likewise will eat paper and cardboard – for desert.

Their main course is always a nice big plate of wood, with a side order of wood and a nice Chateau de Wood as an appetizer.

Termites in Birmingham live in different surroundings, depending on what kind of bug they are. The subterranean ones set-up shop underground. Drywood termites prefer to live above ground. They both have something in common. Water. Without a source of H2O, they’ll split.

Soil, wood and cellulose-based substances are all over the planet. Something to drink, while mostly available on 3/4ths of the surface of the Earth, would seem to be the tipping point when it comes to attracting termites. As far back as a million years ago, even early humans put up their houses near water. Termites? No difference, they live near where they drink.

So, the tips to prevent your property from becoming a haven for these wood-eaters focuses on making their little lives miserable:

• Since these buggers eat wood, lumber, scrap and firewood, those things should be stored far away from the house. When they are isolated from your home, make sure the wood doesn’t touch the ground. Use cinder blocks and a thin sheet of metal on top of the concrete to elevate the stuff off-the-ground.
• If you have a regular case of pooling near your house, fill in the crater. Got a leaking pipe? Fix it. Any way you can dry-up their source of water will discourage them from moving-in. Simple things like the condensation that drips from your air conditioner needs to be directed as far away from where you live as possible.
• Debris like leaves, grass clippings, tree branches and matter like that should be bagged and hauled-off to a dump.
• Again, take the above garbage to a dump. Don’t bury it in your yard. Thinking that because the scraps are out-of-sight doesn’t mean that it’s out-of-mind, or whatever, for a termite.
• Having a well-ventilated crawl space and attic helps dry-up any moisture that finds its way into those areas.
• When you put in a deck, use metal or concrete legs to raise the structure off-the-ground. And make sure you use treated lumber when building a patio.]
• Mulch doesn’t act as a magnet to termites. But if it’s stacked-up against the foundation of your house, it will act like a bridge.
• Clean and seal waterlines and gutters. These things help create pools of water near your home.
• Also, plug and seal any holes, cracks and breaks in the foundation on the exterior of your house.
• Finally, call us at Vulcan Termite and Pest Control for a yearly inspection. It’s best to get ahead of the curve by catching problems early. Also ask our trained experts for any other recommendations they may have that you might have missed.