Termites are a major problem for many homeowners. They can cause extensive damage to your property and lead to expensive repairs or even replacement of the entire building. According to our termite specialists based in Malaysia, It is important that you know how to identify termite damage so that you can take appropriate action as soon as possible.
In this blog post, we will discuss what damages termites cause and some signs that you might have an infestation on your property.
The Signs of Termite Damage in a Property
Termites are known to be the most silent but deadly creatures. You wouldn’t know they’ve hit you until the infestation has already worsened. The reason why people don’t directly know they’ve got termites is that they often live underground.
Luckily, there are several signs you can keep an eye out for so you can catch these annoying creatures before they get out of hand!
The main signs of termite infestation include:
1. Lumpy wallpaper in bathrooms, kitchens, and other areas where the walls are frequently wet or moist is a sign that you have got some problem going on with mold either due to water damage or because there’s been a recent renovation done in your home without proper ventilation.
2. Cracks in wooden beams inside floors also indicate water seepage, which will attract pests such as ants and termites too. If you find patches of white powder around cracks like this, it might be an indication that these woodworms/termites have already eaten through them, causing deterioration of the structure itself.
3. Termite droppings are another sign to look out for. These small pellets fall on the floor and often accumulate near beams, window ledges, or under sinks where they can find wood to feed on.
4. Look for mud tubes that termites build in order to travel from one part of your property to another without being detected by you! Mud tubes usually appear in long lines at corners or edges of walls which might be an indication that there’s a colony nearby. Do not touch these with bare hands; wear gloves when cleaning them up because it is likely they will contain insecticides harmful to humans if left untreated.
5. Frass is another sign of termite infestation. It is a powdery substance that looks like sawdust, and it usually appears under sinks, in kitchen cupboards, around baseboards, or skirting boards (the wooden strips that go along the bottom edge of walls), as well as window sills. If you see piles of this substance on your floor, then there might be some major issues with water damage because leaks from roofs and clogged gutters often cause these.
What Does Termite Damage Look Like
When termites feed on your wooden structures and foundation, damage will occur. Termite damage often looks like a series of small holes that go through the surface. These holes are usually about 0.25 millimeters in diameter, and you can see straight through them to the other side of the surface.
If there is a large number of these, it might indicate that your property has been infested with termites, which will likely cause your wooden beams, floors, walls, cupboards, or furniture to collapse if left untreated.
Another example of termite damage is wood chippings. Wood chippings are small pieces of wood that are less than one square centimeter in size. Termite damage usually starts with these chippings, which can be found around windowsills, door frames, skirting boards, and the base of walls where termites have chewed through them to get access to your property’s wooden foundations.
How to Deal With Termite Damage
If you notice termite damage, your first instinct would be to repair it. However, this will not stop the underlying cause of the problem, which is termites. Even if you fix it, the termites will still come back as you have not dealt with the problem. The only way to stop these pests from coming is by using a protective barrier that can either be chemical or physical in nature.
Physical Barrier
A physical barrier works by preventing termites from eating through wood foundations and surfaces by creating a solid block between them and your wooden structures. This often involves injecting concrete into small holes drilled into walls and floors, before it sets hard so that they become rock-solid barriers between infested areas and safe ones.
Using this method ensures there are no gaps for termite entry because cement does not allow any space for termite tunnels/mud tubes to form on top of it, blocking their access completely! You may also opt for physical barriers that are made from tough plastic, which you can insert into holes drilled in your wooden surfaces to create a block leaving no gaps for entry.
Chemical Barrier
A chemical barrier works by killing termites or preventing them from coming back once they have been removed. This is often preferred because it means you do not need to drill huge holes through your property, but rather apply the chemicals directly onto infested areas making the job cleaner and less messy overall.
It also takes about half as long to remove/kill off all of these pests using this method compared with having physical barriers installed, which makes it much more efficient overall, although there are some downsides too… The downside to this kind of approach is that if termites are not always killed immediately so there’s a chance their population will continue to grow and spread.
Termite Baiting Systems
A termite baiting system works by using a chemical attractant that lures all of these pests into areas where traps have been installed. These baiting systems work by placing the chemical attractant in areas where termite activity has been confirmed and using a repellent to stop them from coming back.
This approach is much more targeted than other methods because you only need to deal with pests that are actively infesting your property rather than removing all of these bugs across an entire area which can be difficult when you have large buildings or lots of wooden structures on your land. The main downside to baiting systems is that they do not always immediately kill off mature colonies, so new ones may appear after time.
Once you are able to get rid of termites, you can proceed with repairing the damage caused by them. This may include using wooden restoration techniques to fix up termite-damaged beams, floors, walls, etc., or replacing them with new materials if necessary.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many different types of damage that termites cause to your home. Hopefully, this blog post has helped shed some light on the pest and how it impacts people’s homes. If anyone is concerned about their home or business being at risk for infestation, they should contact a professional like us today!
We offer free quotes as well as inspections, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team if you have any questions. Thanks again for reading, and we hope you found this article informative too!