Termite Trouble: The Silent Destroyers of Your Home
Termites are a significant threat to homes, causing an estimated $5 billion in damage each year in the U.S. This week on the Thoughts from the Crawlspace podcast, Jamie Miller, CEO of Gold Key Home Inspections, Inc. dives into the world of these wood-destroying insects, exploring how they gain access to homes and the types of damage they can inflict. Listen for tips on identifying signs of termite infestation, such as mud tubes, hollow-sounding wood, and sawdust piles. Jamie shares practical tips for termite prevention and the steps to take if you suspect an infestation, ensuring your home remains a haven!
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Episode Highlights
- Termites are known as silent destroyers, causing extensive damage before detection.
- Regular home inspections for termites can prevent costly damage and ensure safety.
- Moisture and wood-to-ground contact are significant risk factors for termite infestations.
- Early detection of termites involves looking for mud tubes and hollow-sounding wood.
- Effective termite prevention includes proper drainage, sealing cracks, and using resistant materials.
Timestamps
(00:00) The Threat Below: Understanding Pests in Your Home
(05:06) Looking for Termite Damage
(09:59) Identifying Termite Infestations
(16:52) Termite Treatments
(18:56) Understanding Termite Myths and Home Protection
Transcript
Welcome to Thoughts from the Crawl Space, a podcast where our goal as home inspection experts is to support and serve our community.
Speaker A:Whether you're a homeowner, home buyer, real estate agent, or investor, we believe everyone deserves solutions to their homeownership challenges and inspiration along the way.
Speaker A:Your path to success starts here.
Speaker A:Hello again, everybody.
Speaker A:Today we're going to talk about little critters that eat your house and can create a lot of damage.
Speaker A:And that's termites.
Speaker A:Termites are kind of a.
Speaker A:They fall in the category of wood destroying insects.
Speaker A:There's various categories, various species that fall into this category.
Speaker A:Today we're just going to talk about termites and how they get into your house, what kind of damage they can do, some signs to look for if you're concerned about this and so forth.
Speaker A:So first of all, what are termites?
Speaker A:I'm sure everybody's heard the word they have maybe seen commercials about them or whatever.
Speaker A:But termites are just small social insects that feed on cellulose and a substance found in wood, paper and plant material.
Speaker A:All right, so they'll eat more than just wood.
Speaker A:It could be any cellulose based product.
Speaker A:It can be wallpaper, it could be the paper coating on drywall, even insulation, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker A:And so termites play a very important role in the ecosystem, but you don't want them in your house.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:They break down dead material in the woods, and that's where we want them to stay.
Speaker A:And so with, you know, the movement of subdivisions being built near woods or in a field or wherever, those termites that were nesting there now have to go find food somewhere else.
Speaker A:And a lot of times that turns out to be your home.
Speaker A:So termites cause an estimated $5 billion in property damage each year in the U.S.
Speaker A:they're often called the silent destroyers because they have an extensive dam, they've created extensive damage before you even know they're there.
Speaker A:So when a home inspector gets there to take a but to do a home inspection and to do a pest inspection, a wood destroying insect inspection, they may be there and we just don't see them.
Speaker A:They're very good at concealing themselves.
Speaker A:That's partly why they survive the way they survive.
Speaker A:And when I say that they're social insects, they have a caste system.
Speaker A:And in Indiana, pretty much all we have are subterranean, which means below ground termites, they have nests down, that would be in the, below the frost level.
Speaker A:So potential frost in this area, you know, 3ft, potentially 4ft.
Speaker A:So typically their nests are going to be at Least five feet below grade.
Speaker A:And then they branch out from there, and they have worker termites, they have soldier termites, which help protect the colony.
Speaker A:Then they have a queen, all right?
Speaker A:And the queen will produce the nymphs that turn into whatever is needed by the colony.
Speaker A:And that's why we call them social.
Speaker A:Not because they're fun to have around, but because they actually have an organized structure in their colony.
Speaker A:So let's talk about the different kinds of termites.
Speaker A:Subterranean.
Speaker A:These are the most common and most destructive in the US they live underground and build mud tubes to travel from their colonies to the wood they consume.
Speaker A:Now, they actually eat it.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:That's how they live.
Speaker A:So they are constantly foraging for food to feed their colony.
Speaker A:One way, and we'll get into this a little bit later, one way to identify them is to look for mud tubes around the perimeter of the home or inside the home.
Speaker A:That's how they forage.
Speaker A:Why do they have mud tubes?
Speaker A:Just wait and see.
Speaker A:We'll talk about that in just a little bit.
Speaker A:Another type of common termite is the drywood termite.
Speaker A:These live inside the wood they consume and don't need contact with the ground.
Speaker A:These are able to survive outside of a certain moisture level, which is what the mud tubes provide for the termites.
Speaker A:And of course, being in the ground, what that provides.
Speaker A:These are typically found more in warmer and coastal regions.
Speaker A:So in other words, we don't have enough humidity.
Speaker A:And we have humidity, but the moisture level isn't as great as a coastal region where they're found.
Speaker A:And then dampwood termites.
Speaker A:Dampwood termites preferred wood that's damp or decaying.
Speaker A:And they're typically found in areas with high humidity.
Speaker A:So again, southeast, northwest, that kind of thing.
Speaker A:They do not infest buildings as frequently, but can be problematic, just like subterranean.
Speaker A:So those are the kind of the three.
Speaker A:There's also Formosan termites.
Speaker A:Formosan are larger, they're more aggressive.
Speaker A:They, again, can live above ground.
Speaker A:They don't have to live in the ground.
Speaker A:They're more found typically in the Southwest and maybe Asian countries.
Speaker A:And when they get in your house, they're going to do a number on them.
Speaker A:They're by far the most aggressive and cause the most damage.
Speaker A:So how do they cause damage?
Speaker A:How do termites cause damage?
Speaker A:Well, they feed on cellulose.
Speaker A:As we mentioned before, most homes are made of wood that is cellulose.
Speaker A:So they eat from the inside out.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:They get into wood and they eat.
Speaker A:They do all they need to.
Speaker A:They reproduce.
Speaker A:They Eat more and you don't even see it.
Speaker A:And all of a sudden you might see damage to some wood, but by then the whole thing's hollowed out.
Speaker A:And that's why all of a sudden you can start to have dips in your floor.
Speaker A:Maybe your main.
Speaker A:The main beam in your basement dips a little bit because they've eaten from the inside out.
Speaker A:The time they're visible, they've done the damage already.
Speaker A:And so that's why it's so important to get your home inspected regularly for termites and other wood destroying insects.
Speaker A:So some signs of it is if you just take a screwdriver and probe the different elements of the wood, could be the perimeter joist, it could be your joists, could be your main beam.
Speaker A:That if it, if it's hollow sounding, that's never a good sign.
Speaker A:Hollow sounding wood means something's been eaten from the inside.
Speaker A:All right, it shouldn't sound that way.
Speaker A:And that is one sign of it.
Speaker A:Discolored or buckling wood.
Speaker A:If you have a beam that, well, how come it's crushed on one end a little bit?
Speaker A:How come it's pushing into the support post or the beam pocket?
Speaker A:Well, it's probably been damaged by termites.
Speaker A:Certainly water can play a role too, in destruction.
Speaker A:But if you don't see staining or obvious moisture, damage is likely from termites.
Speaker A:Another sign that you have them piles of sawdust or wood shavings near the base of the walls or furniture.
Speaker A:Yeah, you can get them in furniture.
Speaker A:They can come from the factory or wherever the furniture was built.
Speaker A:They can certain damp wood or dry wood.
Speaker A:Termites can live in that.
Speaker A:But as far as typically around a house, if you don't see the actual termite, if you don't see damaged wood, another sign is a pile of sawdust or wood shavings near the base of a wall.
Speaker A:They've been eaten and the leftover from that has just fallen out the wall.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Mud tubes on walls.
Speaker A:We talked about mud tubes earlier.
Speaker A:Mud tubes are usually about the size of a pencil.
Speaker A:I'll thicken.
Speaker A:They can be much bigger.
Speaker A:But the reason they have these mud tubes is because when termites get out of their nest, they need a certain humidity level in order to not dry out.
Speaker A:That's called desiccation.
Speaker A:If they dry out, they die.
Speaker A:So if we get a call from a client who says, I think I have termites crawling around on my kitchen floor or wherever, we know almost 100% that they're talking about ants and not termites.
Speaker A:Most of the termites that you will see, number one, will be in mud tubes or inside dirt filled channels in wood.
Speaker A:And they're white.
Speaker A:All right, that's a misperception, that they're black crawling around on the floor.
Speaker A:Those are ants.
Speaker A:Sometimes the swarmers will be black or not.
Speaker A:Sometimes they are black.
Speaker A:But the swarmers are different than what we're talking about right now.
Speaker A:So the termites that you see, most likely that you see will be white and they'll be.
Speaker A:If you see a mud tube on a wall, scratch it open.
Speaker A:If termites come crawling out, you know you have an active infestation.
Speaker A:So the swarmers that I mentioned, these are when the colony decides they want to forage for more food or start a new colony somewhere.
Speaker A:Swarmers, they develop wings.
Speaker A:They crawl up out of the den or the nest and the wind just kind of takes them.
Speaker A:And wherever they hit, they can't really fly.
Speaker A:The wind just kind of takes them wherever they drop.
Speaker A:That's where they're going to start their new colony.
Speaker A:And those typically are black.
Speaker A:And sometimes it can be confusing to tell the difference between swarmers, between termites and ants.
Speaker A:So how to.
Speaker A:A couple more things on how to identify a termite infestation.
Speaker A:All right, the mud tubes, wings, we just mentioned the swarmers.
Speaker A:So if they fly into your window, your big bay window and you see little wings stuck on, chances are that that are, those wings come off very easily.
Speaker A:And so when the termite hits it, their body's going to fall down, their wings are going to stay put.
Speaker A:That's a sign you have them droppings.
Speaker A:Drywood termites especially leave small pellet like droppings that look like coffee grounds or sawdust.
Speaker A:All right, so that's a, at the corner of your walls or at the base of a wall somewhere, we would encourage you to get a professional inspection of this to make sure.
Speaker A:Don't go panicking as soon as you see a little bit of signs of a problem.
Speaker A:But that's definitely a factor or a possibility.
Speaker A:So what causes termite infestation?
Speaker A:Well, number one, they're looking for food.
Speaker A:But here's some things that definitely encourage termites.
Speaker A:In fact, if we do a termite inspection, we may even write this up.
Speaker A:If we don't see see them, we'll list this as a risk factor.
Speaker A:That should be taken care of.
Speaker A:Wood to ground contact is number one.
Speaker A:And this is the most common.
Speaker A:Sometimes the wood forms they use to pour your concrete walls or whatever, they'll leave the wood in the ground.
Speaker A:Well, that's just A delicacy for termites.
Speaker A:They don't even have to go outside of the ground to find food.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:If they bury debris next to the house after construction, that's going to likely attract a lot of termites.
Speaker A:Another risk factor is moisture.
Speaker A:They thrive in a humid environment.
Speaker A:If you have water damage or continuing ongoing water problem, then your chances of termites are much higher.
Speaker A:Wood rot or leaks.
Speaker A:Termites aren't dumb.
Speaker A:They're going to go after the easiest source of wood.
Speaker A:If you have damaged wood to begin with, that's going to be softer and easier to consume than really hard wood.
Speaker A:Also, leaking pipes, A constant leak provides steady moisture.
Speaker A:They like that.
Speaker A:So that's where they're going to be attracted to.
Speaker A:And then proximity to trees or shrubs.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Trees or shrubs can shade the house, create higher moisture levels because it doesn't dry out.
Speaker A:And that's also a possibility for termites to get into.
Speaker A:So how do you prevent termites?
Speaker A:Again, we talked about in previous weeks about prevention is better than the cure, right?
Speaker A:Coming up, there'll be episode on radon.
Speaker A:Same thing.
Speaker A:Rather than get lung cancer, let's prevent radon from getting elevated in our house.
Speaker A:Same with termites and wood destroying insects.
Speaker A:Number one, reduce moisture around the home.
Speaker A:Fix any pipe that's leaking.
Speaker A:You have that faucet outside that's dripping all the time.
Speaker A:Get that fixed.
Speaker A:Improve your drainage and grading.
Speaker A:All right, Remove number two, remove wood to ground contact.
Speaker A:This can occur on siding.
Speaker A:If you have wood siding that's down near the grade level, there should be at least 6 inches of clearance between the bottom of the wood siding and your dirt.
Speaker A:So you don't build up landscaping, don't build up mulch over the bottom of any type of siding that will allow termites to get in undetected from the outside and really do some damage before you know what's going on.
Speaker A:Seal any cracks and gaps.
Speaker A:Tip.
Speaker A:You know they're not going to eat through concrete, but if there's cracks in your concrete, they can get in through them.
Speaker A:Especially on a house that has block wall foundation.
Speaker A:Block walls notoriously crack easier.
Speaker A:There's gaps between the mortar between the blocks, and those are all avenues where termites could get in and then get to the wood part of your home.
Speaker A:So make sure that you do some of that maintenance.
Speaker A:Another thing is store firewood away from the house firewood if it's stacked against the house, number one, it's a source of food.
Speaker A:Number two, it holds moisture.
Speaker A:And number three, it hides any activity that's going on related to getting into your house.
Speaker A:Another thing to consider, number five, use termite resistant materials.
Speaker A:Termite resistant materials may be like pressure treated lumber, steel, anything like that that they're going to tend to not want to eat.
Speaker A:I will say evidence suggests that termites don't really love the modern type of OSB oriented strain board because of the glue, because of the chemicals they use in the production of it.
Speaker A:Not that they won't damage it and you know, attack it, but typically, I mean, I've even seen where they cross a sheet of OSB to go to real wood before they start eating.
Speaker A:So that's something to consider going for.
Speaker A:So let's say you have them, you found evidence of them.
Speaker A:Maybe it's just a little spot, maybe it's some wings, maybe it's major damage.
Speaker A:Well, first of all, you're going to want to fix the damage.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:That's, that's a contractor that you can call to get that done.
Speaker A:But some of the things that you use to treat a termite infestation are one, chemical treatments.
Speaker A:Termiticides.
Speaker A:These are chemical treatments applied around the foundation of the home.
Speaker A:Occasionally they'll do a spot treatment if it's just one area.
Speaker A:But usually if a contractor or a pest control company finds termites, they're going to want to treat the entire area because you're not sure exactly where they're coming from.
Speaker A:So fumigation can be used.
Speaker A:This is more for drywood termites where it basically just seals the house and pumps a gas in that kills the termites and then you air out the house.
Speaker A:Probably the most common one that we see is non chemical treatments.
Speaker A:And this is more environmental, for more environmental reasons.
Speaker A:Not as effective as the old termiticides and such terminicides.
Speaker A:They would typically trench around the house and fill this trench with chemical.
Speaker A:And that created a barrier between the outside and the house.
Speaker A:And those were very effective.
Speaker A:But occasionally they would get into groundwater, they would cause problems.
Speaker A:And so more environmentally friendly methods are used.
Speaker A:Now baiting systems.
Speaker A:You may see this out in your ground.
Speaker A:Look for round maybe about this big around.
Speaker A:It can be green, it can be gray, I've even seen brown.
Speaker A:And that is a bait station.
Speaker A:And that's just the top of it.
Speaker A:You pull the middle cover out and you'll have a bait about that long.
Speaker A:Looks like a stick of wood basically.
Speaker A:And that's got a chemical in it that termites will gravitate to take back to their colony.
Speaker A:And if the colony eats it, it'll wipe out the colony.
Speaker A:So that's an effective method.
Speaker A:They usually put these bait stations maybe every 5 to 10ft around the perimeter of the house.
Speaker A:And so maybe not 5ft, more like 10.
Speaker A:Now the problem is they're not as effective because there's a pathway in between them, unlike the old trenching and termiticides.
Speaker A:So definitely the most effective way to deal with termites is through a professional pest control service.
Speaker A:You will have pest control companies that will maybe advertise they'll spray for termites, but you don't really spray for termites.
Speaker A:Termites are underground.
Speaker A:How are you going to spray around the house and deter termites from coming up from under the ground?
Speaker A:What's the cost of a termite treatment?
Speaker A:Again, the initial inspection on them is probably one to $300.
Speaker A:Treatment costs.
Speaker A:It can one spot maybe $500.
Speaker A:A typical treatment may be $2,500.
Speaker A:Now that doesn't include the damage they inflicted and the need to repair some wood.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So that's always a consideration.
Speaker A:But the treatment itself shouldn't be over life changing money or anything.
Speaker A:The damage might be, but the termite treatment itself shouldn't be.
Speaker A:One more thing I wanted to talk about early detection.
Speaker A:We've talked about this with a variety of topics, but just look around your house, look around outside and look for those mud tubes.
Speaker A:Especially if you have a good clearance between the ground and the siding, it's easy to see the concrete.
Speaker A:You should be able to tell if there's a mud tube snaking up the wall.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:And that's a sure fire.
Speaker A:That's the easiest way to tell if something's happening.
Speaker A:If your grade level is right near the base of the siding, it's going to be really hard to find that unless you're down on your belly crawling around.
Speaker A:And even then they're hard to find because the tube itself is going to be about a half inch or an inch long.
Speaker A:And it's going to look the same color as the dirt because that's the soil they're using to build it.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:If you have dark soil, the mud tube is going to be dark.
Speaker A:If you have lighter sandy or gravelly soil, it's going to be more of that color.
Speaker A:So those are some things to look for.
Speaker A:Pay attention to any subtle signs.
Speaker A:One area that we look at really closely on inspections is around windows.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:They can get into the wall, they can get into the window casing, the window sill, and they can really damage the wood around that area.
Speaker A:Remember, those are going to be typically higher moisture Levels around windows.
Speaker A:We've seen them in the top of windows where you have a pile of sawdust down on the bottom, and so pull the blinds back.
Speaker A:Take a look around your windows.
Speaker A:Probe it.
Speaker A:Use a screwdriver to just probe it.
Speaker A:Tap on it, and see if there's any hollow spots or damage.
Speaker A:Here's a couple of myths about termites.
Speaker A:Number one, termites only eat wood.
Speaker A:We touched on this earlier.
Speaker A:But while they primarily feed on wood, they feed on paper, insulation, drywall paper, and even wallpaper.
Speaker A:Three.
Speaker A:All right, I skipped two.
Speaker A:Number two, if you don't see termites, you don't have an infestation.
Speaker A:Well, that's a myth.
Speaker A:You can see nothing, and you could have an infestation.
Speaker A:That's not to make you feel uneasy.
Speaker A:It's just facts.
Speaker A:They're very adept at hiding in wood, and you don't see them until they've done the damage.
Speaker A:Frequently, we'll get calls from.
Speaker A:I shouldn't say frequently.
Speaker A:Occasionally will get a call from a client who moved in and started renovating their house and ripped up the flooring or ripped out the drywall.
Speaker A:And they find termites.
Speaker A:And they wondered why we didn't see them.
Speaker A:And we, you know, that's a pretty simple answer.
Speaker A:Well, we didn't have the luxury of ripping up your house.
Speaker A:So that's one thing you will find when you renovate is things that you don't see when it's covered up.
Speaker A:That's just common sense and something that happens occasionally.
Speaker A:Myth number three, termite damage is covered by insurance.
Speaker A:You may check with your insurance company, but typically this is not the case.
Speaker A:It's up to homeowners to protect their own homes.
Speaker A:So, in conclusion, a couple of key points.
Speaker A:Termites are a significant threat to homes.
Speaker A:They cause $5 billion a year in damage.
Speaker A:Early detection and prevention are key.
Speaker A:Homeowners should regularly inspect for signs of termites.
Speaker A:And, you know, if you get your home inspected and you don't have any signs of termites, why not just call for a termite inspection every year?
Speaker A:Probably 150 bucks to have someone cut out and see if there's any new signs developing.
Speaker A:And I think that's a great way to safeguard your home.
Speaker A:So give us a call to come out and check for termites or other things, and you can just kind of maintain your home in that way.
Speaker A:And that way, you hopefully won't have any big surprises one day, and you can sleep easy knowing that you've done your best to take care of your home.
Speaker A:So thanks for listening.
Speaker A:Please share this podcast, especially if you know somebody that might be dealing with this issue.
Speaker A:Give us a call if you if we can help you out in any other way.
Speaker A:Thanks for listening.
Speaker A:Have a great day.
Speaker A:Thank you for listening.
Speaker A:This week you can catch up on the latest episode of the Thoughts from the Crawl Space podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Speaker A:For more information about Gold Key Inspection services, go to goldkeyinspect.com.
