Termites

When should you get your home checked for signs of termite activity? The answer may surprise you. The fact is, most homeowners are rarely thinking about pest activity during this time of the year, especially when the weather has been so unusually cold.

However, even though the weather outside is far too cold for most pests to survive, your warm home is still an ideal environment for a pest infestation to grow and thrive. While they are associated with springtime and warm weather, termites are and it is possible that an infestation is hidden somewhere in or around your home at this very moment.

This is not something that should cause you to panic, however. Generally speaking, termites are not as destructive during the winter because the cold weather forces their colonies to move deeper underground. Due to this, their access to your home is significantly reduced, though an infestation near to the heart of your home is an exception to this.

These subterranean infestations can be difficult to detect during the winter as they do not come close to the surface. As such, they act as a sort of time bomb, ready to explode as soon as warm weather allows them to feed once again. This can lead to homeowners being shocked by a sudden onset of pest activity.

Termites can be extremely destructive if left unchecked. Unlike most other wood destroying pests, termites have special proteins in their stomach that allow them to digest cellulosic materials, and this will lead them to feed on wooden framing, wallpaper, furniture, and any other wood in the home.

Naturally, this can quickly result in expensive damages to your home, so it is critical to detect any evidence of an infestation early. Since the termites may already be active in your home, you should schedule an inspection of your home by a licensed pest control service as soon as possible.

You may be tempted to avoid calling in a pest control company if you find signs of termite activity. After all, there are a wide range of products marketed for eradicating termites from your home. However, this can be a major mistake.

While many of these products do kill termites, many of them only kill workers that come into contact with treated areas. Since termite infestations are often centered in areas of the home that are difficult to access, such “kill-on-contact” products cannot fully remove the infestation. For this reason, most infestations require a targeted, multistep approach that is best left in professional hands.

It is also important to note that, depending on the termite species in question, certain treatments are more and less effective. Combine this with the variability of environmental conditions and the layout of your home, it can be difficult to effectively treat your home without professional training.

So what SHOULD you do if you are concerned about termite activity in your home?

 

The first step homeowners should take is to schedule an inspection of their home to identify any signs of pest activity. Having an inspection performed early in the year will both allow you to identify an infestation before it begins to actively feed again, and most pest control companies are not as busy during the winter season, and as such you are able to get inspections and pretreatments done before the rush.

A well-trained pest control technician can identify any signs of pest activity in your home. They can also note specific areas that are more at risk for pest infestation as well as any conditions that might be conducive to infestation. This information can then be used to construct a targeted treatment plan designed to safely and efficiently eradicate the pest population in your home.

So don’t let pests run amok in your home, call Canton Termite and Pest Control today to get the pest control solutions that need! We are a full-service pest and wildlife control company with decades of experience. Rather than simply providing generalized treatment options, we adapt our treatment methods to create treatment solutions that best fit your specific pest problems!

Start your pest free life TODAY, call us at 770-479-1598 and schedule a FREE inspection of your home!

By: Tim