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If you're a home owner, there's a good chance that at some point you're going to be worried about termite damage. The most common termite infestation symptoms are fairly easy to spot, but you do need to know where and how to look. You should be looking, because the key to limiting damage is to catch an infestation early; ideally before a colony has time to set up in your house. A little bit of prevention can save you hours of effort and thousands of dollars of expense, to say nothing of preserving the value of your home. The first place you need to start looking is outside your home. Termites generally make their way into your home by way of either wood to wood contact or soil to wood contact. Termites create airtight tunnels to and through wood and soil, so these are the home ground for them. So, the places to check are areas where wood is contacting your house. Most commonly, this is firewood, which is a major source of termites. You should move it back from your house regardless, but that's good place to look for signs of termites. You then need to look at places where soil is contacting the wood of your house, or is very near it. Ideally, there should be six inches between the ground and the structure of your house, but this doesn't always happen. Another area to take a look at is areas where you have standing water or a drainage problem. Anywhere moisture accumulates, because termites need a humid environment and will naturally seek out area where things are wet and warm. In either case, what you need to be looking for is signs of termites. The most obvious one is mudtubes, which are exactly what they sound like. Termites need their tunnels, so when they go above they construct what look like tubes made out of mud. If you see these, you definitely have a problem. Termites eat wood, so the usual place inside your home to start looking is where you can find the exposed wood of the frame of your home. Depending on where you live, you're going to be looking either in the basement or a crawlspace. In either case, you're going to need a flashlight and a flat head screw driver. What you're going to be looking for is wings and fecal matter, the latter looking like dirt or a sort peppercorn looking matter. These a sure sign that termites have made it to your home. You should also keep an eye out for sawdust looking debris, which you shouldn't find unless there's an infestation. And, of course, you should be on the lookout for mud tunnels, which they build on the inside as well.
Even if you don't find any of the obvious signs, you should check the wood, which is where the screwdriver is going to be necessary, Basically, you need to stab the wood, hard, with screw driver. What you get with healthy wood is a dull thud and a fraction of an inch of penetration. On the other hand, if the screwdriver sinks deep into the wood and makes a hollow sound, you've got problems. You can treat termite problems, often cheaply and effectively, if you know what to look for with termite damage. The most common termite infestation symptoms are easy to spot, so you need to start looking today.
Don't let your house become a victim to a termite attack! Learn how to prevent termites now so that you can avoid becoming another termite invasion statistic by visiting http://www.howtopreventtermites.com - a website that provides information, tips and advice on termite prevention, termite treatments and how to detect termites.
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