Ugh, Are Termites in Your Greenville Home?
It's a word every Greenville homeowner dreads. But, no worries. The experts at Croach® provide termite treatment you can count on.
Although all new homes built in the Greenville, South Carolina area are required to have foundation and soil termite treatments, these barriers are not foolproof, nor do they last forever. If you suspect termites, it is important to act fast no matter how old your home is.
Greenville's Ideal Climate
Greenville is green because of its optimal climate and geography. Early settlers were attracted to the environmental advantages of the region - notably prime agricultural land and abundant timber. The Reedy River runs right through the city, and Greenville receives ample rain, especially in summer, to keep our vegetation healthy year-round.
Uh oh! Termites need both water and food to thrive. In Greenville, these wood-eating pests find their favorite food and plentiful water. Greenville residents trust Croach® pest control to protect their homes by keeping these insects at bay.
Signs You Need Termite Treatment
It's easy to miss early warning signs of termites, like a single mud tunnel up your foundation or a wing shed near your porch. If you see any of these signs or suspect your Greenville area home has an infestation, call the experts at Croach® for your free termite inspection.
The signs include:
- Mud trails: Mud trails from the ground up your foundation or walls. Mud trails protect subterranean termites as they move from underground up into your home to feed.
- Wings: Some species of young termites develop wings to fly off and establish a new colony. They shed these wings when they have found a new home, as they no longer need them. You might find a pile of these tiny, shed wings as your only early sign of the newly established colony.
- Droppings: Drywood termites leave behind droppings that look like sawdust. It's the fecal matter they excrete as they consume the wood of your home.
- Looks and smells like water damage: You may also find places where wallpaper or paint appears damaged or like it got wet. Insects (instead of water) may have damaged these areas.
- Advanced signs: After termites are established and feeding on the wood of your home, floors may sag. Doors and windows may become harder to open. Things shift inside the walls to fill the empty space created by the wood-eating pests.
- Seeing termites: Although they hide from the light, you might uncover their nest or trails when doing other home repairs or work around your foundation. You might also see a swarm of flying termites looking for a new home.
If you suspect an infestation, catch a few to show your exterminator. Identification is an important part of a termite treatment plan.
Where did they come from?
Termites tunnel up from underground through cracks or along your home’s exterior. They love damp soil, so infestations often originate where water pools and the earth stays moist around your foundation.
Some varieties, like the eastern subterranean termite native to South Carolina, swarm in on wings to find a new home. That's why a wing shed pile is an early sign your home was chosen for a nesting place.
Colonies need a water source and food to survive. They will move on if they lose access to either of these. And if a colony becomes too large, a new queen will leave to establish another colony elsewhere.
If my neighbor has termites, do I have them too?
Not necessarily, although having them next door makes your home more vulnerable if they expand their colony. The best thing you can do is make your property less attractive to pests.
What is termite damage?
As you know, they eat wood. Its a way for nature to clean up dead trees in the forest, but…. often the wood they are eating is holding up our homes and businesses. A large, mature colony of 60,000 Formosan termites can eat up to 11 pounds of wood in one month!
This means they are not just a nuisance, they cause extensive building damage that results in costly repairs. In fact, termites cause over 5 billion dollars in property damage every year.
Most homeowners' insurance policies do not cover termite damage, so it is extra important to notice them early, before a lot of damage is done.
What kinds of termites do I have?
Entomologists say there are 2,750 known varieties of termites around the world. Thankfully, South Carolina has only 8 species.
These range from 3 native subterranean species to the more aggressive and damaging invasive Formosan subterranean termite. Other varieties found in the Greenville region include the powderpost, eastern drywood and other drywood varieties only found in forest deadwoods.
Proper identification is important before determining the best termite treatment plan. Croach® exterminators are trained to identify species in the Greenville area.
What do termites look like?
People often confuse them with ants. There are several distinct differences between flying ants and termites:
- Termites have straight antennae. Ant antennae bend like our arm at the elbow.
- They have a large abdomen and a head, while ants have three distinct body sections.
- Termites have 4 wings, all the same size and shape. Ants also have 4 wings, but they have two larger and two smaller wings.
- Most are white or very light yellow-brown color. When swarming, they will be a darker brown.
Even in the same colony, termites with different jobs will look different, too. The queen is the largest, followed by the breeding king, soldiers, and workers. Each one has a special job to do for the colony.
Other bugs that look like them include carpenter ants and powderpost beetles. These two household pest control problems also burrow into the wood of your home. Professional termite treatment is the best way to prevent them from spreading through your home and damaging it.
How to Get Rid of Termites?
The researchers at the Agricultural College of Clemson University say that getting rid of termites is NEVER a do-it-yourself project. Always hire a professional, like Croach®, for termite treatment and control.
Croach® technicians receive special training to identify the species, assess damage, and develop an effective pest control plan for your home.
The traditional treatment for termites is trenching around the home and applying liquid termiticide into the trenches. As the termiticide soaks into the ground, it provides a chemical barrier that exterminates them.
This method works many times but remember, termites are tiny. They only need 1/16 of an inch break in this barrier to gain access to your home again. If this barrier is underneath your home, it could be years before signs of termite infestation are visible. In the meantime, those insects have been happily munching away at your home from the inside!
Croach is here with a better way.
The BEST Way to Eliminate Termites
You want the best protection you can get for your home to maintain its value. When it comes to termite control, the Sentricon system is best. Termites find and take specially designed bait back to their colony to feed on.
Sentricon®’s proprietary bait special formula stops the insect molting process. When insects cannot molt, they die. This system kills not only the workers, but the queen too, thus eliminating the colony.
The Sentricon® system is non-invasive and non-threatening to your family and pets. In fact, the system is the only one to receive the EPA’s Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for superior environmentally responsible chemistry.
Ready for our highly trained technicians at Croach® to install the Sentricon® system in your home?
Call today for your free Greenville inspection and begin termite treatment as quickly as possible.
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Service Areas: Greenville Pest Control Surrounding Areas
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