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Professional Termite Control Services

Techniques For Eliminating Termites & Preventing Future Infestations

Termites Prefer Moldy, Rotting Wood

Rotting wood is much easier for termites to digest. Additionally, the fungi that they eat along with the wood contains vitamins and nitrogenous foods that termites require to be healthy.

Along with wood, termites have known to eat almost anything containing cellulose material.

The list of possible foods includes paper, cardboard, clothing, leather, cellulose insulation, railroad ties, leaves, the manure of herbivorous animals, grass, the paper facing on drywall, animal furs, and many other materials.

Termites are debatably the single most destructive pest that can infest a home.

It is not uncommon for a termite infestation to deal $10,000-$30,000 or more in damages to a home by the time they're discovered. In fact, the National Pest Management Association reports that subterranean termites can collapse an entire building!

Termites find their way into a home through almost any type of construction, including concrete. Their tiny bodies can enter a structure through a crack as small as 1/64" -- about as wide as the period at the end of this sentence.

Harmful Termite Species

There are about 2,750 species of termites in existence, 10% of which are pests.

In the United States, the harmful termite species can be broken down into four categories:

(Click for more information about each solution.)

Subterranean Termites
Formosan Subterranean Termites
Dampwood Termites
Drywood Termites

Your home is warm year-round, and contains food and shelter for termites. If there is also a moisture source for them, then your home is the ideal habitat for termites.

Schedule A Quote

Your local NAPCA Specialist is trained and certified in the industry's best practices for creating a lasting termite management plan for your home. Our specialists are committed to healthy, reliable solutions in all areas of pest management.

To schedule a termite control quote, contact us by phone or e-mail today! We'll put you in touch with your local specialist, who is qualified to help you.

Take Action To Protect Your Home From Termites!

Once termites enter your home, they will set up shop immediately. Some termite queens are able to lay as many as 36,000 eggs every day, and can live for many years (or decades, depending on the species). Termites never sleep, so they'll work around the clock to destroy your home.

Despite their diligent nature, it takes a termite infestation a long time to cause serious damage. If your home has swarming termites inside, or there are signs of structural issues that were caused by termite damage, you can be sure that the infestation has been present for many years.

There are two ways to control termites and keep them out of your home:

Termite activity is particularly dependent on weather patterns and conditions, and very from one species to the next. Researchers in Georgie report that foragers in termite colonies decreased by up to 77% after a season of excessive winter rainfall.

Termite Inspection

Americans spend about $30 billion dollars annually on termite-related repairs. And because they rarely leave their nests, homeowners often live with an infestation for years without even realizing it.

While termites, particularly subterranean termites remain elusive, there are some telltale signs that homeowners may be able to spot when checking their home for a problem.

We also recommend hiring a pest control specialist to perform regular inspections of the structure to check for termites. The advanced tools and techniques they're trained to employ can save you thousands of dollars later on down the road.

Learn more about Termite Inspection

Pest control specialists may need to remove wood and sections of wall covering to access infestations and eliminate their nests.

Termite Treatment

As Formosan termites begin to spread across North America, pest professionals are racing to find new, more effective techniques to fight them. This means that experts are better than ever at treating and controlling termite infestations.

There's a wide variety of termite control products on the market today, each with its own approach to eliminating termites.

But with all these new products and methods, there are still common-sense prevention options. Learn what any homeowner can do do to stop termites from infesting your home in the first place.

Learn more about Termite Treatment & Prevention

Connect With A Local, Certified Termite Control Expert

At NAPCA, our specialists adhere to the highest standards in the pest control industry. You can count on our specialists to demonstrate a commitment to healthy, safe, and reliable control practices for your termite management.

To schedule a termite quote, contact us by phone or e-mail today! Your local specialist can schedule an appointment to inspect your home, identify the problem, and make recommendations for a sustainable treatment plan.

Schedule A Quote

Related Pages

Eastern Subterranean Termites

Eastern subterranean termites live deep underground, and need to be in contact with the soil to survive. However, if wood has sufficient moisture, they can survive indefinitely there with no ground contact.

When traveling over surfaces that are not in contact with the earth, subterranean termites build mud tunnels to travel through.

Workers are a creamy color, and about 3/16" to 1/4" in length. Soldiers have a body similar to workers, except that they have an elongated head and an amber-colored jaw.

Queens of this species can live for 20-30 years, while other termites in the colony can live for up to five years. Colonies can number as many as 300,000, with the queen producing 5,000-10,000 eggs per year after the first year.

Formosan Subterranean Termites

Formosan termites were brought to the United States from the South Pacific over 50 years ago, and are now well-established in 11 states, including California and Hawaii.

Formosan termites are more damaging than eastern subterranean termites -- they're larger, more aggressive, and live in much larger colonies (with population sizes of up to 10 million). Of the species present in North America, they are capable of doing the most damage in the shortest amount of time.

These pests are yellowish brown in appearance, and grow to a size of about 1/2" long. Their colonies are generally 10-20 feet underground, and can be vast in size. Along with swarming, this species can spread colonies through a process known as "budding", where a portion of the colony breaks off from the parent colony (without swarming).

Dampwood Termites

Dampwood termites are attracted to wood with extremely high moisture content. This need for moisture means that they are usually not found in structures, and are generally considered the least threatening of the damaging termite species.

Workers of this species are typically 3/4" in length, while nymphs can be as large as 5/8" in length.

Preventing an infestation of this species can be as simple as keeping gutters clean and downspouts diverted away from your home and all wood structures.

It's important to eliminate any plumbing leaks and sources of standing water. It's also important to avoid prolonged contact between wood structures and large areas of moisture, such as ponds.

Drywood Termites

Unlike other species, drywood termites can live off dry wood, and do not need a connection to the soil They're often found in structural beams of attics, within furniture, and infesting wood floors and window trim. They are typically less destructive than subterranean termite species.

Drywood termites are light brown in color, and are long, narrow, and oval in shape. Drywood species tend to be larger in size -- up to 1" in length. Swarming of this species is most common at night, with peak swarming occurring between late May and the middle of June. It typically takes a drywood termite colony about five years to product a winged swarmers.

Prevent an infestation of this species by keeping scrap wood and firewood piled at least 20 feet away from the house, and by sealing off all cracks and crevices along the base of your foundation.