The presence of termites in one's home can cause one nasty headache. This may happen to you: One day, while vacuuming your house, you pull up the carpet and find termite holes on your hard oak flooring!
While termites have considerable ecological function, termites can also do real problems for houses. In urban houses, termite infestation is a growing issue. The key to preventing this is in an efficient pest management strategy.
Pest management is a vital real estate and domestic concern. Devising a well-thought and well-implemented termite control plan saves one from a lot of financial and property loss. In order to enact a highly effective combat plan, one must first know one's foes.
Termites are eusocial bugs, which dwell by thousands to millions in colonies. Colonies are decentralized and self-organized and its members' functions are divided by gender and caste. The worker caste, made up of females, is responsible for foraging food, feeding the other colony members, food storage, brood and nest maintenance and defense. The soldier caste, which main function is to protect the colony, has members with enlarged jaws, they have to be fed by workers. The colony's kings and queens are mainly responsible for the reproduction of more colony members. The colony survives by swarm intelligence or a collective sensing of danger or safety.
Termites eat mostly cellulose-based materials or anything with plant fiber. Damp wood is one of their favorites. Termites may also eat non-cellulose materials. In some instances, termites have been found to chew on even steel pipes! It is possible so long as termites find moisture in something. For them, water is a big attraction.
When termite damage has been discovered, conduct an immediate exhaustive termite inspection. After finding out the full extent of the damage, run a termite control treatment. Repair damages to property only when it has been made sure that all termites have been removed. This can save you lots ofeffort.
A few repairs will be hard like structural damage. Structural damages near in wires and utilities can be challenging to work on simply because they sometimes go through joists. To reconstruct the damages, one may need to temporarily disconnect the wires and utilities from use.
The most challenging to repair are damaged structural wood components. This is because other wood and non-wood components are often attached to the damaged wood making it tough to remove and replace.
In the event that no utilities are attached to the destroyed wood, you can help support it by adding a new piece of wood alongside it. This process works pretty well in keeping the structure up. Always remember when taking off any damaged part of the structure, to install a supporting component. When in uncertainty of your ability to fix any damage, hire a professional. Amateurs who have no idea what they're doing can cause more damage to the property than termites!
Not satisfied with the given information above? Visit this site to learn more about termites and how to deal with them.
