Preventing A Termite Infestation From Occurring In Your Home

Termites are small winged insects that can cause a lot of damage to the wood areas in your home. They have been known to cause structural problems within homes and often if a home has a termite problem, it becomes difficult to sell because of how much extra work the buyer would have to do to fix the areas that were damaged. Here are some ideas for you to use to prevent termites from becoming a problem in your own home.

Prevention Is Key

Preventing your home from getting termites in the first place is ideal. Termites are attracted to water and to wood. You will need to try to be diligent in doing a few things that will keep termites from wanting to be in your home. By taking a few steps to make sure your home does not have items that termites are attracted to, you may be able to keep them from coming inside to nest in within your walls.

Removing Wood

If you have piles of newspapers or magazines, get them out of your home or put them inside tightly sealed plastic storage bins. Termites are attracted to paper products and the longer paper things are in the home, the more enticing they become. Paper is a product of wood, and aged paper is a perfect spot for termites to hide and graze.

If you have any wood piles outside of the home, move it to an area far from your house so that termites are not in the nearby area. Moist wood is a termite attraction and should be kept far away.

Removing Moisture

Remove any areas that have excessive moisture. If you have any water damage within the home, you will want to fix these areas so that they do not attract termites. Remove all wet wood and fix any plumbing problems that you may have within the house.

If you have any standing water in gutters, downspouts, kids swimming pools, or puddles, remove them so that they do not attract termites. Any standing water along a foundation is especially attractive to termites.

Calling For Help

Trying to remove termites by using sprays that you buy in a store will most likely not do an effective job in ridding your home of these pests. When dealing with a termite infestation, it is best to call an exterminator (such as one from http://cavanaughspest.com) to remove the problem for you. They will be able to use professional-grade pesticides, baits and traps that will get rid of the termites for good.