What Causes Termites In The House? Did you know that termites can cause thousands of dollars worth of damage per year in a house? The wood-eating insects, which are almost undetectable, have a destructive impact on your property.
They are so tiny that you can’t notice them when they are in small groups. To detect them you have to wait until they grow in size and breed new generations, becoming a numerous colony.
Once they become large and many, they start to slowly destroy your house’s wood infrastructure. But how to prevent an invasion of termites? Well, to know how to prevent an infestation, you have to understand first what causes termites.
Find below a list of things of what causes termites in the house:
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Moisture is essential for termites to survive. So if you have moist places or some unreported plumbing leaks, chances are you will soon end up with new guests. The longer the pool of water remains on the floor, the higher the risk of getting termites.
That’s why you have to suction up all moist spots and repair leaks to stop pests from emerging and thriving.
If you asked a termite what is the most delicious food it has ever tried, it would answer wood. Termites are crazy in love with cellulose which they find in wood items around your house. It is an ingredient without which they wouldn’t survive.
That’s why they desperately search for it everywhere. If your house has timber foundations, the risk of a termite infestation grows. Termites are also fans of eating away at expensive furniture. So the more wood furniture you have in your house, the more attractive it is for these tiny pests.
Try to minimize as much as possible the wood items in your home. If a colony of termites has arrived in your house, keep them hungry to convince them to go away. Yet, if they have already managed to assault a piece of furniture, take it out and expose it to sunlight. Termites can’t tolerate heat and thus they will die in 2-3 days.
Termites are sensitive to temperatures. They like only warm places and can’t tolerate hot or cold environments. That’s why they never escape the chance to set up a camp in warm houses. They also search for warm places to ensure their eggs enjoy a favorable environment to develop properly.
Termites love dark places. They will never stay in a visible place in your house. They will rather choose a shady environment to thrive and enjoy their cellulose feast. They can settle behind wardrobes, cabinets, under the sink and stove, or in the baseboard holes.
The fact that termites hate the light and don’t show off on walls during the day may seem like good news. However, this actually makes it harder for homeowners to identify and exterminate them. You have to remove the furniture and appliances to reach out to the termite camp.
All of the above-mentioned factors would have no value, without the existence of this one. You can have lots of wood furniture, moist and dark areas, and still not suffer from termite infestation. Even if termites felt the cellulose smell, they wouldn’t be able to eat it, if they don’t have a way to access it.
The major cause of termites is the state of disrepair of the house. The pests arrive in the house via foundation cracks, wall hallowness, baseboard holes, floor gaps and other faulty structures.
To impede unwelcome guests from arriving, you have to renovate the house by sealing all the gaps and cracks. In this way, you block the access for them and leave them outdoors. Keep a sharp eye for each microscopic hole to ensure tiny insects never come back.
Despite being the favorites of termites, moisture, wood, warmth, and darkness are not necessarily the causal factors of an invasion. They just create a favorable environment for the arriving termites to thrive and breed further in your house.
The main factor causing an invasion is the cracks and gaps in the house structure that allow the pests to get inside. By sealing all possible access points, you will make sure the tiny wood-eating monsters would never visit your house.
