If termites strike, they might not destroy your house immediately, but it will be a gradual decline over years of chewing through the wood until everything comes tumbling down. And nobody wants that.
Here are 10 tips to avoid termites:
1. Keep water away from your house
Wood loves moisture, and termites enjoy wood. If there is too much water around your house, it will be a great attraction for these pests. So don’t let any pools or ponds form near your foundation, and never leave hoses running as they tend to drip into the ground over time. Otherwise, you’ll have one big concrete termite magnet on your hands.
2 . Fill in those cracks!
Cracks are great passageways for termites to get into your home. They can also create an uneven surface that pests can chew through and find their way in overtime. Use some caulk and fill up all those unsightly gaps and holes around your windows and doors.
3 . Seal off any cracks in the foundation
It’s not enough to seal up the outside of your home; you need to do inside too. Make sure there are no holes or cracks along your foundation walls that termites can squeeze through. Look especially at where pipes and wires lead into the house a pest might try to follow them in!
4 . Keep trees and shrubs away from your house
Trees and shrubs should be kept back 25 feet from the sides of your home so they aren’t close enough to provide pests with an easy pathway.
5 . Don’t plant pest favorites near your house
We’ve already told you that termites love moisture, but they also enjoy the heat. Keep any trees or plants away from your home in a 50-foot radius to make sure pests don’t have a nice cozy place to lounge in the summer sun.
6 . Get rid of mulch around your home
Termites love mulch because it’s moist, dark, and crumbly- just like their favorite food: wood! Unfortunately, when pests get into mulch, there isn’t much you can do about it. The best solution is to get rid of it. If pests do find their way in, you’ll have a much easier time getting rid of them when there’s less mulch around to hide in.
7 . Don’t store wooden planks outside near your home
Termites love hiding in any nooks and crannies they can find, especially ones that are moist and dark- just like wood! Your backyard might look nice with some old planks stacked up against the house, but the pest will think it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet down at the docks…and then bam! They’re inside. So don’t stack anything right next to your foundation where pests could easily get in under the caulk won’t fix.
8 . Don’t leave firewood outside for pests to enjoy
Termites can live in wood, and pests love nothing more than a nice warm meal of insect larvae and termite poop…yum! If pests think there is plenty of food available inside your home, they’ll make themselves right at home. So don’t stack up those logs by the back wall or front door as the pest will be enjoying some delicious termite casserole before too long. You can store them upright behind the house somewhere far away from pest entry points.
9 . Cover items that cannot be stored indoors with plastic sheeting
So pests are in the mulch or you didn’t store your firewood far enough back. Now, these pests are inside your house and you’re wondering how the heck that happened. Well, termites use air currents to detect where they should go, so if pests see any openings near something like an old shed with cracks around it, the pest will make themselves right at home when they smell delicious wood. Use plastic sheeting to cover items like this to block pest entry points.
10 . Fix damaged window screens
Window screens are a great way for termites to get into your home without being detected! Make sure all of these screens close securely- pests are sneaky little critters. Not only that, termites can squeeze through cracks no wider than a dime! If termites get in this way, pests are probably hanging out near there so fix any damage before pests have time to get comfortable.
Conclusion
Pest prevention is key. The 10 tips we’ve given you today should be helpful in keeping pests away from your property whether that’s outside or inside the house! If termites do find their way into your home and you’re looking to get rid of them for good, call a termite expert. They’ll ensure pests don’t have a chance to come back by getting rid of termites once and for all.
Good luck pest warriors!