Termite Facts & Tips

Termites are found in every state in the USA. Hawaii has the highest concentration of infestation with 15.1% of the houses being victims. Georgia tops the list in the continental US, where 5.5% of residential homes are affected. The national average is 2.3%. It has been said that there are two types of homes in the USA: Those with termites and those that will have them.

The termites love to live in warm, moist soil. Because we heat our houses in the wintertime,termites will construct underground networks that enable them to eat at these heated restaurants year round.

Termites construct airtight mud tunnels when they have to leave the soil to get to a food source.These mud tunnels are thin (about the size of a cocktail straw). The mud tunnels will be attached to concrete or concrete block walls, over and around metal termite barriers, plastic, etc. Believe it or not, they can actually construct these mud tunnels as free standing structures from the ground to a wood food source!

Termites will eat wood or anything made from wood. My sister had an infestation in her house.The termites found her boxes of Christmas decorations. They ate the cardboard boxes, some wrapping paper and other cardboard decorations! They have even invaded steel commercial buildings. What might they eat there? Well, the paper on the drywall, of course! A major international corporation with headquarters in Cincinnati had a major infestation in their new steel and granite buildings not too long ago. It seems that termites had some deep nests in the ground below the old buildings that were torn down to make room for the new buildings.

Houses built of concrete or on concrete slabs are inviting targets. Termites can enter a house through tiny cracks, 1/64th of an inch! They can also enter along side of pluming pipes or where underground wires enter a house. Any place a wood wall sits on top of concrete can be a problem as well. Treated lumber doesn't always stop termites. They will build a mud tunnel right over the treated lumber to get to the regular 2x4 or 2x6's.

If you are building a new home, and can't obtain the new system, give serious consideration to pretreating your house with the barrier type chemicals. Newer, safer chemicals are now used that will work until such time as the monitoring system is available in your location. Pretreatment is quicker that treating after a house is built. It is also more effective and costs less. Simply tell your builder about this before any concrete slabs are poured.

Need more info? Go to the National Pest Management Association Web site. (http://www.pestworld.org).

Author's Note: We've received other emails with similar problems or questions. Here's one from Aaron S. of Los Angeles, CA, regarding termite fumigation.

"My house was fumigated for termites covered with a tent etc. After removing the tent two days later, we entered our house but there was no odor of gas at all.  A while later, we saw insects, spiders, roaches etc. moving around. The fumigation company claims that they mix a substance with the gas so that it will not have an odor. My question: Shouldn't there be a gas odor and dead insects? We can't see the termites inside the wall, but we feel that if all the insects are still alive, probably the termites are not dead either. Please, let us hear you opinion. Thank you very much!"

Doing a little online checking, the chemical used during termite fumigation is targeting only termites. It will not kill spiders, ants, bed bugs or cockroaches. So Aaron, you may still see other insects moving around.