What To Do About Termites On Your Houston Property

Termites are wood-eating insects that can damage and even destroy your house by eating the wooden parts. Termites come in different castes: Swarmers, Soldiers, and Workers. Swarmers are male and female termites with wings. They are very small, 3/8th inch long, dark-colored, and usually go on their mating flight in early spring. They then shed their wings and get busy starting a new nest.

Soldiers protect the nest and the worker termites. They have a large pair of pincers on their head. They are pale yellow with dark brown pincers. The third caste is workers. They are pale yellow and do the work of the nest, getting food and bringing it back to the nest. Sometimes termites are confused with ants. Ants have a waist and termites do not.

Termites Cause Expensive Damage

Every year, termites cause billions of dollars in structural damage. United States home and business owners pay over $5 billion yearly on termite issues. Termites are not something you want to mess around with.

DIY Termite Treatments

Research treating termites in Houston yourself on the internet and you will come up with all sorts of treatments. Some of them are discussed below.

Heat can actually be effective, but only if you can get a room and the wood hot enough. You have to get the room up to 120-140 F for at least 35 minutes to cook the termites. That level of heat is hard to achieve without accidentally starting a fire. It requires special equipment to heat a room to eliminate a termite infestation.
Orange Oil is supposed to break down bed bug exoskeletons and kill bed bug eggs. A research study by DowAgraSciences says this only works 77% of the time. A treatment that leaves 33% of the termites is useless. The nest will just grow more termites again. Not to mention Orange Oil does not kill subterranean termites at all.
Wet cardboard traps are thought to attract termites. As they start feeding, you destroy the cardboard trap and the termites. Well, the queen does not leave the nest to eat, and neither do the eggs or nymphs. This treatment method just doesn’t work because it only strikes down a few workers.
Sunlight is supposed to kill termites on furniture and portable wood products. This doesn’t get hot enough to kill termites.
Diatomaceous earth, boric acid, and beneficial nematodes can kill termites, but it is almost impossible to get them to the termites in quantities large enough to kill every termite in the nest.

Over-the-counter pesticides cannot treat every area of wood in your house. Just like these other remedies, any missed termites are a problem that will just expand with time.

Prevention Of Termites

There are things you can do to try to prevent termites. Here are some suggestions.
Move firewood away from the house and put it away so that it is not touching the soil.
Repair any leaks or moist spots inside and outside of the house.
Keep mulch six inches from the foundation.
Keep trees and shrubs pruned back so they do not touch the house or hang over it.
Make sure soil is not in contact with wood.
Keep the posts for porches, decks, etc. on concrete blocks or on concrete.

Get Professional Help For Termites

Termites are tough to get rid of. You need professional help. Contact Modern Pest Control and we will send a trained technician to your house to do a free inspection. If we find termites, we will put out Sentricon® stations at precise intervals around the outside of your house. This bait will attract termites. When they feed on the bait, they take it back to the nest. As more and more workers take the bait, they share it, and termites start dying. Eventually, the whole nest dies out. Call Modern Pest Control today at (281) 214-8066 and get rid of your termites.