Six Easy-To-Spot Signs Of Termites In West Palm Beach

In our West Palm Beach pest control service area, termites are a serious threat for property owners. When they get into a home, they can feed on the wood for years and cause serious damage. The damage they do can be difficult or impossible to repair. 

There is nothing worse than finding out that the home you have spent your whole life paying off is filled with costly termite damage! Your home is part of your nest egg. It might even be your entire retirement plan. Let's take a look at six easy-to-spot signs termites may give you.

1. Swarmers

When termite swarmers appear in West Palm Beach, there is no doubt that there is a serious problem. In fact, this is often when we get a call. Hopefully, you don't wait till you see swarmers to protect your property. A termite nest doesn't immediately start to produce swarmers, it takes more than three years for this to happen. When these insects show up inside, it means the structure is already damaged.

While easy to recognize as a warning sign inside your property, you may not realize that swarmers are a warning sign when they appear on the outside as well. If you see hundreds, or thousands, of tiny black insects with white wings crawling on your property, you could have termite damage already.

Many termite species will create nests in the ground outside of the properties they are feeding on. When they release their swarmers, they don't typically come out of the nests inside of a home. This only happens when a nest is very close to a structure, or when they are Formosan subterranean termites or drywood termites.

Be on the lookout for swarmers. These are the characteristics to look for:

• 1/2 of an inch long
• Black or dark orange
• Four long white wings that stack on top of each other
• The wings hang far over the end of the insect
• The wings are rounded at the tips

2. Shelter Tubes

Subterranean termites are far more destructive than drywood termites. One reason they are so destructive is that they are far more difficult to detect. When these wood-destroying pests attack your West Palm Beach Property, this might be the only warning sign you get until it is too late. It is a good idea to do a routine and detailed inspection of your home. Look for thin mud tunnels going from the ground to the wood of your property. These mud structures may look like an upside-down chain lightning bolt pattern or like a river splitting.

While it is possible to find these shelter tubes in exposed locations, this is rare. It is more likely that you'll find them under your deck or in a crawl space. Termites workers create these tubes in dark, hidden locations.

3. Damage

It is a good idea to do yearly inspections of your home and look for changes. If wood begins to deteriorate, termites could be the issue. Inspect door and window frames in particular. If wood begins to splint, bulge, or indent, these problems bear further investigation.

4. Workers

It is very difficult to see workers, but you might if you know where to look. Worker termites are tiny pale insects that are sometimes mistaken for white ants. If you chop into a stump, log, or some other source of wood in your yard and you find trenches with these insects crawling around inside, it is definitely time to call a termite control professional.

5. Sounds

When termites get into your home, you might hear them. This sound can be described as clicking noises or a rustling sound. The noise you're hearing is the sound of soldier termites banging their heads against tunnel walls to warn other termites of a threat, but this is rare.

6. Frass

Frass is a material produced by drywood termites. These are termites that target hardwood and push their hard droppings out of tiny kickout holes. The droppings are dry and hard and may look like sawdust.