Attacking termite damage
An infestation of termites can be a real danger for your home because they can eat the structure of your house. Termites love wood and they will eat it until you will address the actual cause. The useful solution would be to exterminate all insects using different methods.
Necessary tools and materials:
- Termite bait
- Drill
- Replacement wood
- Hammer
- Epoxy filler
- Nails
- Paint
- Borate
How to find the termites
Mud tunnels can be a starting point and you can look for them close to the soil around your home. Some species of termites live inside the wood but most of them can be found near the ground. These termites are subterranean.Your best shot against them is to find their nest and destroy it and this way you will stop their damages.
The preparations
It’s not indicated at all to use pesticides that will make the termites to get out of their nest and directly into your home. Also, to kill them one by one will take you ages because there are millions of them. Your best chance is to destroy them with some poison because it’s much better than to fumigate your house. The next steps will indicate you how to poison the insects.
Using termite baiting
In order to be effective, termite baits have to be used in high numbers and placed at the entrance of the mud tunnels and in the termite pathways in order to poison the workers. You never have to combine pesticides with the bait because this will cancel the effect of the poison. The bait has to be eaten for at least two weeks and then you have to make some regular inspections to see if there is still some termite activity. If you still see termites walking around your home, use more bait in order to exterminate them for good. When you know for sure they are all killed, you can start to fix your home.
Fixing the damages
All wood pieces that have been damaged need to be replaced. In case of small damages, you can easily fix them with some epoxy filler. You have to use new wooden parts in case of damaged wood and cover them with borate products to be sure they will not be attacked again in the future. This has to be done to all wooden structures, all around your home.
When all the damage has been fixed, you have to paint the wood in order to protect it from any other attacks. If the wood will be in direct contact with the soil, it’s better to replace it with a cement base because this way you will prevent wetting and rotting. Don’t let any rotten wood because it can easily become an access point for termites.