How To Tell If Your Austin Property Has Termites

Do you know that you can have a million termites in your yard and not know it? It's true. Subterranean termites are tiny insects that live under the ground and hide from view. And when they start to get into your home, they continue to stay hidden. This is because subterranean termites need to stay hydrated. When they leave their tunnels, they dry out and die. This is important to understand if you want to uncover evidence of termite activity on your Austin property. This is where we are going to start our discussion today.

1. Inspect Your Yard

If you know that termites live in the ground and that they prefer to feed on wood, you have an idea where you can find them in your yard. It is possible that you've already detected them and didn't realize it. Termite workers are about ⅛ of an inch long. If you pick up a dead branch and see tiny bugs that seem to crawl into the cracks of the branch and disappear, you might think that those small bugs were maggots. But maggots don't have legs. Those wood-loving, maggot-like bugs are actually termites. Here are a few places you might find them if you inspect your yard.

Underneath stacked wood used for campfires and cookouts, branches collected in the yard, scrap wood from a construction project, mulch around your perimeter, leaf piles, and other organic debris.
In the soil around or inside stumps, logs, and trees that have heart rot.
In the soil at the base of wooden fence posts, wood supports on your deck, and wood-to-soil contact on your shed.

2. Inspect Structures

If termites are inside a wooden fence, shed, deck, or the wood inside your home, there are a few ways you may be able to detect them. Termites shield themselves from the drying effects of the air by patching up tunnel breaches with mud, and by creating structures called shelter tubes. If you don't know what a shelter tube is, it is basically an above-ground tunnel made of soil and termite saliva. The presence of mud on wood, or the establishment of mud tunnels on any surface, are an indication of termite activity within. Here are a few locations to inspect.

Dark voids underneath decks, porches, and patios are a good place to start looking for mud patches and shelter tubes. These spaces can be dark and humid, which are conducive conditions for termite activity. If you have areas that are beginning to rot, termites will be even more attracted.
The surface of your foundation walls or slab. Termites will construct shelter tubes and use them to go from the ground to the wood of your home. Areas of high humidity, such as between landscaping and your walls, or where the ground is saturated due to a clogged gutter system, are good locations to inspect first.
On interior basement walls and in dark spaces within your home. Shelter tubes don't just appear on the outside.

3. Swarmers

The most obvious warning sign of a termite infestation is not a sign that you'll typically find during an inspection. When a termite nest matures, it will begin to release male and female winged termites. These are called swarmers because they gather together in a swarm to mate with each other. If swarmers emerge on the inside of your property, you won't have to wonder if you have an infestation. Unfortunately, they are most likely to emerge outside. This is because most subterranean termites create their nests outside, under the ground. Therefore, this is a sign you need to be on the lookout for when you're in the yard.

Swarmers are black or orange.
A swarmer has wings that stack on its back, and are round at the tips.
The wings of a swarmer are white.
Swarmers are about ⅜ of an inch long.

4. Wings

A termite swarm doesn't last for more than 30 minutes. Swarmers can appear and disappear before you see them in your yard. But, during the mating process, termite swarmers shed their wings. You may find these wings on the ground, on surfaces, or in spider webs on your property.

5. Damage

It is rare to see termite damage, except in areas where it is dark and damp. The vast majority of the damage termites cause is on the inside of wood. What property owners typically see for damage is actually the results of termite damage, such as:

Floors beginning to sink down
Doors and windows not closing
Windows opening and closing without any resistance
Walls bulging
Ceilings sagging down

Professional Inspections In Austin

It can be difficult to detect termites. If you'd like assistance, reach out to White Knight Pest Control. Our technicians are highly trained and experienced termite control professionals. We can help you find termite activity and solutions to help you protect your Austin property from termite damage.

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