As a homeowner, the last thing you want to learn is that termites have infested your property. Tunneling deep within the wood, these destructive pests are hard to detect until they have spread all over, by which point they will have severely weakened the structure of your house. Only through reliable, effective termite control can you hope to keep these insects at bay and preserve your property from serious, dangerous damage. Senske offers this pest control to families all over the American West. Operating in Salt Lake City, Seattle, Boise, and Las Vegas, we stop pests in their tracks, limiting the risk to your property and your loved ones.
Why Termites Are a Serious Threat
To understand just how severe a threat termites present, consider how heavy your house is. According to a 2004 estimate, the average house ranges from 80,000 to 160,000 pounds in weight, not including the weight of the floor slabs and foundation. Much of this weight is in the roof and upper walls, meaning that the structure of your home must be extremely strong and resilient to keep you safe. Even a minor threat to your home’s structural integrity puts you and your family in serious danger.
Termites are more than a minor threat. They consume the wood in your walls and support beams from the inside out, gradually eating away at it until it has little strength left. The longer this goes on, the greater the chance that your house could collapse. Even if you catch it in time to save the building itself, you will need to make difficult and expensive repairs to salvage the house’s structural integrity. It is critical that you eliminate termites as soon as you find them.
The first step to effective termite control is to catch the bugs at an early stage. Whether subterranean termites or drywood termites, you should, therefore, look out for the telltale signs of a termite infestation, including:
Termite Swarms- Adult termites may swarm inside or near your house, giving you a clue that they and their young are inside your wood. To identify them, look for dark brown bugs with two pairs of wings that are equal to each other in size. They are especially likely to swarm during the fall and the spring; if you see them indoors, odds are that a termite infestation is already underway.
Tubes of Mud- When termites move from the soil into your home, they build tubes of dried mud to protect themselves from the weather. If you notice such tubes around the foundational sections of your house, that suggests termites have gotten inside. Even a few tubes are cause for alarm and quick, decisive action.
Wood Damage- Although termites tend to operate in the interior parts of your home, you can still tell if they are thereby periodically checking the strength of the wood. Simply press the end of a screwdriver against pieces of wood and see whether it’s easy to break open. If you can, that means termites have weakened it. Do this periodically in areas of your home that are vulnerable to termite infestation, such as the window sills, support posts, wooden porch areas, and wood in your basement or crawl space.
Termite damage is serious business. Once you detect these pests, the next step is to order pest control as quickly as possible. Senske is happy to provide such treatments for all homes in Salt Lake City, Utah and beyond.
How Senske Applies Termite Treatments
When performing pest control in Salt Lake City, Utah and other Western communities, Senske begins by inspecting your home in depth. We determine every area where termites are entering or infesting your property, and then begin applying termite control products. Depending on the extent of the infestation and the configuration of your home, we may administer these pesticides through baiting or liquid application. We don’t stop the treatments until we are sure your home is safe from termites.
Besides eliminating existing infestations, we can protect your home against future ones. Through regular inspections and preemptive termite treatments, we prevent these pests from ever making it into the wood. This saves you from future treatments, repairs, and worries.
Major Cities for Termite Treatment
In addition to Salt Lake City, Utah, Senske offers termite treatments in countless other communities across the American West. These include Seattle, Washington; and Boise, Idaho, along with all of the suburbs and towns that neighbor these cities. No matter where you are or how severely your home has been infested, we will always be available to get rid of termites once and for all.
To get a free estimate or learn more about keeping your home termite- and pest-free, contact Senske in your area today.