signs of termites
  • February 3, 2021
  • Effective Building
  • 0

If there’s a thing that should alarm every owner is the signs of termites in your property. Termites can enter and damage your home’s foundation, walls, and taint the image of your house. Unfortunately, termites can be unnoticed until they’ve caused real damage.

Spotting the termite infestation early in your home can prevent severe damage. Once you do this, you can consult a professional termite exterminator.

In this post, we will look at the 7 signs of termites on your property.

Detailed List of Signs of Termites

1. Damaged Woods

Damaged wood is one of the signs of the presence of termites in your home. Termites feed on wood, which leaves a unique pattern on the wood’s surface. This, in turn, makes the wood hollow and weak and causes expensive structural damage to your home.

It’s hard to spot damaged wood since the insects start feeding on the wood inside out. However, you may notice creaking or swaying wood, or find it hard to open some windows and doors. In some cases, the damaged wood may also crumble under pressure.

2. Termite Tubes

Subterranean termites usually build mud termite tubes across the surface to protect themselves from the environment.  Mud tubes are one of the most common signs of the termites’ presence.  Therefore, once you spot mounds or mud tubes in your home, you should know that there must be termites.

3. Hollow Sounding Timber

As mentioned in the first list, termites feed on the wood from the inside out, leaving a hollow-sounding timber. This means that the inside part of the wood has been chopped and eaten. This is one of the obvious signs of termites in your home. With a simple knock on your walls, you can hear the hollow sound.

4. Head Banging

The quiet clicking sounds from the walls or other wood parts of your home is another sure sign that you have termites in your home. Termites are known to shake their bodies and bang their heads against the wood to signal danger. On the other hand, the worker termites are noisy eaters which makes it easy for you to notice them.

5. Shredding of Swarmer Wings

Discarded swarming wings is one of the most common signs of termites in a particular area.  Swarmers are another term for winged adult termites. They act as the future queens and kings of a colony. Swarming termites shed their wings before finding a new nesting place. 

Therefore, when you notice discarded wings within your home, there is a possibility that has active termites in your home. However, you need to be keen on body type, wing length, and antennae as you may mistake them for flying ants.

6. Termite Droppings

Termite droppings are another sign of the insects in your home, especially in the case of drywood termites. This sign is usually seen every time there’s a termite inspection.

These are small and round-shaped particles. They may look like a mound of pepper scattered around the house. 

7. Hard to Open Doors and Tight Fighting Window Frames

The other sign of having termites in your house is stiff windows and warped doors. Termites produce moisture when feeding on the wooden door and window frames. This causes frames to warp, making it hard to open the doors. 

This sign alone doesn’t mean you have termites. However, if this is accompanied by other signs of termites, it can signal an infestation.

Final Thoughts on Signs of Termites

Termites can cause severe structural damages to your home if not spotted in time. However, with the signs that we have discussed above, you may be able to spot an infestation before it becomes too bad. You should check your home regularly for these signs. The more proactive you are, the better!

Worried that you have signs of termites in your home?

I’m sure you’ve heard the horror stories about those termites that can ruin your property. Termites can cause a lot of stress and cost to us. It’s difficult to manage a property if you have to deal with termites.

Luckily, there’s a termite exterminator who can pinpoint the infestation areas and do treatments. Before putting any treatments, a building and pest inspector will inspect it first. 

For more information about building inspection services, visit our Help Centre.

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About Elie Farah

Elie Farah is a Building Consultant with over 25 years of experience in the property industry. Elie has specialised knowledge in development acquisitions, blue-chip properties and inspections, as well as flood-affected and waterfront properties, heritage buildings, bushfire management and existing use rights.

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