Everyone loves the warm weather and enjoys it as much before the spring comes. But warm weather also welcomes unwanted visitors, especially for homeowners as warm temperature brings out pests like termites. Mostly, termite infestation is evident a few weeks after winter when these pests start forming new colonies.

Pest control has been helping homeowners in the United States protect their property from termites. Termite infestation damage can cost up to $5 billion worth of damage to homes each year. The good thing is termite prevention has been getting effective and cost-efficient for quite some time now. There are many things that homeowners should know about termite control and pest management, from the use of pesticides to kinds of stuff used in treating termites. You can’t simply buy chemicals and scatter or spray it around your home, but there are many dos and don’ts about pest management. Check out this list of what to do and not to do about termite treatments in the United States.

Do’s and Don’ts in Termite Prevention

Do Have your House Inspected Regularly

If termites once penetrated your home, you should have it check it regularly after you have exterminated the unwanted pest. Exterminating termites is not enough to assume that there will be no termite activity to exist again. Often, termites live in your house unknowingly as you can’t see them, and you can only find out when things are beginning to go wrong. So it won’t hurt to have your home inspected now.

Do Keep Your House and Garden Checked Regularly

If you already have dealt with termite extermination in the past, expect that they could infest your home again. If your home’s primarily made of woods, there is a possibility that termites will come back again after some time. To treat termites and prevent them to exist again, you should use redwood, cedar, or juniper. Termites cannot manifest these types of wood because of their taste and smell act as repellants. Make sure that you have removed all the dead woods in your backyard or around your house as they may invite termites. The same with tree stumps or leftover roots, they should be removed as soon as possible. Also, keeping the wooden parts of your house is the best way to keep the pests away from your property.

Don’t Use Outdoor Pesticides Indoors

Outdoor chemicals have specifications for outdoor use only, and there are reasons why you have to follow. It can be dangerous to health due to the high toxicity content, which can be harmful to the people living inside. The chemicals and pesticides intended for outdoor use are made up of toxic compounds, so the pest control professionals require homeowners to leave the house for at least 2-4 hours.

Don’t Cut Corners on Pest Control

If you are planning to exterminate the termite on your own, you should purchase the most effective product even if it may cost a lot. Most cheap products are not sufficient enough to totally exterminate the termites, so you may end up spending more as you have to apply pesticides more often than usual. Others would want to manage their own pest extermination while others ask help from the pest control operators. The areas of the house where moisture is likely to appear are prone to termite infestation and breeding ground. You have to select pesticides and chemicals that can seep more in-depth in the little cracks and spaces to ensure its effectiveness.

Don’t Expect All Pesticides Work on All Pests

Not all insecticides will work on termites. Commercial pesticides are usually designed to exterminate cockroaches, ants, mosquitoes, and flies, but not termites. Find formulas for termites treatment.

Prevent Subterranean Termites from Ruining Your Home

There are a lot of termite prevention tips and how to get rid of them once they start appearing in your homes. This two-part process of termite control prevents termites from getting into your home and treating subterranean termites colonies once you find their presence.

Methods to prevent termites from damaging your home:

• Have your home receive termite inspection from the experts regularly.
• Work with termite control experts to address conditions around your home like moisture identification, wood-to-ground contact, that attract termites.
• Know what deterrent termite treatment, direct wood treatment, and monitoring systems will most effectively work on the type of home’s composition and signs of infestation around and your neighborhood.
• Remove Access – seal gaps around water and gas lines, which can be used as an entry point. Also, remove some more entry points like mud tubes, minimize wood-to-ground contact, or treat the wood with termiticide to make it less attractive to termites. 
• Reduce Food Sources – do not store cellulose materials in or around your house if possible. Try to use cellulose-free options for landscaping mulch or move it away at least 6 inches from the foundation. The wood siding should have six-inch distance above the ground
• Reduce Excess Moisture – check for water that pools around the foundation of your home or on your roof. Fix leaking water lines, broken gutters, and air conditioner lines. Address moisture issues that can be usually found in the basement and crawl spaces.
• Monitor for Activity and Adopt Prevention Techniques – inspect lumber, especially the used ones before bringing or using them at your home or garden projects. Ask help from pest management professionals for recommendations like monitoring stations, liquid treatment, or direct wood treatment.

Conclusion

Termites feed and live in dead woods. So once you have previous issues with termite infestations, make sure to replace the infected parts. Once you have everything replaced, have your house inspected to ensure that your home is now termite free and to prevent them from appearing again. But you have to do it regularly, in case there will be new signs of termite infestations so that you can deal with it right away.

Trees, wood, decks made of lumber, mulch, and other fibrous materials attract termites. While they prefer to live in the woods, they can also live underground and burrow through the soil to look for new sites to invade when ground temperature changes from warm to cold, termites likely find a new area to live. The house’s foundation is the main entrance to your property because it is warm, moisture, and food; things termites need to thrive. Hence, it is a big help and advantage that you have the ideas on how to prevent termites from thriving.