Termite Control

There are two types of homes: those that have termites & those that will have!

Subterranean termites cause approximately 5 billion dollars worth of damage every year and this damage is usually not covered by most home owners insurance. Annually termites do more damage than fires and floods combined.

The first evidence of a subterranean termite infestation may be the reproductives that are blackish grey with silver transparent wings and usually swarm in the spring through the summer months. Swarms are triggered by warmer temperatures and rainfall. They will drop their wings after a short flight, pair off to mate and return to the ground to begin a new colony. These reproductives are often mistaken for winged ants

Property owners may only see evidence of a swarm by finding the wings on a windowsill or near a heat or light source. Property owners sometimes believe they have destroyed the termites by spraying the swarmers with an over the counter insect spray. However, the ones you should be concerned about are the ones that cause structural damage to the property, which are the worker termites. Workers are cream or beige in color and are often hidden behind the walls, floor joists, insulation; they are not seen in the crawlspace because they can travel up through openings in foundation blocks.
 
Because you don’t see exploratory shelter tubes in your basement, garage, or crawlspace doesn’t mean you don’t have termites! Any foundation, including cinder block structures, metal wall studding, metal roofs, brick or stone foundations can be penetrated by subterranean termites that have a small settlement crack or expansion joint of .32 hundredths of an inch. Termites use this space to gain entrance to wood floors, paper from dry wall, floor joists, ceiling tile, furniture, books, certain fibers of carpet, etc. for cellulose which is their food source.

Worker subterranean termites re-enter the soil where the colony is located to feed the caste of the colony but the colony can also be located above ground if enough moisture can be obtained due to leaky roofs, gutter, or water line leaks within the interior of the structure.

Let Phillips’ professional inspectors provide an inspection and a treatment procedure customized for your property to guard against and prevent structural damage. Phillips can install in-ground monitors and baiting systems around property that may have inaccessible areas or areas that have too low a clearance to allow access for the treatment for subterranean termites.