Termites Did What?!

We all know termites are bad and can have an insatiable appetite. They can devastate a home in a matter of months. But what exactly do they leave behind as they eat, and why does that become so dangerous?

While doing a demo of an 80-year-old house in February, we found a floorboard and part of a post that had been ravaged by those home doomers.

The holes you see are former tunnels and paths of destruction from hungry termites. One hole may not be bad, but the number of holes that accumulates can severely weaken the integrity and structure of a board.

This is what the holes look like from a tear-away perspective. You can see by drilling in their multiple tunnels, it makes the board flakey and feels as dense as cardboard. With the inside of the wood planks now exposed to the elements, it becomes only a matter of time until the moisture sets in and starts rotting.

Michael F. Potter, Extension Entomologist

University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, suggests:

1. Eliminate wood in contact with the ground.

2. Do not let moisture accumulate near the foundation.

3. Reduce moisture and humidity in crawl spaces.

While it may sound obvious to you, we see it more often than we like, where a previous contractor didn't use treated wood and/or made an error while building an add-on to a house by building with a direct connection to the dirt. Besides loads of other problems this will create later on, it is an open invitation for termites. Avoid these buggers. Hire professionals from concept to construction to the upkeep of your home.

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