Things That Attracts Termites to Your Home

This page is general DIY guide that will help to inform you of the reasons termites are infesting your homes. By using the recommended products and methods you can ensure complete removal and prevent future reinfestations.

Its a common understanding that with the warmer months like late spring and summer comes termites and their activities. However, like most homeowners you want to avoid anything that can damage your home.

For that reason, it is beneficial for new or current homeowners to learn how to avoid attracting these destructive pests to their property. Limiting these attractants can prevent or reduce costly home repairs and termite damage.

Read on to learn what causes termites to infest your property so you can keep them from invading or returning to your yard and home in the future. Our DIY guide below, will help to eliminate these attractants through professional products or professional advice to effectively control termites within an appropriate time frame.

Wood Piles and Rotting Wood

Termites are particularly attracted to yards containing dead trees, stumps, dampened wood, decaying wood such as fence posts or outside interior of home, and piles of firewood since their diet depends on wood and moisture. Termites are flying pests that live in nests underground and lay their eggs near or underneath these wood sources.

Place movable wood sources several feet away from your home to avoid termites coming into contact with your home. For properties that are not large enough to do this you can put concrete slabs or metal stands to raise the wood piles from the ground.

For tree stumps or other decaying wood, you will need to remove completely off your yard.

Moisture

Termites like dampwood or Formosan termites desperately depend on moisture to help them digest their food.

Be sure to examine parts of your property where there is standing water or exposed to some levels of moisture such as pipes, underneath your homes foundation or porch, air conditioning vents, rain gutters, window and door frames.

Repair any leaky pipes or plumbing you find around your home and seal cracks or crevices in and around your home with caulk. Direct any drains and rain gutters away from your homes foundation to reduce moisture in these areas.

Mulch and Shrubbery to Close to Home

Landscaping is ideal for any home, but try to avoid placing flower beds, ornamental plants or shrubs, and mulch near the foundation.

Mulch and flower beds provide the essential food and water source that termites need to survive. Since termites feast on wood, the wood chippings in mulch help to provide a source of food. Additionally, mulch creates a damp, dark environment for termites and their larvae to survive in.

Ideally, mulch and flower beds should be kept several feet away from the foundation of your home. In addition, you may want to consider using materials that termites cannot ingest such as gravel in between the spaces of your flower bed or landscaping areas.

If you find that termites have already begun to inhabit these areas you will need to dig a trench around your home that is 6 inches deep and 6 inches wide. Next, you will apply a termiticide such as Taurus SC Termiticide and pour directly into the trench after mixing. A standard mixing application is 0.8 fl. oz. of product per gallon of water in a bucket up to 4 gallons to treat 10 linear feet per foot of depth.

Once your trench treatment has been completed you can continue to monitor these areas with Red Eye Termite Monitoring Stations. These products will alert you to termite activity and attract these pests with its high cellulose attractant. When they feed the red eye will disappear and alert you there is subterranean termite activity. Once termites activity has been confirmed, you can apply a termiticide like FiPro Foaming Aerosol and inject it into the station. This will allow for a deeper penetration with the termiticide and directly come into contact with the subterranean termites.

Heavy Brush and Growth Around Your Home or Structures

Besides creating an unpleasant appearance in your property, overgrown brush or shrubbery can attract a series of pests like termites. Overgrown foliage can create shadows or moisture from their extended leaves and branches, which attracts termites and their colonies.

For large trees and shrubbery near your home, their branches or leaves may touch parts of your home such as the roof. The fallen branches, leaves, and parts of foliage touching your home creates a pathway for termites to migrate from their home to your home. To avoid this, make sure to remove any fallen branches, leaves, and wooden debris.

You will also need to trim away any tree branches hanging over your roof and any shrubbery any that is to close to your home or structures foundation.

Maintain your lawn with the appropriate lawn care maintenance such as mowing. Mow your turf when it exceeds 3 inches in height and use a pair of hedge trimmers to remove undesired growth such as small branches near the base of trees and shrubs.

Light and Light Fixtures

From late spring (mid-April) to summer (July), subterranean termites will swarm at day or after rainfall to search for a new home and breeding site. Often swarms of termites will be attracted to your property due to artificial light sources such as porch lights, street lamps near your home, or other light fixtures.

Other species of termites such as Formosan or Drywood will swarm at night or late-evening, especially around light emitting from your porch lamp, windows, doors, or other outdoor hanging light fixtures.

When the temperatures and seasons are just right, you will want to begin turning off your porch or other outdoor light fixtures when not in use. Secure your windows with shade-resistant curtains that can block out light from outside and inside your home.

Key Takeaways

What Causes Termites to Infest Your Home or Property?

• Termites are attracted to your property when there is an excess of moisture from overgrown foliage, rainfall, or other conditions such as home ventilation or leaky pipes. Woodpiles or wood that has become soft from deterioration such as dead trees or dampened bark from rainfall. Mulch or flowerbeds to close to your homes foundation which can create ideal living conditions or allow easy penetration into the soil surrounding your home. Like other flying pests, termite swarms will be attracted to exterior light sources such as porch lights or street lights.

What Products help to Prevent Termite Infestations?

• We recommend using termiticide products such as Supreme IT, Red Eye Monitoring Station, and FiPro Foaming Aerosol. Each one of these products go hand-in-hand with each other and must be applied after a trench treatment is performed.

How to Prevent Termite Infestations

• Seal any holes, cracks, or voids surrounding your homes foundation with caulk. Repair any moisture leaks in the structure of your home and ensure that ventilation is not producing increased moisture around your windows, ac vents, or doors. Remove all vegetation and wood debris from around your home and if they cannot be moved place them on concrete slabs or metal structures. Ensure that all wood to ground contact around the structure of your home has at least a 3 inch visible gap between the soil and wood.