Simple Steps to Perform Your Own Termite Inspection

Suspect your home has been invaded by termites?

We’re going to share with you a few simple tips to perform your own termite inspection. All you need are some coveralls, a pair of gloves, a strong torchlight and a handy screwdriver to open tiny cracks. This will help you perform a thorough search so you can take necessary actions.

Important point to note: If at any point of time you’re not confident or suspect the infestation is more than you can handle, seek a professional termite control specialist for help.
 

Start with an Exterior Search

The sighting of winged termites is the first indicator of a potential termite problem. While there are 3 castes of termites (workers, soldiers, and alates) only the alates caste are equipped with wings for flight.

The alates caste is sexually developed and their role is to swarm and breed new colonies. The male and female species will congregate in the air to mate with termites of other colonies. After which, they’ll shed their wings, marking the start of a new colony.

Begin by looking around your house for signs of shed termite wings. If the colony has already developed and grown for some time, we have to take your inspection up a notch and search for their favourite mode of transportation. Mud tubes.

The subterranean termite, as their name implies, will build these tubes that links directly from their nests to a food source. You know for sure you have a termite problem when you spot these tubes in and around your home.

But remember, there are other ways for termites to travel. So even if you don’t see these mud tubes around, it doesn’t mean you don’t have a termite problem.
 

Searching the Interior

Unfortunately, you won’t spot termites crawling around in the open as they prefer travelling through tunnels. This makes your search more difficult without proper equipment. As a professional pest control company in Singapore, we have thermal imaging technology to help us track their heat signatures. Not only that, we are able to provide very effective termite baiting strategies for a complete eradication of the pest.

This lets us easily spot termites crawling in problem areas like concrete slabs, window sills, cracks around the house, and the difficult to reach areas. But even if you don’t have access to such technology, you can still do a basic check to determine if you have a termite infestation problem before engaging a pest exterminator.

Using your screwdriver and a strong flashlight, examine areas close to any wooden structure or possible wooden food source for termites. You may want to check for any damaged window area or doors and also pipes in the toilet. This is where your screwdriver will come in handy to open tiny cracks so that you can shine your torchlight to look for mud tubes hidden within these areas or for any signs of termites.
 

Things to Note

Before engaging in these self-inspection activities, it would be wise to employ appropriate safety measures and cautions as these activities may involves lifting and moving of heavy furniture. You may also need to crawl to access difficult-to-reach areas and remain in this awkward position for extended period of time while looking for signs of the termites infestation.

If ever in doubt, always seek the advice of a professional pest management team.