Say No to Termites This Winter! 4 Tips to Keep Infestations Away
In winter, you’re not the only one seeking to bundle up and stay out of the frigid temperatures. Pests such as termites are on the same mission, and one of the places that they’re likely to seek shelter is in and around your home. This would not be an issue if they didn’t come with the risk of damaging your property, specifically the wooden elements. That’s why you need to know the most effective ways to keep them away. Here are four of them!
1. Make Use of Pesticides and Repellents
One of the best ways to keep your home safe from termites is by making good use of pesticides. This is the most effective method in terms of spot treatment, but you run the risk of only getting rid of a few and not all of them. You can also apply repellents if there aren’t currently any that you can see because this is going to keep them away.
To get the best outcome from either of these methods, you should call a professional to get them done so that they can do a thorough job. Keep in mind that termites alone cost Americans an average cost of $5 billion in damage repair, according to HouseMethod. Treating your home against termite damage is going to be significantly cheaper than having to remedy the damage that they do to your property.
2. Reduce Vegetation Around Your Home
Another crucial tip that you can use is to cut back on vegetation around your house. When there’s dense plant cover around your property, you can be sure that there will be more potential hideouts for termites. It can take very little to have termites infest your house if they end up in a bush outside your property. Make sure that this is not a possibility for your home and ensure that yours is not, according to Consumer Affairs, one of the roughly 600,000 homes that get infested by termites each year.
3. Don’t Feed Them
Next, don’t feed the termites by placing wood within easy access to them, which is low on the ground. Try and elevate any wood that you must store outside your house along with the rest of the suggested measures. Keep in mind that stacking firewood 15 inches above the ground or on a solid platform can lower the risk of termite contamination, according to Carlsbad Current-Argus. Avoid storing other wood debris like lumber, newspapers, and cardboard boxes in crawlspaces or against the foundation of your house, since these are all materials that can attract termites.
4. Get Rid of Standing Water
Last but not least, make sure that there’s no standing water around your house, especially in proximity to your home’s foundation. That’s because termites are drawn to moisture, so they’re quite likely to infest soil that’s next to an area that stays moist. With this in mind, make sure that water is diverted to the drains where it will flow away from your house.
This should be done by making use of splash blocks and gutters as well as downspouts that function properly. Fix any leaking pipes and plumbing in general, grading the ground next to your home’s foundation so that surface water can drain away from the building more easily.
With these four tips, you can safeguard your house much better against termite infestations. Remember that prevention is always going to be a lot better than cure, since if you allow one to happen, you’re going to end up having to deal with both treatment and repairs to your property. That said, inspect your home to make sure that it’s safe against termites and that there aren’t any already attempting to crawl in.
