How Often Should I Get My Home Inspected for Termites?

Even if you think your new or clean home will never get termites, it’s still important to get regular termite inspections. Neglecting to do so can become a costly mistake if you get an infestation, which ends up being much more costly than investing in routine inspections. To effectively protect your you and your family from the frustration of termites, it is highly recommended to sign up for annual inspections.

Can I Inspect My Own Home for Termites?

While you should always have an experienced and trained pest expert thoroughly inspect your home each year, there are several things to keep an eye out for between visits to lessen your chance of an infestation. Several things that may signal a termite problem include:

• Mud tubes: Finding these mud highways in soil near a wood source around your home is a likely sign you have termites.
• Discarded wings: After establishing a new colony, swarmers will shed their wings. Seeing a pile of wings means there’s a good chance termites are nearby.
• Excrement: Also known as frass, termite droppings look like little wood pellets that are the size of coffee grounds.
• Damaged wood: One of the most indicative signs of termites is hearing a hollow sound after knocking on wood that’s suspected to be infested.
• Bubbling paint: While this is often traced back to water damage, it’s certainly reason enough to get a professional who can accurately locate the source of bubbling or peeling paint.

Annual Termite Inspections For New Homes

It doesn’t matter how new or old your home is: all property owners should invest in regular inspections. Even if you are living in a brand new home, you could still be susceptible to termites and you certainly don’t want your new house threatened by these wood-boring insects! Ideally, all homeowners should get inspected once a year. Older homes do tend to be more at risk for termites, making it absolutely essential to not only stay vigilant about inspecting your home yourself on a regular basis but also get a professional’s opinion every single year.

What Does a Professional Do During an Inspection?

A pest control expert can thoroughly inspect for all of the aforementioned signs of termites in your home, but they are trained to find the smaller, less noticeable signs of termites as well. Because of their experience, they are often able to locate the earliest signs of termites, which is essential to keeping an infestation at bay. A clean termite inspection report is a wonderful feeling, but it doesn’t mean you’ll be termite-free forever! Annual inspections can help protect you and your family from ever dealing with the costly expenses of a full-blown infestation.