If you own residential or commercial property in a warm to hot country, them I am certain that you have heard of the risk of termite damage. However, do you know which signs of termite damage to look out for? Do you know how quickly you can go from not having a problem to having a large infestation? And do you know how long it will take a major infestation of some termites, notably the Formosan termites, to make your property dangerous?

If you are not aware of the answer to these questions, then you have two options, either to learn quickly or hire in an expert. In regions of termite activity, it is suggested that every property is inspected at least once a year. There are about fifty species of termites in the USA, so it is not an easy task to identify which species you have.

Having said that, subterranean termites are the worst and the Formosan subterranean termites are the most awful of that bad bunch. They can live in colonies of between several hundred and several million and if a million Formosans choose to dine on your house, then you will have to react very quickly indeed.

Of course, you do not want to lose your own building to a termite infestation, but neither do your neighbours, so you have a moral obligation to eradicate any termite colonies on your property. So, why should you suspect that you have a termite problem?

Since termites eat wood, amongst other things, the best thing to do is look for timber damage around your house. The basement is a good place to start. Do not be concerned about what type of timber, inspect it all, since there are termites that like dry wood, termites that like damp wood and termites that will consume anything.

If you suspect that a length of timber has or is being eaten, use a screwdriver gently to try to break it open. if you see white insects that look like ants, you have termites. Sometimes, flying termites swarm too., but so do ants.

Termites are white because they rarely see the sun, they do not like light, so they build so-called galleries to walk through. These galleries can be through a length of timber or they might use chewed wood to build galleries leading to where they want to go. For, example pencil-like galleries may hang off the underside of your floorboards to the ground or be attached to concrete walls.

These tube-like galleries can be abandoned or active. Snap a few and see. If they are brittle they have been deserted, but that does not mean that the termites have gone.

Sometimes, the tubes are made of soil and this is a very bad sign, because it means you have subterranean termites, probably under your house. If you knock these galleries off the walls, they will leave marks called etchings, which will be evidence of termite activity until the house is knocked down, for anyone who knows what they are looking at.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on lots of subjects, but is at present concerned with Termidor termite treatment – a termite killer. If you are interested in this or if you are wondering: What Does A Termite Look Like?. Please go to our web site now for further details.