Termites can cause thousands of dollars worth of damage to your home. One of the best ways to prevent termites is with period inspections by a termite professional. Keeping termites away from your home is paramount but if termites are detected, treating them immediately will reduce the chance of costly termite damage repairs.
How To Prevent Termites
The climate in San Diego is prime for termites and both subterranean and drywood termites have been found throughout the county. Preventing termites with an experienced, trained eye is key. For the initiated, spotting termite damage can be challenging. Frass, also known as termite droppings, can accumulate around colonies. Mud tubes are also clear signs of termites and are created using dirt from the ground and moisture from the termites.
- Eliminate Their Water Source: Prevention measures start with moisture. Termites need water to live. Therefore, it is essential to eliminate any sources of water or water accumulation. Leaky pipes, clogged drains, standing water and poor drainage can all be breeding grounds for termites. Since termites are small, they don’t need a lot of water to support a colony.
- Remove any Excess Wood Outside: Like step one, eliminating their food source and making your home as inhospitable for termites as possible is key. Excess building materials, wood storage, or garden planters should be relocated far away from your home. Also storing wood in sealed or elevated storage containers (not made out of wood) is ideal. Think concrete slabs or metal supports.
- Mulch is Bad: This seems like a no brainer but, wood mulch is as much food as other pieces of wood. Soft wood, dirt and moisture create the perfect breeding ground for termites. If mulch is near your foundation, it’s only one step away from getting to your home. Ditch the mulch!
- Reduce Clutter and Keep a Clean Garden: Mow your lawn, weed your garden and keep a generally uncluttered environment around your house. Stone gravel or pine straw are the least hospitable areas for termites since they are not food sources and do not offer protection from predators. This is also good practice for general pest control.
- Get Periodic Checkups from Termite Professionals: Sometimes following steps 1-4 simply isn’t enough. Given the great climate in San Diego, termites love living here as much as we do! Unless you live in a stone castle, the reality is that termites want to find a way into your home. Fortunately, routine checkups and localized, immediate treatments can stop termites before getting out of hand. Our routine termite checks can save you thousands in termite repairs.
Termite Prevention Treatment Options
So you’ve detected termites on your property. Fortunately there are great, minimally invasive termite prevention treatment options to stop colonies from spreading. A localized heat treatment for termites is great for attics or crawl spaces. The benefit of this is a comprehensive treatment of the space, including difficult to get to wood members. No chemicals are used in this process, only heat! This means that you do not need to vacate during the heat treatment process.
Another great termite prevention option is borate wood treatment. Wood members treated with termite repellent chemicals, like those from TimBor make the wood indigestible for termites. TimBor can be used for attic and crawl spaces, decks and beams and for ancillary structures on your property.
Termite Prevention Costs
A thermal heat termite treatment is far more economical than a whole house fumigation. Contact us today for a quote. TimBor is available in 1.5-lb. bags, 25-lb. pails, 250-lb. drums and 1500-lb. Super Sacks. Prices vary depending on bulk size but the team at Pest Patrol and give you a quote for replacing wood structures with pretreated wood for your property.
By far the most economical and effective termite prevention measure is periodic termite checks. We offer this service in our General Pest contracts or perform bi-annual checkups from clients in San Diego.