Insects are not a very popular creature in the animal kingdom. One of the least favorite of these for house owners are termites. These little villains can cause tremendous damage to homes, eating tunnels throughout houses, weakening the structure. If unchecked, the termites can cause structures to be unsafe for us without making expensive repairs, repairs that might not be covered under your homeowner’s insurance policy. Get in contact with your homeowner’s insurance agent or company and see if you are covered. Then you’ll have to decide what you should do to combat these creatures.

          First off, it helps to take steps to prevent the infestation from ever occurring.  Keeping wood off ground level, keeping firewood, mulch, and like items stored a decent distance from your home, and removing things that you discover are infested can go a long way to prevent an infestation from ever occurring. Prevention is three times more effective than treatment, as with treatment, there is still a possibility of damages, even after the termites are taken care of. Plus, some homeowner’s insurance policies do not have coverage for termites, so prevention is key to keeping your home safe.

         Another good tactic is to catch termites as soon as they appear. Knowing what a termite infestation looks like can help you catch the termites before they cause extreme damage. Some signs of termite damage can be buckling wood, swollen floors, and cracks appearing in the walls. Another good sign that you have an infestation is if you notice what look like small white ant creatures wandering around your home. Sometimes you may find insect wings lying around somewhere, which could also possibly indicate an infestation.

         While these prevention tactics can help, the best way to prevent termite infestations is by contacting a pest removal professional.  These professionals will come from time to time to inspect your property to make sure that there is not a termite infestation.  They will monitor suspected areas, and if termites are discovered, some pest control agencies will place poison bait for the wood mauling bugs that the workers will often bring back to their nest and feed to their friends. This will eliminate a lot of termites. The other strategy that pest control companies use is the common liquid insecticide to eliminate large colonies of the pesky bugs.

         Termite prevention is a very serious issue.  Most homeowner’s insurance policies do not cover termite damage, as it is considered in most cases a maintenance exception. In a large portion of homeowner’s insurance policies, the maintenance exception is not covered, because you could have prevented the damage. Many insurance companies expect the homeowners to be implementing these prevention techniques, especially a regular inspection from pest control professionals.  This is why prevention is so important. Getting a regular inspection from a pest control company, and being cautious about where you leave wood and mulch can help keep you from running into issues with termite damages. Get in contact with your homeowner’s insurance agent or give us a call to talk more about how to prevent similar disasters.