How to Keep Your Home Safe From Termites - Termite Prevention Tips

Have you ever found yourself screwing up your face when you took the mattress off the bed only to find that it is entirely covered in what seems to be wood dust? Or have you found the chairs and tables covered in white powder and often wondered if you had a pest problem, and how can you prevent this termite damage?

The termites are insects so small that they cannot be easily seen with bare eyes. They can even slip in through a crack as narrow as 1/32'', and no matter what you do, you will always find them wrecking havoc on your priceless, beautiful wooden furniture. In fact, the National Pest Management Association had even declared that termites cause about $5 millions of damage in United States every year.

Termites have been around for about 250 millions of years, and they help to speed up the formation of nutrients in soil by breaking down the dead wood in forests. Apparently, they seem to be quite friendly, but when they start to set their teeth on your furniture too, you will not find them anything short of a menace that needs to be got rid of immediately.

So what can you do to prevent termite damage? Well, prevention is always better than cure. So here are some tips that will help prevent these insects from attacking your home. Before you start however, it is better to get your facts straight. There are mainly two types of termites- the subterranean and drywood.

• Termites are attracted to wet, damp places, since moisture is important for their survival. So to keep your place safe from termites, you have to clean up the muddy pools around the house.

• Make sure that the water drains away from your house properly, without giving much of a trouble. Your downspouts and gutters need to be free from debris for this purpose. Moreover, you can use splash blocks to direct the water away from your house.

• You have to take extra care to keep the leakages in your house at bay. Fix up your plumbing problems before they dampen the walls of your house. Use a plastic sheet to keep your crawl space moisture-free. Your attic and basement should be dry too.

• Start repairing the cracks and holes in the walls and slabs to keep the termites out of your house. They are small insects, and even a tiny fissure is enough to allow them an access into your house.

• Finally, keep the debris of scrap wood, firewood and tree stumps away from your house so that termites cannot start breeding in your house. Keep your wooden furniture away from soil, and completely dry.

These steps are sufficient to keep the termites at bay. If however, your house is already filled with colonies of termites, housing about millions of these insects in each, it is time that you called up one of the termite exterminator companies.

These termites are found to be growing in their numbers, and soon, the Formosan termite from Asia is expected to create more damage than what we have seen so far. So it is necessary to learn how to prevent termite damages, and keep our homes safe.