Close The Door On Termites

This is the follow-up article on termites from Kens’ Korner posted last week.  This article appeared in the September, 2008 newsletter.

                As promised in our last newsletter, this is where we talk about closing termite routes to your house.  As you may remember, in the last newsletter, we discussed how subterranean termites can gain entry to the wooden structure of your home through soil that has been built up at the outside wall of the home until it touches either the wood or stucco siding.

                We also discussed how subterranean termites cannot long be exposed to fresh air and how their access to your house's wood must be via a protected environment like soil.  Now we are going to discuss other ways they get access as well as some simple things you can do to close off those routes.

                Let me first state that we are concerned only with subterranean termites here.  Dry wood termites are a bit different matter and must be dealt with in different ways.  The overwhelming majority of termites in this area are subterranean termites however, so we will stick to these guys in this discussion.

                To review a bit more from last newsletter, these termites can live and move around inside wood.  They also consume it.  But before they can do this, they need a path to get from their nests in the soil to the wood that is not through fresh air.  Besides the soil build up to the siding by the unsuspecting homeowner, there are other means.  One common way is through other pieces of wood that are in contact with the soil and, in turn in contact with some part of your house structure.  This forms a kind of highway inside the piece of wood that the termites can use to gain entrance.  A very common example of this is pieces of wood construction debris that is left under the house by the people who built the house.  They are not supposed to do that but it happens all the time.  Out of sight, out of mind.  This is so common in the industry that termite inspectors have given this stuff a special name.  "Cellulose debris."  That's from the cellulose in the  wood which is actually what the termites are after.  If your house is on a raised foundation with a crawl space, it is a very good idea to inspect that space and remove any pieces of wood, no matter how small or whether they can conduct termites to other parts of the house or not.  You see, the wood in contact with the soil is a natural attractor for the termites.  If there is no wood in contact with the soil, the termites are less likely to be attracted to the parts of your house that are separated from the soil.

                Termites are very clever and determined bugs.  If "attracted" to an area, they can sometimes overcome the problem of access through the air.  Once they have been "attracted" these termites can literally build tunnels of mud or what are called "mud tubes" that they can travel in to reach that wood from the ground soil.   This is typically done however in a somewhat protected environment like under your house.  You will very rarely see these tubes on the outside of the house.

                You can spot these tunnels pretty easily.  They look just like what they are, little tunnels of dried mud running from the ground up the foundation inside your crawl space to a wood portion of your house.  If you find these tunnels, do not destroy them right away.  Call your termite inspector, (we can recommend the best in the business) to come out and determine if the tunnels are from an "active infestation" or from a previous no longer active infestation.  They know how to do this.  You will likely need to do a treatment of the soil as well as destroy the tunnels to prevent further infestation.

                Another place you might find these mud tunnels leading into your house is the other protected area.  The garage.  People have a tendency to store "stuff" in their garages and over time this "stuff" can really accumulate.  There might be boxes of "stuff" stacked along the walls, or even tall cabinets full of "stuff" sitting on the floor along the garage walls. 

                Here is the deal, the concrete slab of the garage is always poured after the wall foundations have set up.  Often even after the walls have been put up.  The place where the slab contacts the foundation is called a "cold joint."  At this joint, a space or crack will eventually develop as the slab shrinks during curing.  This is often not visible to the eye.  Sometimes it is.  It is normal and does not affect the structural integrity of the garage.  However, it is a way for termites to get from the soil below to the top of the concrete slab.  Now if there are a bunch of cardboard boxes, cabinets or other things conveniently set there, a protected environment which allows the termites to build mud tubes has been created.  I cannot tell you how many times I have seen a garage, once emptied of "stuff" have a freeway system of mud tubes leading from the cold joint to the interior walls and the tasty studs inside.

                Because you cannot see these tunnels because of all the "stuff" built up there, when a termite inspector inspects a house that has a garage full of "stuff" he will note in his report that this area was "inaccessible."  He just could not see to be sure what the situation was.  He cannot inspect what he cannot see.

                The best way to deal with this route is to find a way to store your "stuff" so that you do not provide cover and protection for the bugs to build their mud tunnels.  Store your "stuff" off the floor.  Install cabinets that are raised off the floor so that the cold joint and part of the foundation are always visible.  This way, if the bugs attempt a construction project in your garage, you or an inspector can easily see it and deal with it.