Since termites can destroy your home, you should call a professional any time you see them – even if they’re in your backyard away from your house. Colonies can be huge, and a nesting site could be a lot closer to your home than you think. Even if you don’t spot termites, have routine professional termite inspections to look for signs of termite activity and perform any necessary “spot” treatments. Ongoing treatments maintain a termite-free barrier around your home.
The preventative methods we’ve outlined above will be good habits to adopt, and the treatment methods will be helpful as part of a full-scope treatment process for getting rid of any termites or infestations. Yet even under optimal circumstances, only a small number of termites will be destroyed by DIY methods, leaving hundreds of thousands to take their places. Termites are tenacious, and that means they need a multi-pronged approach using specific types of products applied in very specific ways to truly provide protection.
Professional pest control services that specialize in termites know how to locate colonies, assess damage, and identify entry points. They usually use multiple types of treatments to target termites, including planting termite bait traps laced with insecticides (such as Termidor termite treatment) in strategic spots in your yard as well as using insecticides around your home. Depending on your property’s needs, some treatments use holes drilled into exterior walls to apply a chemical barrier inside your home’s structure, an area not easy to access with DIY treatments. In extreme cases, a pest control company may opt to use sulfuryl fluoride or other fumigation agents as a whole-house termiticide.
Be sure the pest control company you choose has the expertise and experience needed for termite treatments. Preventing a termite infestation requires a very specific skill set, and deviating from best practices even slightly can compromise both your protection from termites and your investment in your home.