How To Get Rid of Termites in Your House

Wondering how to get rid of termites in your house?

Termites take pleasure in destroying your home for you. In fact, they simply enjoy eating wood. But, the simple fact is that a termite colony can eat approximately one pound of wood a day. This means in less than six months they could cause serious structural damage to your home.

Unfortunately, termites can often be hard to spot, until the damage is done. That’s why it’s essential that you’re aware of the key signs that you have termites.

These include mud tunnels around the edge of your home, lots of wings on the floor, and telltale holes in your wood, possibly with a small amount of dust near the hole.

If you spot the signs then you need to try the following termite treatment to get rid of the termites.

Termites live in colonies, some work, some forage for food, and all of them look after the queen. This means that you won’t capture termites in a bait trap. In all honesty, you don’t want to.

If you use good termite bait stations the termites will take the poison bait back to the colony and kill everyone. You’ll need to confirm that they are all dead but leaving the bait trap down will help to ensure this.

How to get rid of termites

1. Bait Them

Simply place the trap, or traps, where you know the termites walk regularly. Don’t forget to keep it in a cool dark spot. Check it regularly and top up the bait if necessary.

2. The Cardboard Trap

This is a great way to capture termites as they walk around, effectively confirming their presence and killing them at the same time.

You simply take a few strips of cardboard and wet them. Then stack them on top of each other where you think the termites will be. The termites will get stuck in the cardboard and die.

Repeat regularly while you target the colony.

3. Nematodes

These worm-like creatures use termites, especially their larvae as nests. They’ll burrow into the larvae, causing them to die in as little as 48 hours.

They can then use the host to spawn more of their own species and carry on destroying the termite larvae. It’s an effective way of killing the next generation of the colony, in the long term it eliminates the issue entirely.

4. Sunlight

This won’t work if the termites are in your floorboards. But if the termites exist in your furniture then you can place it outside for several hours in full sun. The heat from the sun will kill these pests, they prefer it to be damp and dark.

5. Boric Acid

Boric acid is known to close the nervous system in termites and dehydrate them. It can be purchased in a spray bottle. Simply spray any infested area and leave. You’ll find the dead termites within a few hours. You can also use this substance in bait traps, just remember to check them and top up regularly.

Don’t forget, if you’ve tried these techniques and are still struggling with termites then you may want to get professional help.