Professional Termite Control in Memphis TN: Treatment & Control Tips

Termites cause billions of dollars in structural damage every year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

And if this fact worries you, we completely understand. Termites can take a major investment like your Memphis, TN or North MS home and cost you a lot of money, a lot of time, and a lot of stress.

You might think tackling this problem might just take a trip to the home improvement store. But some pests are a little more than any homeowner can handle, and termites are one of them.

In fact, termites are small and often don't leave any tracks at all. Unless you know what you’re looking for, you might not even know they’re present until they’ve eaten a decent chunk of the wood in your home. And no one wants to deal with those repair costs.

While termite prevention is a much better strategy than treating termite damage or making structural repairs as a result of termite feeding, understanding how termites operate and all of the ways to fight them can help you get a better handle on these pests.

Let’s look at signs of termites, termite prevention tactics, and termite control strategies, so you can shield your home from these invasive insects.

Signs of Termites in Memphis TN and North MS

While many insects have a season or time of year when they appear most active, termites can be active in your home all year long.

But they are known to swarm around April. What encourages termites to swarm is the increasingly warm weather, as well as rain; they will typically swarm after rain to ensure they stay hydrated.

Termites swarm when they go in search of mates and to establish a new colony. Colonies themselves typically don’t swarm until they’ve become established, which can take about three years.

Other than the possibility of seeing more termites moving about in spring, you may not see termites at all until the damage is done. That’s why it’s important to keep an eye out for these signs of termites.

Flying Termites

When termites swarm, they fly into the air, drop to the ground, shed their wings, and seek out a mate.

So a sign of termites is actually seeing what look like flying ants moving about. In fact, flying termites and flying ants look similar, so it’s hard to tell them apart. Contacting a pest professional for an inspection can confirm your suspicions if you see flying pests in spring that you think are termites.

Termite Roadways

Another sign of termites are the vessels they use to travel in, which are known as mud tubes.

Mud tubes are about ⅛-inch thick tubes that shelter termites as they travel between their underground colonies and your home to find wood to eat. They keep termites protected and moist.

These mud tubes typically extend over foundation walls or support beams. You can find the tunnel trails going along wood, concrete, cinder blocks, or even in mid-air to help the termites reach their destination.

Damaged Wood

Since termites eat wood, an obvious and big sign of termites is damaged wood.

What you’re looking for here is crumbling wood. If you push on it with your finger or a screwdriver, it might cave in because the center is hollow and eaten away by termites.

Another thing to look at is the color or texture of your wood. If it’s soft or discolored, try pushing on it to test its strength. If it crumbles under pressure, it’s a possibility termites have been dining there. You might even notice bigger problems like your floor sagging or the wood around your windows or doors wearing, causing problems with opening and closing.

Termite Prevention Tips

Termites are extremely sneaky pests. They rarely emerge from their homes and mud tubes, which makes them hard to spot.

In fact, Memphis TN and North MS homeowners many times don’t even know they have termites until they see a termite swarm or the damage they’ve left behind.

Try these termite prevention tactics to avoid problems with these pests.

Control Moisture and Wet Wood

Termites love moist environments. They use this moisture in the soil to create mud tubes for their termite colonies to survive.

What can create damp environments around your foundation is poor drainage, low spots, or vapor barriers between the ground and your crawl space that create a lot of condensation or moisture. Other things that can cause moisture around your home are clogged, overflowing gutters.

Moisture is all termites need, which is why eliminating excess moisture is a great termite prevention tactic.

Keep Foundation Areas Clean

Excessive mulch, firewood, or scrap lumper left to pile up around your home are termite attractants. Add moisture to that and you’re basically inviting termites in.

A surefire solution to include in your termite prevention strategy is to eliminate moisture along with those unnecessary wood piles too close to your home.

Get Annual Termite Inspections

The best termite prevention tip is to get a termite inspection.

Many pest control companies perform your first termite inspection free unless it’s part of a home inspection for refinancing or a real estate transaction.

The process is fairly simple. Once you call and request an inspection, a pest control professional can schedule it 24 to 48 hours later. You should be home for the inspection to let the technician inside. They need access to the exterior and interior of your home, particularly vulnerable areas like crawl spaces, basements, attics, and garages.

They look for tell-tale signs of termite activity and current or even past signs of termite infestations. The whole inspection process takes approximately an hour.

What a Professional Termite Treatment Includes

For the best professional termite treatment, you have some options.

One option is a trench-and-rod treatment where a pest professional will dig a shallow trench around the foundation of your home and inject a termiticide every 1.5 to 2 feet along this trench.

This can be considered an involved and invasive process because the complete surrounding of your home is incredibly important in termite protection because a break in the perimeter means an entryway for termites. This means drilling into driveways and walkways, too, since you don’t want any perimeter protection openings.

Luckily, there are less invasive ways to tackle termites. At Lawn & Pest Solutions, we offer a treatment using the Sentricon System. As Certified Sentricon Specialists, rather than pumping gallons of termiticide around your home, we place stations that contain a termite bait around the home and monitor them for termite activity.

When the worker termites consume the active ingredient, they feed it to their colony and the colony dies. It’s an environmentally friendly option that is highly effective.

All of our termite treatments include annual interior and exterior inspections, which many companies don’t offer, so that we can make sure termites aren’t returning to your home.

Sentricon usually starts at approximately $69 per month for the first 12 months, and then the price drops to $26 per month. While exact pricing is based on the size of your home, most homes fit into this price point.

Trust Lawn & Pest Solutions to Help You Stop Termites in Memphis, TN and North MS

If you have had termite problems in the past, see signs of termites, think you need to try some termite prevention tips to protect your home, or are concerned you need termite control, involving an educated pest control professional can help.

All homes in Memphis, TN and North MS need termite protection since this region is considered ground zero for termites. It’s not worth the risk not to treat for them. Ease your mind and give Lawn & Pest Solutions a call. You can get a free inspection, and we can provide a thorough plan to eliminate termites and help you prevent further infestations and protect your home.

We want you to be able to relax in your home. Give us a call today and we’ll bring our proven termite control experience and create a custom plan for your Memphis, TN or North MS home. Get started today with a free quote.