Termites don’t care what kind of house you have.  It can be a mansion or a shack, 1 story or 2 story, a slab(concrete) foundation or pier and beam.  All a termite knows is there’s something big above them and they want to eat it. This is a bit over simplified but I think you get my point.  Even if the structure is steel construction there is something Mr. Termite can eat.  Termites can eat anything containing cellulose which means they’ve got plenty to choose from in the average home.  Wood is obviously the first thing that comes to mind but termites love paper and cardboard.  They’ll eat the backing of sheet rock, cardboard boxes, and even wall hangings with paper in them.  This means you’d better check those expensive paintings and prints you have framed on the walls if you’ve had termite activity in those areas.

With all this being said, if your home is a pier and beam structure, finding a subterranean termite infestation can be difficult.  This is because much of the area where termites can enter the structure is hidden.  A pier and beam house, as its name implies, sits up off the ground on a series of piers.  These piers are generally surrounded by a concrete or cinder block wall called a stem wall.  Termites can enter the structure on any number of areas inside of the stem wall and the only way to see this area is to crawl underneath the home.  In many cases there is less than 1 foot of clearance in this area.  This makes finding as well as treating termites quite problematic. 

In this picture provided by Ed Robinson of Professional Engineering you can see termite tubes coming up the inside of a stem wall into the home.

Termites will many times tunnel out of the wood in search of more wood in another area only to realize they’ve made a wrong turn.  In the picture below you can see a good example of this.  This is what I like to call a “termite stalactite”

Your best bet if you own a pier and beam home is to know the homes termite history and either maintain a termite treatment warranty on it or have it inspected at least once a year.  That way you can avoid the fate of the homeowner above.  Stay tuned for more termite tips as termite season goes into full swing.

I was able to sneak away last Friday evening to do a bit of coastal kayak fishing down in Galveston.  I didn’t catch any fish but I did snag some nice pics of the sunset on the bay, which is well worth the price of admission as far as I’m concerned. 

Sumo has taken a shine to laying under the bug trucks.  He’d better enjoy himself now since he may not be able to fit under them for much longer.

It’s been a long week of swarms and termite treatments.  Here’s a few action shots of Josh and I drilling through the concrete areas to inject our chemical into the soil below.

It’s officially termite swarming season in Houston.  One of our customers had a text book afternoon swarm on Tuesday March 9th.  It  was warm and muggy and one of the first days of its kind in a long time.  It doesn’t take them long to react to such perfect conditions and this is an event that will most likely replay itself all over town in the coming weeks. 

For those that may not know, termites swarm once a year during the spring in order to start new colonies.  These  black bodied white winged insects are usually seen fluttering around inside a home around a light source or window.  A swarm is a good indication that there’s a mature colony living inside the walls or part of the structure somewhere.  If you see these insects in your home it’s time to call the exterminator.  The swarms will not continue but the underlying infestation will.  The swarmers while scary are really the least of your problems as they don’t really do any damage to the structure.  The unseen problem is the actual colony eating the wood inside your walls.  The best way to stop these is to have a termite treatment from a licensed pest control company. 

 Picture of Termite swarmers.

It will be interesting to see what the swarming volume will be like this year since we’ve had such a cold winter.  My guess is that most every type of insect is going to go into overdrive in the next few months to make up for the long cold winter.