The Best Way To Handle A Termite Infestation In Your Kittitas County Home
As a young person, did you experience doing your homework and feeling overwhelmed with a math problem or chemistry class project? You may feel your stomach muscles tighten even now as you replay the moment. Maybe you had the same feeling when your front car tire blew out in the middle of a snowstorm in the middle of the night, and you didn't have your cell phone.
In those moments, you might have said, "I don't know how to handle this situation"? We make that statement when we feel the situation is out of control and are helpless to fix it. The only way to resolve overwhelming circumstances is to admit you need help and find someone to solve the problem.
It is an overwhelming feeling when you suspect termites are in your house. Suddenly, images of your bed falling through the floor in the middle of the night, the porch collapsing, or the ceiling caving in begin to flood your mind. Your mind races as it tries to answer, "how much damage are the termites creating?" and "how much will this cost"?
If you want to stop the stressful thoughts and anxious feelings about termites, let the Kittitas County pest control team from Prosite relieve your anxiety. We use our years of pest control experience and knowledge of the most effective treatments to remove termites from your home so you can relax at night worry-free. The following information will help keep you from feeling overwhelmed by the thought of termites in your Kittitas County home, so please keep reading.
How A Termite Infestation Starts
It is natural to wonder how termites got into your house. Where do these wood-eating creatures come from, and why do they attack homes? To answer these questions, let's start from the beginning.
Although there are many termite species worldwide, the western subterranean termite is the species that causes problems in Kittitas County. Termites are social insects, which means they live in colonies with other termites. They construct their nests in damp soil underneath buried wood scraps, rotting landscaping timbers, and around decaying tree stumps.
A subterranean termite nest begins when a pair of flying reproductive termites senses odor from decaying wood and lands in the area. Once on the ground, they break off their wings, dig into the moist soil next to the fungus-infested wood, and seal the entrance to keep out ants and other predators. Inside the tiny nest, they mate, and soon the new queen produces a few yellowish-white eggs.
A termite colony has three castes: workers, soldiers, and reproductives. Worker termites are sightless, sterile, and blind, and although they sound innocuous, they are the ones who eat your house. Worker termites are the first group to emerge from the new queen's eggs, and once they reach maturity, they are 1/8 inch long, with a creamy white to dark brown or black body.
The queen and king nurture them until they can consume nearby cellulose. Once they are self-sustaining, the queen produces another batch that includes soldiers and more workers. The soldiers have elongated, hard, brown heads with powerful jaws and are defenders of the colony against invaders.
After a few years, the queen and king produce reproductive, winged termites. This new termite caste has brownish-black bodies with semi-transparent wings extending beyond the length of their bodies. When the temperature increases during the spring, and usually after a long rainy period, the winged termites fly from the nest and travel along the wind current to search for new nesting locations. Once they find a suitable place, they land, and the process begins again in a new area. Because flying termites are not strong flyers, they usually do not travel far from the original nest.
If your house is near an outdoor colony, there is a strong possibility that swarming termites may land near your home, and if there is a 1/16 inch gap and they sense damp wood in the crawl space, basement, or underneath the porch or deck, they will begin a new colony.
These are signs of western subterranean termite infestations in Kittitas County homes:
- Mud tubes along the foundation
- Discarded wings in window sills
- Swarmers around outdoor lights or windows in the spring or fall
- Live termites
If you witness flying termites around your property, you may already have termites in your Kittitas County house. You need Prosite to stop termites from establishing new nests before the infestation begins causing structural damage to your home.
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When you've got serious problems, ProSite has the right people and products to handle them quickly!- Brett H.
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Always pleased with Prosite services.- Cindy S.
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Alex was a great technician for servicing our house!- David E.
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We appreciate Prosite because they are prompt at responding to issues that arise, and they have kept their promise to free our 'new to us' home of rodents.- Jamie H.
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I highly recommend Prosite. Vanessa in the office was both incredibly personable and so helpful.- Christine B.
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Alex politely and professionally described the areas he inspected and serviced in the crawl space of our home and the exterior outside.- Jerry S.