Few things are as unsettling as the suspicion that termites are attacking your Santa Cruz home. This is one thing you do not want to stay in denial about. Here are some steps to help you face the possibility and prevent problems:

• Don't let any wooden parts of your Santa Cruz home touch soil directly.  As always, the best solution is prevention. If wooden parts of your house are touching the soil directly, a professional can remedy it by installing metal shields and re-grading the soil along the foundation to improve drainage and create a gap between soil and wooden structures.

• Determine whether you do have termites. Subterranean termites build characteristic mud tubes for movement between nests. The appearance of these tubes is often the first sign of infestation. Detection can become difficult if such tubes are hidden inside walls, or termites are entering in cracks occurring in concrete slabs or foundations.

• Use bait stations as monitoring tools. Most are designed using untreated wood or cardboard as monitoring devices. They use bait and a termiticide to kill the termites when they come to the trap. Ideally, the termiticide is boric acid. Before the termites perish, they transmit the boric acid to their nest mates. This process kills many, if not all, of the termites in the colony. You must check these traps often.

• Call in a professional termite control company. Hiring a professional is the best way to ensure that all termite infestation is gone. You may be able to find a ‘green’ exterminator. If not, you may be able to encourage a conventional exterminator to try some less-toxic approaches. Common treatments now include use of nematodes (microscopic worms), which are especially good for chemically-sensitive individuals or environmentally-sensitive areas. Nematodes are pumped into the infested area, where they kill the termites. Another green option is desiccating dusts like diatomaceous earth (DE). These are non-toxic substances that dehydrate and kill insects.

If you’re looking for a Santa Cruz home that does not have termites and was built to prevent infestations, I can help you find one. Contact me now at 831.662.6522 or Lauren@LaurenSpencer.com.

For additional information please visit my website at www.MySantaCruzRealEstate.com.

Links:

Determine whether you do have termites

Bait stations 

Professional termite control company
 

 

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