Happy Termite Season! Just kidding – there’s nothing happy about it. But it definitely is the season. Have you had your annual termite inspection yet? Subterranean termites are rampant in Arizona, especially in the cooler months. Once they take up shop in your house, they won’t go away on their own. The damage they are capable of doing to your home is significant, and it often happens right under your nose before you notice it (if you ever do). We always strongly recommend having your house checked at least once a year by a professional, but here is a basic do-it-yourself checklist you can use to help you spot the signs of termite infestation on your own.

General DIY Termite Inspection Checklist

This DIY guide applies to just about any type of residence, whether built by traditional construction (aka, “stick” homes) or mobile homes. (Mobile homes have a few additional considerations that we’ll cover in the next sections.) You will want to keep an eye out for thin, often long and straggling tubes that appear to be made of mud – “mud tubes” – on or dangling from the following structures on the interior and exterior of your home:

  hanging from ceilings

  baseboards

  wall surfaces (interior and exterior)

  window sills

  plumbing in bathrooms, laundry rooms, and kitchen areas

  on the concrete slab underneath carpeting

          (through an expansion seem or crack)

  stem wall/footer concrete pad,

          including the stem wall/footer for the house as well as

          that of the patio(s) and the garage

  garage stems, footer pads, and expansion seams

Do you live in a mobile home?

If so, you’ll want to check the following additional areas and surfaces:

  Tubes on skirting (mobile home skirting),

          including the internal and external side

  Tubes in AZ Room from concrete pads

          next to the siding and

          in expansion seams

  Tubes in crawl spaces on piers

          from open soil up to the bottom of the trailer floor

Will termites eat my valuables?

They could! Especially if your valuables and personal property are made of cellulose material, such as wood or paper. For example, we had one customer where all of their books had been eaten through by termites. They never noticed until they wanted to read one of them and found them all destroyed! If you have shelves full of books, it’s definitely worth checking them every once in a while for termite damage. Another example – pictures hung in frames on your walls. Termites love the backing material of photos and pictures frames, so it’s worth checking on them as well. If termites do start feasting on your photos, the frame might come off but the picture will stick to the wall. This is because the mud tubing constructed by the termites adhere the photos and backing to the wall, as they eat out the backing.

We hope this helps you keep on top of the termite infestation status of your home, and hopefully it helps save you significant home and personal property damage as well. But please keep in mind – nothing beats a professional termite inspection. If you even think you might have termites, or if you find evidence of termites using this guide, be sure to give us a call! We’ll give your home a thorough check. If your home does have termites, we’ll help you understand the extent of the infestation and your treatment options.

And don’t forget about our other posts about termites
here, here, and here. We also found this local news article regarding the importance of regular termite inspections in the Valley.

Happy inspecting!!