Prevent Termites: A How to Guide that Will Save Your Home

Just the thought of termites will fill any homeowner with fear. Take the initiative to protect your home by knowing how to prevent termites from infesting your property.

As with all pests, you want to discourage an environment that is habitable to them. In the case of trying to prevent termites, you want to eliminate all sources of moisture around your house. That means you should get all your leaky plumbing fixed and don't neglect servicing and repairing your air conditioning unit.

If you live in an area with a lot of trees or have fallen wood debris around your house, you should remove it regularly to prevent termites from finding a haven in your yard. A very important measure is to not let any wood on your house touch the ground, especially if the ground is soil. In the event that you do have wood from your house touching the soil, consider replacing the soil with sand as termites cannot tunnel in sand. This also goes for the soil around wooden deck posts that are often overlooked.

Never have firewood leaned up against your house if you want to prevent termites. This is an open invitation for them to move in. Instead consider getting an affordable shed where you can safely store the wood.

If you are building a new house, or are doing renovations, it would be a good time to pre-treat the wood that your are planning to use. There are many available products for this at your local hardware store. You can also look into using termite-resistant wood, or a product like Jeld-Wen's termite-resistant windows and doors to prevent termites from entering your home.

Another way to prevent termites is to regularly clear gutters and drains around your house. This will prevent any water buildup and unnecessary moisture that will attract termites. If you have openings on the outside of your house, you should cover them with termite-resistant steel mesh, which will allow for proper ventilation to eliminate moisture build-up and will also aid in preventing termites by keeping pests at bay. Do-It-Yourself bait stakes are also another great way to help prevent termites which are also sold at your local hardware store.

It is always better to prevent termites from infesting your property than to have to get rid of termites. Termite prevention although very important is often overlooked in all the excitement that comes with owning a home. Invest a little time and effort to protect your property and you will find the task to be very rewarding in the long run.

Sources:

http://www.bugfacts.org/pest-species/2008/10/23/termites/

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentView?pn=Termites&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053