In order to prevent termite problems, we should eliminate the condition that can help them to thrive:
- Identify and fix any water leak in our house, both external and internal. Like any organism, termites also need water. It doesn’t matter whether they get it from our drainage or leaky pipe. If there are plenty of potential water sources, it is easy for the colony to expand. By eliminating water supplies for the colony, we have removed a single most important requirement for their survival. It also means that we should eliminate an pooling or standing water from our house.
- Remove heavy growth and brush: Vegetation could result in higher moisture. It is essential for the survival of the colony. Termites like wet surrounding, so if our landscape is dry, it’s likely that they would stay elsewhere.
- Examine forewood and excess building materials: Wood is termites’ favorite meal and each time a piece of wood touches the ground, it increases the chance of termite infestation in our house. We shouldn’t make our house an open invitation to those voracious creatures. Large quantity of wood should be disposed or stored far from our house. We should also create barrier to prevent termites from reaching wood, such as heavy duty metal stands or thick concrete slabs.
- Treat all wooden surface: Chemicals can be applied to the surface of wood. They may not be a fully effective deterrent for voracious termites, can still become a deterrent to prevent them from munching on our patio and decks. If we start to detect the presence of termites again, we could re-treat the wood surface in that area. Again, we should avoid having a direct contact between wood and the ground.
- Keep mulch away from our house: Mulch is both a source of food and water for the termite colony. Mulch could easily attract termites to enter our house and if some amount of mulch is present in our house, it is only a step away from a termite colony from invading our house. Instead of using the standard wood mulch, we could use rubber mulch that could be available at the nearest home improvement stores.
- Don’t buy wood scraps from lumber yard. Old lumber might be a cheap alternative for firewood, but there could be a small colony of termite hidden in it.
Remove roots, old stumps and dead trees: Decaying, wet wood would attract a termite colony to our yard that eventually makes their way into our house.