Termites
Formosan and native termites in New Orleans houses
Two kinds of subterranean termite live in the soil around the city's houses. Formosan colonies are larger and can live above the ground wherever wood stays wet. Native colonies are smaller and stay close to the soil. Both eat wood, and neither announces itself.
We start with an inspection and a written report. If termites are active, you get a plan that says where we would treat, how, and what it disturbs. If they are not, you get a list of what to watch and when to look again.
What homeowners notice
Signs that call for a look
None of these means termites by itself. Each means someone should look.
Wings on a sill or by a light
Small piles of matching wings, often after a warm evening. Termites drop them after a flight.
Mud tubes
Thin brown tunnels along a pier, a foundation wall or a slab edge. They carry termites between the soil and the wood.
Wood that sounds hollow
Tap a sill, a door frame or a porch step. Wood that thuds or gives under a screwdriver wants a closer look.
Paint that bubbles or doors that stick
Moisture does this too. Either way it is worth finding out which.
On the porch
Where we look on a house like this
An inspector reads a porch from the floor up. These are the first five places.
- 1
Ceiling and fan housing
Stains near a fixture point to a roof or pipe leak above. Wet wood draws termites.
- 2
Window frame and sill
Sills hold rain. We press the corners and look for blistered paint.
- 3
Siding at the porch floor
Where wood meets the deck, or the deck meets the soil, is where we find most of what we find.
- 4
Railing and post bases
The foot of each post is where water sits and end grain is open.
- 5
Floorboards and joints
We tap them, we don't pry them. Soft spots get a closer look from below.
If termites are active
Three ways to treat, and what each one disturbs
We choose with you. Most houses use one, and some use two.
A treated zone in the soil
A band of treatment in the soil around and under the house, which termites must cross to reach the wood.
Needs access to the soil along the foundation
Can mean trenching beside piers and drilling slab edges
We follow the product label and tell you what to keep clear and for how long
Bait stations
Stations set around the house and checked on a schedule. Termites carry the bait back to the colony.
Little digging, no drilling
Works over weeks and months, and needs visits to check
Stations stay in the ground and have to be kept clear
Treating the wood
Direct treatment of infested or exposed wood, such as a sill, a post or a framing member.
Used with one of the other two, not alone
May mean small holes in trim or framing
We ask before touching anything original
Not sure what you found?
Text us a photo and we will tell you what we think it is, and whether it is worth a visit.