Hello, my fellow home improvement lovers! Today we’re going to do something a little bit different and give you some straight FACTS about the world’s original homewrecker, every home owner’s worst nightmare – the termite!
These little creepy crawlies come from the cockroach order Blattodea, meaning that they’re actually quite closely related to the cockroach. No wonder they’re such obnoxious little pests – it’s all in the family! There are over 3,000 species of termites, most of which live in South America and Africa, with Africa alone containing over 1,000 species.
Termites come in three varieties: dampwood, drywood, and subterranean. Dampwood termites are found only in coniferous forests and primarily feed on dead and fallen drees. Drywood termites are found primarily in hardwood forests and make up the bulk of the invasive pest species of termites, as they love to eat the hardwood that we use to construct our houses. Subterranean termites, as their names would suggest, live underground and live in a number of different environments. They also are the hardest to get rid of, almost always involving a tenting for treatment.
Termites typically either live in nests or mounds, with mounds only occurring in places where there’s a danger of torrential or continuous rainfall. Nests are typically built out of feces – that’s right, their nests are built out of poop! Just one more reason to dread the coming of these nasty little guys. Depending on the type, they’ll build their nests either in the ground or within dead wood, like tree stumps or the delicious wood that makes up the important structural bits of your house!
Europe and North America only have about a combined 60 species, but what they lack for in diversity, they make up for in dollar value in terms of destruction. Each year termites cause approximately $1.5 BILLION in wood structure damages in the southwestern United States alone. So, what are we as fearful homeowners to do when faced with such a scourge?
Well, if you’ve ever seen the movie Men In Black, you know exactly what you need to do to destroy any kind of pest: call the exterminator. Not just any exterminator, mind you – you have to call the RIGHT exterminator. You don’t want some sleezy guy coming up to your house, needlessly tenting it and overcharging you by hundreds just for you to find a new nest popping up a year later. The right guys will have integrity and be thorough.
If you’re in the southern California region, specifically around Pasadena, we highly recommend a company we’ve been working with for many years now: Grand Oaks Termite Control. Justin and his crew have been working in the termite treatment industry for over 20 years, and he’s managed to maintain his 5 star Yelp rating all this time without seeming to break a sweat. The company is known for its integrity and the carpentry services it provides for its clients if the wood is too badly damaged to continue whatever function it currently serves.
If you’ve learned enough about termites to scare you straight into the loving arms of a termite inspection and treatment company, give Grand Oaks Termite Control a call:
Grand Oaks Termite Control
(626) 538-4156
110 S Worthy Dr, Glendora, CA 91741, United States
