Wood-eating termites can cause months of expensive damage to houses in New Hampshire before homeowners realize they have an infestation.
Luckily, learning how to recognize the signs of a termite infestation and knowing how to prevent these hungry insects from coming into your house can reduce your risk of expensive repairs after an infestation.
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How to tell if you have a termite infestation
A termite infestation is easy to miss because termites rarely come in contact with humans and are rarely seen out in the open. Instead, they spend their time eating the wood that’s hidden inside your walls, floors, and attic.
If you know what to look for, it is possible to catch a termite infestation in its early stages and prevent any extensive damage to your home. Warning signs of a termite infestation include:
Discarded wings: After swarming termites find a place to settle down and start a new colony, they shed their wings. The discarded wings—which look like tiny fish scales—tend to accumulate on windowsills and near foundations.
Mud tubes: To connect their underground nest to their food source, subterranean termites build mud tubes using dirt, wood, and saliva. Mud tubes are typically found along cracks in your home’s foundation.
Hollow-sounding wood: Because termites eat wood from the inside out, you may be able to detect them in your home by knocking on wood throughout your house to see if it sounds unusually hollow.
Hard-to-open windows or doors: To make chewing through wood easier, subterranean termites cause moisture buildup as they make their way through wooden doors or window frames. This can cause the wood to swell and warp, making them difficult to open.
Other signs of termites in your home are bubbling or peeling paint, tiny holes in drywall, droppings, and visibly crumbling wood.
Are termites a problem in New Hampshire?
The southern portion of New Hampshire is in Zone #3 of the US Forest Service’s Termite Infestation Probability Zones
(TIP Zones) map, which means that homeowners in this area are at a slight to moderate risk of a termite infestation. New Hampshire’s climate is too cold for most termites, but subterranean termites can be found in the southern reaches of the state including Concord, Nashua, and Portsmouth.
While not native to New Hampshire, drywood termites can be transported into the state via items like wooden crates, lumber, or furniture.
Subterranean termites
Subterranean termites are the most common and most damaging kind of termite in the United States.
Because they live in large nests underground and prefer to infiltrate your home through tiny cracks in your foundation, a subterranean termite infestation is especially easy to miss. The main traces they leave behind are mud tubes across your foundation.
Subterranean termites thrive in warm, damp weather and can be seen swarming in the daytime between March and May (usually after a rainfall).
Drywood termites
Drywood termites are not common in New Hampshire but are known to do damage to houses outside their native region when they are accidentally transported by humans.
Because these termites prefer to eat dry wood, they are most likely to do damage in attics or other dry rooms.
The most recognizable sign of a drywood termite infestation is the droppings they leave behind. These droppings, called frass, look like small piles of sawdust or salt and pepper.
What to do if you have termites
Termites can quickly cause expensive damage to your home. To prevent as much damage as possible, it’s best to contact a termite control expert as soon as you notice the signs of an infestation.
Termite prevention is the best way to avoid dealing with the consequences of an infestation. A professional can treat your house with bait stations or liquid termiticide to keep termite colonies away.
If you have an extensive infestation, fumigation may be the best option to quickly get rid of termites throughout your home. Fumigation requires that you remove all people and pets from the house for 1-2 days, as the gasses sprayed are very toxic.
You can also make your house less appealing to subterranean termites by preventing moisture build-up around your foundation, which is especially important throughout the spring in New Hampshire. Easy ways to reduce moisture include:
Regularly cleaning your gutters
Repairing leaky pipes and faucets inside and outside your house
Installing weather stripping around doors and windows
Removing debris like logs and fallen trees from your yard
How to save money on homeowners insurance
Most homeowners insurance doesn’t cover termite damage, but having a good policy can still cover your home if there is a fire, theft, or another disaster.
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