Termite Control in Los Angeles, CA

In the United States, termites damage more than 600,000 homes each year. Residents in the U.S. spend an estimated $5 billion annually on termite treatment and control and to repair the damage that termites cause. That’s more damage from pest infestations than the cost of all the fires, earthquakes, and hurricanes in the U.S. combined.

It’s important to note that although termites can cause large amounts of damage to homes and other structures, they are not typically disease carriers or harmful to humans. Despite this, termite control is important to the integrity of your home or building.

A termite’s sole purpose in life is to consume cellulose, a chief component of wood. They are very useful in nature because they help to break down and recycled dead trees.

They will eat anything with cellulose, from furniture to newspapers. It is not uncommon to find termites eating cardboard and paper products stored in attics and basements. With proper termite control methods, we can help save and preserve your valuable documents and collectibles.

Identifying Termites

While most people can easily recognize ants, spiders, and other types of insects, termites typically remain hidden except when they are swarming or uncovered during construction work or a termite control inspection.

Difference Between an Ant and a Termite

Although termites have a resemblance to ants, they are not related to them. Termites belong to their own species known as the Isoptera. The easiest way to distinguish a termite from an ant is that termites have straight antennae and wide bodies without pinched waists.

Flying termites (swarmers) have clear front and back wings that are the same length while flying ants have front wings that are longer than the back wings. Like ants, termites live in colonies and are dependent upon other colony members for survival. Regardless of if you’re having an ant or termite problem, it is neccessary to understand their feeding and breeding patterns to properly control the spread of their infestsation. 

Drywood Termite Control

Since termites are a big threat and difficult to find, it’s important to look for signs of damage they may be causing. With Drywood Termites, sometimes you can find piles of termite pellets near the wood where they are living and eating. When you do see a Drywood Termite, they are usually dark brown or reddish brown. Reproductive Drywood Termites (swarmers) have wings that extend longer than their bodies and the soldier caste of termites have heads and mandibles that are quite large relative to their bodies.

How to Control Drywood Termite Colonies

Drywood termite colonies can get as large as 5,000-100,000 per colony and they are commonly found in the wood framing of attics, eaves, walls, and subareas. Winged reproductive Drywood Termites will emerge from an existing colony and scout for new locations. Once they discover a new location, they pair up and bore into the wood. The new colony may remain undiscovered for years until they start popping out termite pellets (droppings) from kick out holes in the wood. By the time you see this evidence, the termite colony usually numbers in the thousands. This is why it is so important to seek out preventative drywood termite control in Los Angeles County.

Subterranean Termite Control

With Subterranean Termites, you may see mud tubes climbing up the foundation of the home, in the subarea of the home or even up walls. Subterranean termites are typically smaller than Drywoods, but they typically cause more damage in a shorter period of time. Because of this, it is important to control Subterranean termites as soon as the signs of an infestation are confirmed.

How to Control Subterranean Termite Colonies

In fact, they are more destructive to structures than any other insect. They live in the ground in huge colonies of 20,000 up to 1 million or more per colony. A large queen can easily produce from 5,000 to 10,000 or more termites in a year. Subterranean termites love to eat the wood in homes and other buildings and they can cause extensive damage in a short period of time once they get established in a structure. This is why subterranean termite control is so important in Los Angeles County

Termite Inspection

Termite Treatment