Termites head up to attic in Spring Lake, NJ

Of all the property-damaging insects, nothing comes close to wood-devouring termites. There are other insects like carpenter bees and carpenter ants that bore holes in wood to lay their larvae, but it is the dreaded termite that actually uses the wood and other cellulose-containing materials in our home for food. Since termites are subterranean and live underground, we normally expect to find termites and termite damage around the home’s foundation. For them to travel above the soil to reach wood, they need to build connecting mud tubes, which are one of the few visible signs of a termite infestation.

Is it possible to have a termite infestation reach all the way up into the attic? Believe it or not, Yes! I was performing a routine mouse inspection of a historical home in Spring Lake, NJ and during my inspection, I discovered termite mud tubes covering a beam that spanned the entire distance from the cellar to the attic. As a pest control technician for many years, I had never seen such a long distance mud tube as this one. When termite mud tubes are found in a house, it usually means the infestation is well underway. Termites follow the path of least resistance. They prefer to attack wood that is in direct contact with the soil, and if they need to find other food sources as the colony expands, they will build these tubes to reach wood that is above the soil. This termite infestation must have been going on for years unnoticed for mud tubes to reach this distance. 

A single termite, which is only about 1/8 of an inch long, can’t do much damage. The problem, however, is that these insects live in massive colonies that work together as an army of home destruction. An average-sized eastern subterranean termite colony has about 300,000 workers. A colony of that size can consume about one cubic foot of wood in a year (or about 22 linear feet of a 2X4). Termite damage over the years is slow and consistent and, other than termite swarms, there is hardly any indication that these insects are literally eating your home. It’s no wonder that these delicate soft-bodied insects cause more property damage for homeowners than any other insect, by far.

The lesson here is that if given enough time, subterranean termites will snake their way to every drop of wood in your home, building an extensive network of mud tubes that can stretch for many feet — all the way to the roof of your home! Periodic termite inspections can save homeowners a lot of money and grief. Termites eat wood from the inside out. A proper termite inspection involves probing the wood with a probing tool to determine what is going on beneath the surface. Wood may superficially look fine, but it may well be a hollow shell that will eventually collapse from its now weight. Severe wood damage is the latest and worst sign of termite damage — damage that’s easy to avoid with professional periodic termite inspections and not just when you are ready to sell your home. Since termites stay out of sight and termite damage occurs slowly, these infestations often escape notice by homeowners. The problem with termite infestations is that the accumulated damage over the years is extensive, and the renovation work to repair the home is expensive. A far better alternative is a termite prevention system such as the Sentricon bait system and early identification of termite problems through inspections.