Identification of Termites in Drywall

Drywall Symptoms

• Since termites are often located inside your walls, it makes sense that they eat walls from the inside out, so signs of damage may not be apparent. Look for small, pin-sized holes in the paperboard surface of your drywall. The pinholes will be covered with mud because subterranean termites plug up holes when they come across dry air.

Other Symptoms

• Look for mud tubes about the diameter of a pencil. Termites construct these tubes out of mud, saliva and feces when they're traveling above ground. Buckling wood and swollen floors and ceilings also indicate possible termite damage. Termites give off an odor that smells like mildew, so smelling mildew can be a sign of termites. Discovering the presence of winged termites in your house, or flying out from the base of a foundation wall, is another sign that your house is infested.

Termite Description

• Worker termites are white or grayish-white wingless insects with yellowish-brown heads. They grow to be about 3/8 inch long. Soldiers look similar but have larger heads and strong jaws that they use to defend the colony. Reproductive termites are light yellow or black with clear or smoky gray wings. They grow between 1/4 and 3/8 inches long. Some people confuse termites with winged ants, but it's easy to tell them apart. Termites have straight antennae and their wings are of equal size; ants have bent antennae and their front wings are longer than their hind wings.

Treatment

• Treating a house for termite infestation is a job for professionals, not the homeowner. Identifying where termites have entered a building requires knowledge of building construction and it's not always easy accessing those areas of the house. Specialized equipment like masonry drills, pumps and soil treatment rods are needed. In addition, treatment can involve injecting hundreds of gallons of pesticide into the ground around the house. Homeowners aren't trained to handle pesticides safely in those amounts. Baits can also be used to treat termites. Baiting consists of combining slow-acting poison with paper or cardboard and setting baits underground and in active mud tubes. Termites that eat the baits share it with other termites in the nest, poisoning them as well.