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Why do I need termite control St George?
When compared to other pests like rodents, cockroaches, and even some kinds of ants, termites are relatively harmless to humans directly. They don’t actively carry or spread diseases, they rarely bite or sting, and they don’t drink blood. However, while direct contact with a termite or even a colony of termites is less likely to result in injury to humans than other pests, the damage that termites can cause to property is staggering. St George termite pest control services could save you a lot of money in costly repairs.
In the wild, termites are a valuable asset to the economy because they help break down and recycle dead and decaying timber, leaves, and other organic matter. This helps keep dead vegetation from piling up and becoming a fire hazard and creates room for the living plants to grow and thrive. While termites appear to eat wood, what they are actually eating is called cellulose, which is a fiber found in the cell walls of plants. Without cellulose plant material breaks down much faster. Dry wood is an especially good source of cellulose, and termites love it.
While they aren’t usually a problem away from people, having termites anywhere near one’s property is extremely risky. To a termite wood is wood. They don’t discriminate. Buildings, firewood piles, tree stumps, furniture, and even picture frames are all just food sources for termites. They don’t care that it is expensive to replace, and they don’t care that your house needs it to function. All they care about is that they can eat it.
Keeping these critters away from your home can be very difficult on your own. Here are a few reasons why getting help from a professional termite control St George service like Nielson Pest Solutions may be beneficial to you.
Protect yourself with termite control St George from Nielson Pest Solutions
Termites are very sneaky insects, and they use many different tricks to hide their presence. Some species of termites burrow underground, while others live directly in the wood itself. They do leave signs but they are subtle and easy to miss. Part of our regular termite control St George treatment process at Nielson Pest Solutions is that we check for the pests that you know that you have and also for the ones that you may not be aware of. We understand the problems that termites can cause, so we do a thorough walk-through of the property taking care to double-check areas that are regular hotspots for termites. We report any signs of termites we find back to the homeowner.
We use only the safest EPA approved products, applied by trustworthy service professionals with the latest and safest application methods to be effective against pests around your home.
Nielson Pest Solutions is locally owned, owner operated and backed up with 7 years experience. We show up on time and do the job right the first time. We are your pest control St George Utah!
If you’re not 100% satisfied with the treatment and/or results we will re-service your home for FREE between regular scheduled visits to ensure your pest problems are completely resolved.
Every species of termite has different habits, strengths, and weaknesses. As a professional St George termite pest control service, we have studied the differences and have a custom solution for each scenario. Unlike other pest control companies that use the same product for everything, we custom-mix our own products and tailor the recipe to the problem at hand. This is important because termites have special social and physical differences from other insects that make certain pesticides ineffective against them. Our solutions target the specific weaknesses of termite colonies and effectively break them down.
Termite Control St George Treatment Options
At Nielson Pest Control, we do preventative and combative termite control St George services. Our services are customizable. We listen to homeowners and respect their needs and wishes in regard to their service. We always verify our findings and possible solutions to problems with the homeowner before we mix and apply our products. That being said, we understand that most people would rather focus their services on the problems they know exist.
Termites are one of the few pest problems that we recommend taking preventive measures against because they can cause so much damage to the property. They make houses and buildings unsafe for occupants, and if not caught in time, can cause extensive damage that is expensive to repair.
Termites come from the ground and the air, so they are particularly hard to keep 100% away. However, our preventive measures effectively make their invasion more difficult by adding a protective barrier of product in areas of the home that may be weaker to termite swarmers. We retreat for free between our scheduled services to better keep our customers safe from termites. If you see any signs of termites on your property call Nielson Pest Solutions and request our termite control St George services.
Termite control St George 101: What is a termite?
The termite is a classification of an insect closely related to the cockroach. They have six legs and three body segments like ants, however, unlike ants which have three very distinct body sections, termites’ body sections appear squishy and are a little harder to distinguish. In Southern Utah, there are three different types of termites that home and property owners need to be concerned about. These are Western drywood termites, Arid-land subterranean termites, and Eastern subterranean termites.
You should seek professional help if you suspect that you might have termites. St George termite pest control services like Nielson Pest Solutions know how to investigate the colony without disturbing them. This is important as some species of termite will take defensive measures if they feel threatened, and make removing them more difficult.
Western Drywood Termites
Out of the three termites on our termite control St George watch list, these are the hardest ones to spot. Western Drywood termite colonies live in wood, chewing out and forming tunnels and chambers within the wood. Their colonies are usually smaller than subterranean colonies but they make up for it by sending out winged swarmers that spread to other available wood in the area.
Members of this species of termite are very small, only seven to twelve millimeters in length. They have brownish coloring ranging from light to dark brown. This species has three main castes. The queen is much bigger and longer than the others. Soldiers have a larger, orangish-brown head, large mandibles, and club-like antennae, and swarmers are orangish-brown and have wings. These wings will shed after the swarmer has found a place for a new colony.
Visible signs that you may have Western drywood termites include shed wings, and seemingly random piles of sawdust (which is actually their fecal matter known as frass) found near wooded structures, walls, windows, or baseboards. On closer inspection of these piles, you may notice that the tiny grains have six sides, which is a sure indication that they are termite poop that has been kicked out of an exit hole. The hole is usually found right above the pile. The best place to look for signs of these termites is at the ends of wooden beams. Drywood termites tunnel following the natural grain in the wood, and rarely enter the wood from the side.
Another sign to look for is sudden swarms of small orange insects with overly large wings. These could be termite swarmers, which are the ones that start new colonies. If you see any insects fitting that description crawling or flying around your home it is advised to talk to a St George termite pest control professional to come evaluate.
We strive to be in constant communication with our customers until the job is done. For estimates or questions on our services, please contact us at your convenience. We look forward to meeting you soon!
Subterranean Termites
The two kinds of subterranean termites that are found in Utah are similar in look and habit, with the biggest differences being that the Eastern subterranean termites are more adapted to different types of soil than the arid-land termites. Because of this, the Eastern subterranean termites are more widespread. Seeing signs of either subterranean termite species is cause for alarm. If you see any evidence of subterranean termites in or near your home then you should call in a termite control St George specialist to examine them for you. These termites are very smart and will scatter to a new location if they feel threatened making them harder to find and harder to remove.
Subterranean termites need more moisture than drywood termites do. They get this moisture from the soil and make colonies underground. In some areas, they have been known to make large, mounds above ground, but in the United States, it is more common for their colonies to be hidden completely underground. They build a main colony in a safe location and then begin to build tube-like tunnels from the soil and fecal matter to nearby food sources. These tunnels can be anywhere from a couple of inches long to a hundred yards, making their colonies difficult to track down. In order to preserve moisture, subterranean termites will construct their tunnels along walls and foundations to avoid being out in the open.
In some cases where buildings have areas with high levels of humidity or moisture from leaky or broken faucets, it is possible that subterranean termites may have sufficient moisture to build a nest within the wall or floor of a building. Do you have strange mud constructions in your yard or basement, or mud trails traveling across your foundation, under your patio, or anywhere else? You might have a subterranean termite problem. Don’t hesitate. Call Nielson Pest Solutions for St George termite pest control services immediately.
Subterranean termites have a different social structure than drywood termites. Along with their castes of the queen, soldier, and swarmer, they have an additional cast of a worker. Drywood termites don’t need a specified worker because their young, called nymphs, fulfill that role in their colonies. In the eastern subterranean species, the worker caste is the only one in the colony that can actively break down and digest cellulose. They process the food into their bodies and feed it to the other members of the colony. This is one reason why termites are more difficult to remove than other pest insects, luckily, Nielsen Pest Solutions has termite control St George methods that overcome this and other obstacles.
How to tell the Aridland and Eastern Subterranean termites apart.
The truth is that going off of just how they look it is extremely difficult for someone besides a trained professional to tell these two species apart. Both have small (6mm-12mm), creamy-white to light-brown bodies with similar body shapes. More telling than their appearance is their habits. Arid-land termites do attack houses but are more commonly found in areas with sandy soil. Eastern subterranean termites, on the other hand, are able to survive in many different kinds of soil and so are more likely to be the ones attacking your home.
In either case, having a professional St George termite pest control on your side is essential to the proper treatment and removal of these damaging bugs.