What are the Signs of Termites in your Home?

Finding signs of termites can be alarming as these tiny pests can cause major damage to your home if left untreated. But spotting the early signs of termites is key to controlling termites before they destroy walls, floors, wood trim, and valuables like books or furniture.

Knowing what to look for, inspect regularly, and acting quickly when you find evidence of termite activity will help you limit termite damage and get rid of termites from your property.

Below we cover the most common visual signs of termites, what to listen and watch for, the need to get professional termite inspections, plus DIY termite treatment basics. Follow our tips to protect your investment from these wood-eating insects, detect termites early, and remove them fast!

7 Visible Signs of Termites

Here are 7 of the most common visible signs of termites to look for around your home and property:

1. Mud Tubes on Foundation Walls

Mud tubes look like thin dirt tubes running up and along concrete foundation walls or wooden support beams. They may be only 1/8 to 1/4 inches wide. Termites build these mud tunnels to move safely between their underground colonies and sources of food (like your home!). Break open a section of the tube to check for live termites inside.

Subterranean termites construct long mud tunnels while drywood termites build much shorter tubes only between pieces of wood they are infesting. Knock down all tubes you find and look for new ones forming which indicates an active termite infestation.

2. Hollow Sounds When Tapping on Drywall or Wood

Tap along trim boards, window and door frames, or drywall. A hollow popping or drum-like sound often means termites have eaten their way inside leaving only a thin wood or gypsum outer shell.

Probe these areas with a knife tip to check for soft inner wood or insulation that easily pokes through. Get a professional termite inspection to confirm damage and locate colonies within walls.

3. Swarms of Flying Termites

Seeing winged termites emerge inside your home or swarming outside is a sure sign of a termite infestation on your property. While alarming, termite swarms are temporary.

Follow the flying termites to locate the colony source in rotting wood or their mud nest. This is important for directing termite treatment to hidden infestations.

Drywood termites swarm from internal wood sources which may require fumigation while subterranean termites swarm from ground colonies needing soil treatment of the surrounding area.

4. Termite Droppings

Termite droppings look like granules, grains of sand, or sawdust. They may accumulate on floors beneath infested walls or beams, in spider webs, window sills, and other undisturbed areas. Small piles of droppings are evidence of an active termite colony nearby.

5. Discarded Termite Wings

Just after swarming, you may find piles of discarded termite wings around swarm emergence points. Wings and other body parts pile up as termites squeeze out of wood cracks and spaces. Search around doors, windows, and along baseboards for these leftover wings as clues to hidden colonies in walls.

6. Wood Damage

Carefully examine all exposed wood including base trim boards, framing along floors, door and window frames, fence posts, decking, support beams, and especially where wood contacts soil.

Probe any softened or cracked wood with an awl to detect thin surface shells covering hidden tunnels and cavities termites have eaten into the wood’s interior. Wood damage is evidence past or present termite activity.

7. Temporary Termite Shelter Tubes

Drywood termites construct short mud tubes only between pieces of wood as temporary shelter while they move between food sources. Look for these tubes linking wooden fence posts to a house, from one rafter across joists in unfinished attics and basements, or connecting exterior window frames to interior walls. Destroy all connecting mud tunnels which termites build through cracks or unfinished spaces to expand nests.

[sign of termite activity | Look closely at the 7 signs above when inspecting your home’s interior and exterior regularly. Catching termites early prevents major damage to your property.]

What Do Termites Sound Like at Night or Scratching in Walls?

Termites are very sensitive creatures that avoid light and disturbance. So termites move, feed on wood, and do their tunneling at night inside walls, floors, ceilings, and furniture causing noises.

The most common sounds of termites you may hear at night include:

A light tapping or scratching noise as termites claw tiny wood fragments of your home’s framing. Put your ear to walls to isolate sounds.
A soft, gentle rain or crackling noise from droppings hitting the dirt as hundreds work removing particles from their tunnels.
A hollow popping or snapping sound when termites break through thin drywall layers they’ve eaten away backing.

Termites try to avoid making noises during the vulnerable swarming season to avoid attracting predators. But normally the only way to confirm the noises are from termites is to pinpoint an infestation source inside a wall void or wood trim for visual confirmation.

When & Where to Look for Signs of Termites

Termites tend to live and feed hidden within wood or soil tunnels unseen for years slowly hollowing out structural wood from the inside. So when should you inspect for termites?

Inspect Monthly – Place an annual termite inspection reminder in your calendar once each month when doing routine home cleaning chores.
After Heavy Rains – Rainfall drives termites toward the home’s foundation when groundwater rises.
Spring & Summer Months – Prime swarming season when overnight flying termites emerge.
Fall Months – Termites finish summer feeding and prepare to ride out winter cold within wall voids. Listen for increased activity sounds.

Make regular inspections around the entire interior and exterior of your property looking for:

Foundation & Porches – Mud tubes running up exterior concrete walls. Tap hollow floorboards.
Around Doors & Windows – Wood damage under trim boards. Knock for hollow window or door frames.
Attics & Crawl Spaces – Search unfinished spaces for shelter tubes linking wood beams to walls.
Wood Fences & Trees – Break open suspicious mud tubes particularly near the house. Look for wood damage.
Inside Walls – Probe for soft, spongy drywall spots. Listen for noises at night of termite working and tunneling.

Repeat inspections whenever you discover signs of termites as secondary evidence helps pinpoint the infestation location. Compare past locations of termite sightings on a property diagram to narrow the treatment zone.

Don’t ignore early signs as termites work rapidly and can quickly escalate into major structural damage or the need for whole-house termite treatments like tent fumigation to eliminate entire colonies.

Termite Infestation Vs Regular Wear & Tear Damage

Many homeowners mistake normal wear, moisture damage, or cracks caused by home settling for actual termite destruction needing immediate treatment. So learn how to correctly recognize true termite feeding patterns and destruction.

Worn floor edges, minor cracks in drywall corners, or surface mold on framing are cosmetic flaws caused by normal usage and weathering. This does NOT indicate termites actively eating away structural wood beams or walls.

On the other hand, termites leave behind visible zig-zag tunnels and chambers running with the wood grains they have excavated following moisture and nutrients just under the surface. Hollowed sections feel spongy or brittle under pressure.

Actual termite damage occurs internally from hidden colonies as termites eat along the softer, inner wood layers and grain leaving thin structural surfaces or drywall facings. This hides extensive internal damage happening out of sight.

So carefully poke wood surfaces with an awl looking for eraser-like softness or paper-thin shells covering large hollow sections in framing, flooring, trim, furniture and even trees showing termite activity. Map out these vulnerable areas for preventative sealing and continued monitoring to limit costly damage from termites.

When Professional Termite Inspections Become Necessary

DIY inspections play an important role in early detection. But major termite infestations already established inside walls or under concrete slabs require professional inspections. Trained PMPs (pest management professionals) have specialized tools to confirm active colonies and hidden damage including:

Moisture Meter Probes – Detect higher moisture areas termites follow to travel within walls/wood.
Infrared Cameras – Identify hollowed framing or cool nesting areas without disturbing walls through thermal imaging.
Concentrated Dye Markers – Dye fed into mud shelter tubes traces passageways back to the colony food source.
Sound Sensors – Amplify movement, digging or grub munching sounds exactly pinpointing feeding activity behind walls.
Sniffer Dogs – Specially trained dogs detect pheromone traces identifying termite locations potentially missed by other methods.

Professional termite inspection reports provide an analysis of findings plot vulnerable areas on home diagrams noting signs of activity. Rather than general spraying, this targets treatment to identified colonies.

Inspectors may also recommend advanced monitoring options like termite baiting or foam treatments through drilled access points in walls avoiding major demolition.

Controlling Termites: Treatment & Prevention Tips

Finding evidence of termites in or around your property requires promptly implementing a control plan combining elimination, prevention, and protection tactics.

Start by destroying all visible signs including mud tubes running along foundation walls, inside crawl spaces, under porches, and anywhere termites move between soil and wood sources. Knock down all connecting routes.
Next apply a liquid soil treatment drench formulated with a non-repellent termiticide completely saturating the ground out 3-5 feet around the structure wherever tubes were found. This forms a defensive barrier to repel inbound termite workers. Reapply annually.
For established wall void or internal wooden infestations seen via tunneling inside framing, trim boards or furniture, inject a dust or foam directly into these spaces. Remove accessible wooden food sources.
Preventatively treat high risk areas before termites invade including sealing all cracks in poured concrete foundations that may allow underground entry, eliminating earth-wood contact points around fences and landscape plants, and ventilating moisture prone areas in crawl spaces or unfinished basements.
Consider installing a full exterior perimeter baiting system around the foundation feeding non-toxic bait attractive to foraging termites which they communicate back to the nests. Feed enough bait laced with slow-acting insecticide eliminating entire colonies.
Schedule supplemental interior wall void foam treatments by drilling access points between wooden frame studs to inject termite-killing foam beneath concrete slabs and into still open wall spaces.

Follow a continuous inspection, targeted treatment, and prevention maintenance program inspecting for new termite activity monthly to protect your property long-term.

8 Tips to Help Prevent Termites Year Round

Here are 8 handy prevention tips to avoid termite attractions helping keep your home pest free:

Eliminate all wood debris piles and tree stumps where termites live hidden nearby the structure.
Ventilate damp crawl spaces and basements to discourage moist areas favored for building colonies.
Seal cracks in poured concrete foundations, expansion joints and openings around utility pipes preventing underground termite entry.
Reduce direct soil contact with exterior walls by clearing back debris and soil built-up covering weep holes and vents keeping areas dry.
Attach effective termite shields beneath exterior siding between framing and concrete to limit hidden mud tunneling behind walls.
Screen attic vents, weep holes in brick veneers, and floor drains with stainless steel mesh blocking insect entry while still allowing ventilation.
Replace damaged exterior window frames, doorsills, cracking brick mortar along the foundation, and leaky outdoor faucets which can wet soil promoting termite colonies.
Consider upgrading insulation in exterior facing walls which lowers wood moisture making it less tasty for termites to feed on.

Stop termites now by looking for signs of invasion early. Protect your home’s wooden framing over the long run by discouraging termite access, establishing repellent barriers, and proactively treating areas vulnerable to attack before major damage occurs.

Final Thoughts on Identifying Termite Signs

As one of the most destructive and costly pest threats to any home or property, early detection is key to controlling termites through limited treatments instead of major fumigation projects after discovering whole floors and walls mostly eaten out.

Hopefully this guide has helped homeowners identify the most common signs of termites including mud tubes, hollow drywall drumming, flying swarms, wood damage, piles of droppings or wings and tunneling noises at night. Recognize these termite clues when inspecting regularly to catch infestations early.

If you do discover evidence of active termites, immediately act with targeted elimination tactics followed by preventative maintenance ensuring no new colonies take hold. Protect your valuable property for the long run with knowledge allowing you to make termite identification and control an ongoing priority.

What are the Signs of Termites in your Home? – 2024