Termite Damage Signs & 7 Repair Options To Consider

What are the common termite damage signs and the repair options to fix them? Let’s find out together.

Termite damage is one thing no property owner ever wishes to experience. No matter how little the termite damage may seem, you’ll need substantial money, time, and energy to fix it.

This article will look at different termite damage repair options and how to fix each of them. Continue reading!

Certain factors mainly assess termite damage. Some of these include the degree and duration of such damage. As such, it is a cheaper option to termite-proof your house.

How To Spot Termite Damage

 

REPAIRING TERMITE DESTRUCTION

For minimal damage after an infestation, you may only have to spend a couple of dollars to get the few items that were affected fixed. However, termite damage that has to do with walls or the house’s foundation can require thousands of dollars to repair.

Here is how to distinguish termite damage from wood rot.

Ignoring to fix termite damage could even make the affected materials deteriorate further. Thereby posing a threat to the stability of the entire building.

As you will see in this article, there are many termite damage repair options available for you to choose from as a property owner. However, the particular option you select will be determined mainly by the degree of termite damage in the house.

But how do you determine the level of termite damage to know the right option to choose in fixing it? I will show you in the next section. Let’s go on.

How To Determine The Level Of Termite Damage

It is no news that Termites cause very severe damage to homeowners every year. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports, Termites damage about 600,000 homes in the U.S. every year.

Such termite damages leave a large percentage of that number at the risk of being completely lost every year.

An effective termite damage repair option must be chosen and applied immediately after an infestation to prevent that from happening. And for you to know the right choice to fix the damages, you need to start by finding out the severity of the damage.

Below are some of the best ways to know the degree of termite damage you are facing in your home. Signs you should watch out for.

  • Termite Trails

As termites search for food and moisture, they usually leave behind some indications that can give you a clue about the level of damage or infestation in an area.

Though discovering the degree of termite damage can be a little bit difficult. However, if you carefully observe their indications, you might be able to figure that out quickly.

Part of what to look out for in a termite trail includes termites holes, eggs, excrement, wings, and dead bodies. There is also this whitish substance in powder form (a kind of wood that has been digested) they usually leave behind.

A few appearances of these trails once in a while may indicate that the damage has not gone out of control and can be quickly dealt with even without the help of a professional.

In the same way, a regular appearance of any of those trails can also be a warning that something severe is taking place or has already taken place somewhere around the house.

For this type of damage, it is best to have a professional come over to the house to check it out and fix it.

  • Hollow Sounds

Woods eaten on the inside by termites often produce hollow sounds. You can hear the hollow sounds in different parts of the wall and floor when you consciously or unconsciously knock on them.

These sounds can signify that severe damage has taken place within the walls or underground.

  • Termite Holes, Tunnels, and Mud

Termites are known to create tunnels around the house as they search for food. These tunnels can be easily discovered through holes and mud around the house.

Due to how termites operate, by the time you start seeing the termites’ holes on the surface level, you can be sure that a big part of the house foundation has been seriously damaged.

You would need the help of an expert to be able to restructure the house and get things back to normal.

Any delay in fixing the damage once it has gotten to this level could be fatal as it may get worse.

Termite Damage Repair Options And How To Fix Them

All termite damage repair options fall into two major categories; the ones you can handle yourself and the ones you’d need professional help doing.

Here is the average cost of fixing termite damage.

Below, we will look at each of these categories and explore the termite damage repair options found in them.

  • Do It Yourself Termite Damage Repair Options

Here are some methods you can employ to repair termites without much assistance from a professional termite exterminator.

Here is how to fix termite damage yourself.

  • Wood Replacement

This has to do with taking out the affected wood and replacing it with another. This is always the right option to choose in cases where the damaged wood is just one or two.

The wood with which you are to replace the damaged one must be solid and capable of bearing the total weight of the former one before its damaged by termites.

This option is easy to do, especially for non-structural damage.

  • Wood Support

This is another termite repair option that you can do by yourself. This method has to do with supporting the termite-damaged woods with stronger woods so that they stand together.

By joining the two blocks of wood together, the work done by the affected wood will be shared by the two of them. Combined, they will be stronger, last longer, and become more useful to you.

This option is one of the best options that will work perfectly for structural damage that did not occur at the house’s foundation. If it’s just at the surface level, you can easily support the affected woods with newer ones that are stronger.

The two planks of wood must be joined together so that there will be no space between them. This is to prevent termites from having an easy passage to the newer wood.

  • Use of Hardeners and Sealants

Another great option for termite damage repair is the use of wood hardeners and sealants.

While the hardeners help make the woods stronger, the sealants help close any gaps like holes that may exist on the wood. Thereby blocking any avenue for any existing termite in the wood to receive air.

This option works primarily for people who do not want to replace the wood entirely.

Though it depends on the level of damage done to the wood in question, if it is severely damaged, you might have to still support it with another wood even after applying the wood hardeners and sealants to it.

  • Termite-Killing Chemicals

Termite-killing chemicals are often used as a support to any of the above termite damage repair options.

This is to ensure that any termite that may still be hiding either in the walls or underground (in the foundation) is completely wiped out.

The use of these termiticides also helps to ensure that termites keep away from the repaired wood and structure for a very long time.

As a homeowner who would like to handle everything himself, these above-mentioned termite damage repair options are worth considering.

However, if you find the DIY methods above time-consuming, you can go with the options below.

  • Professional Termite Damage Repair Services

If the termite damage is a very severe type -especially the ones that have to do with the house’s foundation, you might have to employ the services of termite repair specialists to do the repairs for you.

Contractors who are experts at repairing termite damages are your best option to deal with such a level of damage permanently.

The process by which they repair damages caused by termites often involve the following:

  • Inspection

Using different equipment, these experts will check all over the house (the wall, foundation, etc.) to ascertain the level of damage. You may be shocked to discover that the damage may even be far worse than you expected after they are done with the inspection.

  • Removing and replacing the affected materials

Whether the damaged part is at the foundation of the house or on the walls, the termite damage repair company has a way of removing it and replacing it with another.

This is done so that the entire structure is not affected.

  • Scraping and application of wood hardeners and sealants

Once the severely damaged woods have been removed, the remaining ones will be thoroughly scraped to remove any termite damage on them. After that, they will be coated with wood hardeners and sealants to toughen them and close any gaps.

These are just some things professional termite damage repair services will do for you.

Summary

Though there are several termite damage repair options, as we have seen in this article, employing the services of experts to thoroughly fix the damages remains the best option.

I hope you find this article helpful.

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