Some of the easiest signs of termite infestation to identify are pin holes and termite frass, but there are many more tell-tale signs of termite activity any home owner can quickly learn and utilize to do a routine inspection one every few months.
We will show you what to look for here, but it is still a good idea to get a pest control professional who specializes in identifying evidence of termites to conduct an annual inspection, at a minimum (maybe more if you live in a region with very high termite activity).
These inspections are often free, so there is no reason not too! Keeping that in mind, let’s dig into the different signs of termite activity to be on the lookout for.
Table of Contents
- Signs of Termites Inside Your Home
- Signs of Termites Outside Your Home
- Further Resources to Learn More About Signs of Termites
Signs of Termites Inside Your Home
Learning to identify evidence of termites around your house could save you thousands of dollars if you use them to find termite activity before an infestation grows to the point where it causes costly damages or worse, structural damage to your home or business…
Termite Droppings or Frass
Termite droppings or fecal matter are referred to as termite frass. This is a sign of termite activity that often gets overlooked by homeowners. This often looks like sawdust but if you look a little bit closer (you may need a magnifying glass) you will notice that termite frass looks more like tiny pellets with a somewhat uniform shape rather than actually dust.
Pinholes
If you end up finding termite droppings in your home, wait to vacuum them up. First look around to see if you can identify a termite pinhole. These are typically tiny whole that the termites bored through the surface of some wood (from the inside outward) in order to conduct some cleaning of their tunnels.
They do this do release some of the frass to make more room in their abode within your abode. So, for example, if you find a termite feces pile on your wooden window sill, you should look carefully around the wood trim to the sides of the pile and above it.
This is, in fact, a common area to find pinholes that accompany frass piles. If you find pinholes and fresh termite droppings, you should call a pest control professional to come to your home and perform a thorough investigation. They have the tools and training to detect the entirety of a termite infestation, which is very difficult for the typical homeowner to do themselves.
Discarded Termite Wings
Finding discarded termite wings does not necessarily mean there are termites in your house. However, it can be a sign that they could be. It could simply be that there were some termite swarmers (flying termites) nearby. For example, a group of swarmers may have recently come out of a rotten tree in your yard and attempted to fly away to establish a new termite colony.
Just because a couple landed around your home, or even got through your screen does not mean your home is infested. If you ever encounter the unfortunate sight of termite swarmers departing your home en masse, that should be a clear warning sign that a termite infestation is present in your home and has become so large that some of the termites are leaving to establish a new colony. This situation certainly warrants a call to a pest professional!
Dented Damaged Wooden Trim
People often discover termite damaged wooden trim or baseboard when they are vacuuming and bump into a baseboard only to have it cave in. Baseboards do not just do this by themselves, if you find this there is something going on that you need to look at further. Check the wood and see if you find any evidence of termite galleries or tunnels inside the broken wood.
Termites Themselves
Of course, if you find termites themselves crawling around your home this is a clear sign you have a termite problem. Termites are typically evasive insects and avoid being found in out in the open so you will not likely find them in such a state, but it is possible.
Signs of Termites Outside Your Home
Mud Tubes
Subterranean termites utilize protective mud tubes when the traverse the exposed foundation area between the ground and the timber in a house or business building. Finding these is either evidence that you have current termite problems or previous termite problems. You will need to inspect the structure further to know for sure.
Termite Swarmers
Termite alates, or the winged swarmers, are the adult staged termites that sprout wings when they reach sexual maturity and then take off in search of starting a new colony. Finding these in your home could mean that some termites just wandered into your home through an open window from nearby.
Finding winged termites could also mean there was an existing termite colony in your home and they are now leaving the home, meaning you may have a serious termite infestation if termites have been present in your home long enough to reach sexual maturity and feel the need to fly away in search of other areas with decomposing wood so they can establish a new colony.
What are early signs of termites?
- saggy drywall or discolored drywall
- piles of termite wings (these look like a pile of fish scales)
Further Resources to Learn More About Signs of Termites
- Signs of Subterranean Termite Infestation – Virginia Tech
- Termite Frass Can Save Your Home – mytermitetreatmentcosts.com
I didn’t know pinholes and frass went together. I guess termites have to deal with their waste somehow. Another sign of termites is flying adults – they do this when they’re trying to start more colonies.
It’s nice to know that discarded wings can only mean that there were swarmers nearby, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that there are termites in the house. I hope that’s the case with my home! I will still call a pest control professional to do an inspection though.
My house is old and historic, and I do not want to risk losing it just because of these tiny wooden-eating insects!