How To Avoid Bringing Termites Into Your Home With Firewood
You can take many steps to try to prevent termites from entering your home, but if you have a fireplace that uses firewood, you may be accidentally bringing termites in. If you bring the firewood into your home, the termites might then make their way to other parts of your home and cause damage. If you stack firewood near your house, this can also attract termites.
Obtaining Firewood
Firewood that is the most likely to be infested with termites come from rotting or dead trees. If you find a log outside, you may want to avoid using it for firewood since it may have an infestation. You are better off purchasing firewood and placing it in a place where it won't be infested by termites.
Inspecting Firewood
Inspect firewood for signs that it may be infested with termites. You may notice tunnels on the outside of the wood. If so, you might want to dispose of that piece of firewood. If you immediately throw the log onto a fire, though, you are unlikely to cause an infestation since the termites will probably be destroyed in the fire before they have a chance to leave and infest your home.
However, tunnels do not guarantee that the firewood is infested with termites since other pests can also cause tunnels. Termites usually line their tunnels with mud. If there is no mud, you may instead have carpenter ants. Also, you may discover termites. These are wingless, soft-bodied insects that are white or light brown.
Storing Firewood
Rather than storing your firewood against your home, store it somewhere that is off the ground. For instance, you could place your firewood in a wheelbarrow that is not next to your home. When the firewood is not on the ground, termites are less likely to access it and the termites are less likely to find their way into your home.
Chemically Treating Firewood
Do not treat the firewood you intend to burn with pesticides. Pesticides can give off noxious fumes that can be bad for your health. If you have already treated the firewood, make sure to throw it away.
If you have a termite problem, you will need to contact termite pest control services such as EMCO Pest Control to have the termites exterminated. Termites can be difficult to remove because of how they hide within your home, but there are effective bait systems that can destroy them as well as other methods.
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