Every home-owner has to look after their investment.
This requires maintenance, regular and thorough maintenance.
There are many threats to a structure, especially if there is a substantial amount of timber in it.
Most buildings have a lot of wooden areas.
The rafters in the roof, the joists supporting the floors and the framework behind the plasterboard walls are all subject to attack by mold and insects.
The kinds of dangers your that house faces depends on the average temperature where you live.
Wet rot and dry rot are pretty universal, as is attack by wasps, but the worst and fastest-acting peril is from termites and they only live in warmer climes.
If you live in a termite zone, then you really have to look out for these insects.
If you want to delay your inspections, you can use termite deterrents and poisons to make your maintenance regimen a little easier.
This will involve spreading chemicals in most cases as they are more potent and longer-lasting.
These chemicals should be laid down or sprayed wherever termites are likely to commence an attack on the structure of your house.
This basically means everywhere that there is untreated wood.
There are three essential types of termites, the damp wood termites, the dry wood termites and the subterranean termites.
The first two kinds may fly into your attic and establish a nest like a wasps' nest; the subterranean termites will come up into the basement via underground tunnels.
Subterranean termites are by far the worst termites to have and they are usually the most tricky to discover.
If you live in a termite zone, then you really ought to make quarterly inspections of your attic and cellar and one of those inspections should be towards the end of Spring, when termites, along with other insects spread their wings, quite literally, and seek to found new colonies.
A colony of termites can consist of between several hundred and several million termites, so it is best not to procrastinate.
If you are loathe to do these checks yourself or if you need written guarantees on your properties because you buy and sell them often, it is better to get a professional pest controller in to do this for you.
There are two chief termite deterrents.
There is the soil barrier to counteract the subterranean termites and contact insecticides to kill any swarming reproductive termites that may fly into your attic in order to set up a new nest.
If you are one of the new age thinkers, who tries hard not to use chemicals unless absolutely necessary, you will probably be disappointed in your quest to deter termites.
Regrettably, there are no known effective natural termite deterrents, although there are lots of chemical ones.
Another option, which is a half-way house, is to place termite bait at strategic spots around the foundations of your house.
You can buy these bait boxes fairly cheaply or have a firm install them for you.
You have to inspect these termite bait boxes frequently.
Once you see termite damage in the bait box, you put poison in there, which the worker termites will take back to their nest and poison it with.
This requires maintenance, regular and thorough maintenance.
There are many threats to a structure, especially if there is a substantial amount of timber in it.
Most buildings have a lot of wooden areas.
The rafters in the roof, the joists supporting the floors and the framework behind the plasterboard walls are all subject to attack by mold and insects.
The kinds of dangers your that house faces depends on the average temperature where you live.
Wet rot and dry rot are pretty universal, as is attack by wasps, but the worst and fastest-acting peril is from termites and they only live in warmer climes.
If you live in a termite zone, then you really have to look out for these insects.
If you want to delay your inspections, you can use termite deterrents and poisons to make your maintenance regimen a little easier.
This will involve spreading chemicals in most cases as they are more potent and longer-lasting.
These chemicals should be laid down or sprayed wherever termites are likely to commence an attack on the structure of your house.
This basically means everywhere that there is untreated wood.
There are three essential types of termites, the damp wood termites, the dry wood termites and the subterranean termites.
The first two kinds may fly into your attic and establish a nest like a wasps' nest; the subterranean termites will come up into the basement via underground tunnels.
Subterranean termites are by far the worst termites to have and they are usually the most tricky to discover.
If you live in a termite zone, then you really ought to make quarterly inspections of your attic and cellar and one of those inspections should be towards the end of Spring, when termites, along with other insects spread their wings, quite literally, and seek to found new colonies.
A colony of termites can consist of between several hundred and several million termites, so it is best not to procrastinate.
If you are loathe to do these checks yourself or if you need written guarantees on your properties because you buy and sell them often, it is better to get a professional pest controller in to do this for you.
There are two chief termite deterrents.
There is the soil barrier to counteract the subterranean termites and contact insecticides to kill any swarming reproductive termites that may fly into your attic in order to set up a new nest.
If you are one of the new age thinkers, who tries hard not to use chemicals unless absolutely necessary, you will probably be disappointed in your quest to deter termites.
Regrettably, there are no known effective natural termite deterrents, although there are lots of chemical ones.
Another option, which is a half-way house, is to place termite bait at strategic spots around the foundations of your house.
You can buy these bait boxes fairly cheaply or have a firm install them for you.
You have to inspect these termite bait boxes frequently.
Once you see termite damage in the bait box, you put poison in there, which the worker termites will take back to their nest and poison it with.