Identify
How to get rid of termites
Getting rid of termites in a house means treating the colony, not the tube you can scrape. Subterranean termites live in the soil. Drywood termites live in the lumber.
Confirm the insect, photograph the damage, and get wood off the ground. A store kit along the baseboard is delay. Typical US ranges, not a bid.
Key takeaways
- Confirm termites, not flying ants. Thick waist, straight antennae, four wings the same length.
- Indoor swarmers or a live mud tube mean a colony. Vacuum the wings. The soil colony is still there.
- Scraping a tube or foaming one board does not finish a house.
- This week: photograph, pull wood off soil, fix leaks. Then a licensed soil, bait, or tent job.
- Kentucky: they eat slowly. Wait a few days and get a second look.
Kentucky: subterranean termites in a building usually need a licensed firm. A mailbox post in the yard is a possible exception. A house with galleries in the wood is not.
Start on signs of termites. If the insects have a pinched waist or longer front wings, stop. That ID is on flying ants vs termites. Spring daylight after rain, or Gulf Formosan at dusk: when do termites swarm.
The colony is in the soil or the lumber
EPA: native subterranean termites are the common US form. Drywood termites live in the wood itself. Formosan termites are the invasive exception in some southern metros.
| What you found | Where the colony sits | Licensed method |
|---|---|---|
| Pencil-width mud from grade to wood | Soil. Workers walk the tube | Liquid barrier or bait stations |
| Indoor swarmers or equal-length wings on a sill | Already in or under the house | Same, after a wood inspection |
| Sand pellets under a pinhole in trim, no soil line | Drywood, in that lumber | Wood treatment or a tent |
Do not buy a tent for mud tubes. Do not buy a soil trench for pellets in an attic beam. Price those invoices on termite treatment cost.
Kentucky: indoor swarmers live about a day. Sweep or vacuum them. They cannot start a new house colony from the windowsill. The workers in the soil keep feeding.
What you can do this week
Photograph tubes, wings, and hollow wood before anyone scrapes or paints. Inspectors read the path. Log the side of the house in the sighting log.
EPA: keep soil around the foundation dry. Fix leaks. Pull firewood and stumps off the wall. Keep wood off the soil so the foundation stays visible. Fill cracks where utilities enter. That makes the house less of a bridge. It does not replace termiticide in the soil.
If you find a tube, the field check is on termite mud tubes: photograph, break one inch, wait. A repair means the route is still in use. Scraping the rest off does not kill the colony.
What fails on a house
Kentucky: consumer products at the store will seldom clear a colony already in the structure. Prevention and monitors exist. They are not a soil termiticide, a bait system, or a tent.
| Move | Why it fails |
|---|---|
| Store foam or a $38 YouTube spot on one board | The colony forages in more than one direction |
| Orange oil or a “natural” spray as the whole job | Not a labeled structural treatment for a house colony |
| Paint over tubes | You hid the only map the next inspector needs |
| A can along the baseboard | Kentucky: that is not a subterranean treatment |
| Same-day signature | They eat slowly. Get another look |
A closing wood-destroying insect report is a document, not product in the ground. That paper is on termite inspection cost.
Two local bids should name species, method, linear feet, slab drilling, and what they do if activity returns. Contact for a local operator. Typical US ranges, not a bid.