Proudly Serving Inland Empire, Upland and Surrounding Communities
Call us right now: (909) 774-0555
Categories
Termite Control

Top 3 Signs You Have a Termite Problem

Termites can really cause some serious damage to a structure. While they are constantly eating the wooden beams and frame of a home, the queen termite cranks out thousands of eggs a day. Termites are relatively quiet and stay hidden deep within your walls, floor, or ceiling so you may not know they are there for months or even years. To minimize the damage, you want to catch any termite problem early. To be able to identify an infestation, you have to know what the top 3 signs are that tell you that you have a termite problem.

1. Look for piles of wood pellets on the floor

As termites munch away at your home, they produce large piles of excrement that resemble sawdust. These piles are called frass and you may look for them underneath windows, below wall hangings, or directly beneath light fixtures. As the termite tunnels become full of chewed up and biologically processed cellulose, the termites make little holes in your walls and ceiling to push the frass out of their home and into your’s.

2. Evidence outside

Termites have to get inside your home first before they can start wreaking havoc. They will often leave evidence of their entry outside your home. Look for mud tunnels on the foundation. Termites do not come out into the open air so they create mud tunnels that allow them to get close to your home so they can find a way inside.

You may also find shed wings from swarmer termites outside of your windows. When a swarmer termite lands, they will shed the wings as they start hunting for a way to get inside your home to begin a new colony.

3. Swarmers pouring out of the walls

In the spring, a termite colony will produce swarmer termites who will fly off in search of more homes to destroy with new termite infestations. The swarmers will spill out of a hole in the wall into the interior of your house. If you are home during the swarm, you will definitely be aware of the termites covering your floor and walls. Be sure to locate exactly where the termites are coming from so you can tell your trusted exterminator when they arrive. Likely, the swarm will be over by the time the exterminator is able to come to your home.

Call a professional termite exterminator

If you see any of these three signs of a termite infestation, call your termite exterminator as soon as possible. You do not want a termite colony living in your home a minute longer than they have to. If you are in Upland, CA, give our trusted team at Bug Baron Exterminator a call today.

Categories
Termite Control

Do Termites Cause Expensive Damage?

The scariest part about termites is that they can eat away at your home for a long time without you even knowing they are there. This allows the damage they create to get much worse before you start treating your home for termites. Because termites affect the wooden frame of your home, the hidden damage can really be a blow to your wallet when you finally start to repair the destruction caused by termites.

Every year in the US, termites cause billions of dollars worth of damage. The average homeowner who discovers termite damage will spend about $3,000 on repairs. That can be devastating, especially in this economy with inflation already making everyday expenses difficult.

Prevention

Keeping termites away from your home is key to not having to pay a dime in termite damage repairs. A few ways you can prevent termites from choosing your house as their new home and meal are:

  • Keep wood piles away from the home
  • Remove dead, fallen trees or old stumps from your yard
  • Make sure soil around the exterior of your home is not above your foundation
  • Keep shrubs and trees near your home from touching your siding or roof
  • Quickly repair any leaks or drips inside
  • Make sure your roof is in good condition
  • Have a yearly termite inspection

Termite inspection

Termites are experts at getting inside your home. Some try to get in by flying inside while others build elaborate mud tunnels so the colony can enter your home without being exposed to sunshine. While you can definitely keep an eye out for signs of termites as well as use prevention measures to keep the termites out, the single best way to safeguard your home against termites is to have a termite exterminator to routinely check your home for termites.

Depending on how at risk your home is for developing a termite problem, you may have a termite inspection every six months to a year. Once your home gets the all clear from a termite inspector, any new termite invasion will first have to find your home, find a way inside, start the colony, and begin eating. A routine  inspection greatly reduces how much damage the colony can make before the next inspection.

What kind of treatment does my home need?

Depending on where you live and the humidity around your home, a termite exterminator will decide on the best way to protect your home from termites. A few ways to treat for termites and prevent them from coming back are:

  • Preventative barrier around your home in the the soil that kills any termite that gets into the treatment
  • Bait stations outside that entice worker termites to bring poisoned food back to the colony.
  • Preventative exposed wood treatment in the attic or any accessible crawl spaces
  • Localized treatment when the technician discovers the location of the termites
  • Fumigation when the infestation is wide spread or in difficult to reach areas of the home

For the best termite extermination services in Upland, CA, give Bug Baron Exterminator a call today.

Categories
Ants

Ant Elimination in Rancho Cucamonga

Once ants find a way into your home, they can be quite difficult to eradicate. Right behind every ant, is another one coming in to get into your food. While ants do not present a health risk to you or your family, having insects streaming into your home is never what you want. Eliminating the ant problem quickly will help prevent it from turning into a full ant infestation in your Rancho Cucamonga home.

Making sure your home is safe

While most ants are coming in to find a few crumbs under the table or something sweet in the pantry, there are ants that can cause harm to your home. Carpenter ants will actually nest in the wooden frame of your house, which can seriously compromise the structure. A few ways to identify if you have carpenter ants in your home are:

  • They are larger than typical ants found in your kitchen
  • They are sometimes solid black, dark brown, or red. They can also have a black head and thorax with a red or dark brown abdomen
  • They live in walls near a water source like in the kitchen or bathroom
  • If you find piles of wood shavings or sawdust, you may have found where carpenter ants push out the wood they excavate from their tunnels

Do not confuse ants with termites

  • Termites also leave piles of sawdust behind but it will look differently. It is called frass because it is actually the droppings from termites.
  • Termites have straight antennae, not elbowed or bent antennae like an ant’s.
  • You will not see the termites unless the swarmers, termites with wings, come out to find a new place to nest. They will suddenly pour out of the walls and you are sure to notice them.

Eliminating ants

If you see a line of marching insects in your home, give a professional pest control service a call. You will have the peace of mind knowing that a trained professional will quickly identify the insect and begin treatment. For most ants, trusted pest control technicians will apply the best treatment for the job around your Rancho Cucamonga home, effectively taking care of the problem inside.

Then the thorough pest control service will inspect the outside  perimeter of your house. They are looking for ant mounds or nests where the problem is coming from. When an ant mound is identified, the technician will then treat the nests so the ants will not be back any time soon.

In Rancho Cucamonga

If you have an ant issue marching around your home, give our technicians at Bug Baron Exterminator a call. We will come out and identify the problem and quickly eliminate these insects from your home. Give Bug Baron Exterminator a call today.

Categories
Ants

Are Ants Hard to Get Rid Of?

Ants are social creatures and never travel far from their hundreds of little ant friends. If they find a source of food in your home, no matter how small, you will soon have a line of ants marching into your kitchen. Once ants establish themselves near your home, you may be wondering if they are hard to eradicate. Getting rid of ants can be difficult because there are so many. There are definitely some Do’s and Don’ts you will want to make note of so you can reclaim your house from these ant invaders.

Getting rid of Ants

By avoiding a few things, you can reduce the chances of causing a bigger ant problem  and attracting ants into your home in the first place.

  • Don’t leave out food on your countertops for extended periods of time. The smell of food will draw ants into your home.
  • Do not try to wipe up the line of ants marching on your wall or floor. This can actually scatter the ants, causing them to create multiple lines of marching insects in your kitchen.
  • Do not just wait and hope they will go away. If they find food, they aren’t going anywhere.
  • Do not leave cat or dog food or their water bowls on the floor in your home. This attracts ants.

Good habits you can start that can deter ants from coming into your home are:

  • Sweep the floor after every meal.
  • Use a white vinegar and water solution to spray and wipe down your countertops. Ants hate the smell and it also cleans well. Be careful with it on your wooden surfaces.
  • Promptly take out the garbage.
  • Keep the outdoor trash can away from the house.
  • Fill any holes with caulk around windows that may serve as an entry point.
  • Spray white vinegar on the exterior of the home where there may be possible entry points.
  • Call a professional pest control service to treat your home for ants.

Professional treatment

No matter how tough the ant problem is in your home, a thorough and experienced pest control technician knows how to get rid of every last ant on the premises. Ants may come inside to find food to send back the rest of the colony, but most ant nests are not found inside the home. The best ant exterminators treat inside and outside the home to make sure the ants never come back.

You can certainly do your part to deter ants from coming around, but if they are already making themselves at home, a professional can eliminate the problem for you. If you live in or around Upland, California, Bug Baron Exterminator can get rid of the ants. We want to give you back your home and kick out the ants. Give Bug Baron Exterminator a call today.