Termite Damage Warning Signs Kansas City Homeowners Should Know

Mud tubes

Pencil-width tubes of soil on the foundation, basement walls, crawlspace piers or plumbing. Termites build them to travel from the soil to wood without drying out. This is the most reliable sign — worth an inspection every time.

Swarmers or discarded wings

Winged termites indoors, or piles of small equal-length wings on windowsills and near light fixtures, usually March through May. Swarmers inside mean a colony is feeding in or under the house.

Soft, hollow or blistered wood

Wood that sounds hollow when tapped, gives under a screwdriver, or has paint bubbling as if water got under it. Termites eat wood from the inside and leave a thin surface. Moisture rot looks similar, so it needs a closer look.

Doors and windows that suddenly stick

Can come from termite activity in the frame, but far more often it is humidity or settling. On its own it isn't a termite sign; combined with any of the others, it is.

Conditions that invite termites

Wood touching soil, mulch piled against siding, downspouts dumping at the foundation, leaks, a damp crawlspace. Not a sign of termites by itself, but it is what we look for because it is what attracts them.

Ants coming out of walls

Carpenter and acrobat ants point to damp wood, which termites also like. It is not termite damage, but it is a reason to find the moisture.