{"id":586,"date":"2011-06-17T08:00:41","date_gmt":"2011-06-17T12:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/?p=586"},"modified":"2012-06-25T15:49:55","modified_gmt":"2012-06-25T19:49:55","slug":"just-say-no-to-termites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/services\/just-say-no-to-termites\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Say No To Termites"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Termites can wreak massive destruction on your home thanks to their teeming numbers and constant feeding habits. The aggregate cost of termite damage in the United States has been estimated to be as high as a billion dollars annually. Although termites are destructive and persistent, there are steps you can take to stop them from damaging your home. Specifically, termites flourish in some very specific conditions, so below will be discussed some ways to control those in your favor. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Starve Them Out<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Termites love to eat wood. To be more precise, they love any source of cellulose, which wood happens to be rich in. Once a colony finds a food source, it eats constantly, hence the large potential for damage to your home. Here are some suggestions for keeping cellulose to a minimum:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Use \ttreated lumber for your home and for any other ground structures, \tsuch as decks or sheds. You can also consider resting such \tstructures on concrete supports, instead of directly on the ground.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Keep \tstored wood away from your house, ideally in a shed. Additionally, \tdo not bury left over wood as a means of disposal.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Keep \tyour yard free of fallen limbs, dead trees, stumps or other wooden \tdebris.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Do \tnot use wood mulch on plants near your home. Instead, either move \tthe plants further away, or check your local garden supply store for \trubber mulch, which does not attract termites.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Dry Them Out <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Just like other pests, termites require a source of water to live. Even with bountiful cellulose around, a termite colony cannot take hold without water. Here are some steps you can take to limit the chances that they will find a water source around your home:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Fix \tall leaks promptly, no matter how small they seem at the time.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Fill \tin any dips or depressions in your yard to prevent water from \tpooling.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Likewise, \trepair any cracks or holes in your driveway. These can promote \ttermite growth by both collecting water, and improperly draining \twater toward your home, making the trip easier for the termites.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Keep \tthe area around your home free of brush and other heavy vegetation, \twhich can cause areas of heavy moisture, acting as a safe harbor for \thungry termites.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">Clean \tall gutters and other drainage lines and keep them in good repair.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Calibri,serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">These preventive measures will go a long way toward keeping your home free of destructive termites. Additionally, you should have your home checked by a professional for signs of termites annually.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Termites can wreak massive destruction on your home thanks to their teeming numbers and constant feeding habits. The aggregate cost of termite damage in the United States has been estimated to be as high as a billion dollars annually. Although termites are destructive and persistent, there are steps you can take to stop them from damaging your home. Specifically, termites flourish in some very specific conditions, so below will be discussed some ways to control those in your favor. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[246],"tags":[69,125,99,139],"class_list":["post-586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-services","tag-orange-county","tag-orange-park-acres","tag-shady-canyon","tag-termites"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1240,"href":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586\/revisions\/1240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saddlebackplumbing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}