Termites are tiny wood-boring insects that are extremely destructive to homes and other buildings. They have been around since the beginning of time because they are adaptable to ever-changing environments. The most common type found, subterranean termites, is extremely tough to control. They’re of increasing concern to homebuyers in North America because they can cause serious structural damage.
Termites live in the soil, but feed off the cellulose in wood, breaking it down and returning it to the soil. Be forewarned that any untreated wood that comes into direct contact with the soil surrounding a home provides a perfect entry point for those destructive, menacing insects. And because they basically never stop working and eating for even a minute out of the day, their ability to tunnel their way through a home’s wooden structure and leave it destroyed is truly frightening. An average termite colony is over one million strong, and thanks to the fact that they remain unseen and cause their destruction under the surface, they can be very difficult to detect. If they are found in a home’s support beams, thereby jeopardizing the integrity of those beams, they can put the entire home at risk!
From Sandra's new book, Realty Check: Real Estate Secrets for First-Time Canadian Home Buyers available now at amazon.ca and chapters.indigo.ca
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Reprinted from Realty Check: Real Estate Secrets for First-Time Canadian Home Buyers by Sandra Rinomato Copyright (C) 2009 by Sandra Rinomato. Reprinted with permission of the publisher John Wiley & Sons, Inc.