Homeowners are conversant with the effects of pests on their homes, destroying furniture, or being a carrier of diseases. However, many do not know about the impacts of pests on the foundation of their home.
Your foundation is the bedrock on which your house stands, if anything degenerates it, it will surely affect the structural integrity of the whole building.
In this post, you will get to know the impacts pests can have on the foundation of your home. Also, for all foundation problems, reach out to winston-salem foundation repair.
Foundation Damage
Pests such as rodents do damage to your foundation. Unarguably, the foundation of your home is what keeps the floors, walls, and roof intact. Any damage to the foundation ultimately equates to subsequent damages to your whole house.
If the foundation of your home is made of wood, ants and termites may feast on it and damage it without you even being aware of it, and in the long run, it gets into complicated issues.
How To Know If Your Foundation Is Affected By Pests
Most times, you may not notice pest infestation or damages done to your foundation until it is too late, this is because termites and ants burrow through the soil to do their harmful job. Nevertheless, if you pay careful attention to details, you will be able to detect pests quickly. Things to look for include:
Broken Wings – If you notice broken wings in any part of your home, then that’s a notice of termites’ presence in your home. Termites shed their wings whenever they want to mate.
Clicking Noise – whenever there is danger around, termites knock against the wood to alert their colony about the danger.
Hollow Wood – when termites infest on wood, they want the wood from the inside and out and leave their marks on the same. Also, they may create some sort of tunnels inside the soil leading them to the foundation of your house.
How To Protect Your Home From Pests
- Tighten up your building envelope by filling in cracks and holes in the walls, foundation, and air vents. This will prevent pests from entering your home.
- Keep your home dry and clean and make sure you fix any leaking pipes, appliances, or roofs to prevent standing water which could be a fertile ground for pests’ growth.
- Ensure you clean your kitchen, countertops, floors, and tables regularly. This will help prevent food buildup that may attract insects and pests into your home.
- Vacuum your home regularly to eliminate pests, their eggs, and harmful waste that might have traveled through your home.
Lastly, whenever you notice large bodies of pests or any of the indications that they have infested your home, have a pest control professional look at the impacts of the same on your home and help you rid them from your house. Also, you will need the service of a construction contractor to look at the extent of the pest damages to your foundation and fix the cracks that may have occurred.