How Termites Can Wreak Havoc on Your Home’s Foundation
Termite Potential Threats
Termites can cause extensive home damage in a short amount of time. Explore potential termite threats to your foundation to ensure you remain on your guard against infestations.
Foundations at Risk
Termites are dedicated and crafty when it comes to securing a new food source. Even the tiniest cracks in your foundation serve as sufficient means for a termite colony to target your home. Likewise, subterranean termites are exceptionally gifted burrowers. An access point thinner than a business card provides plenty of room for new infestation. Homes with wood-heavy post and pier foundations are particularly vulnerable to a termite colony’s ravenous appetite.
Termite Threats
These tiny insects are great at carrying on unnoticed by humans for long periods of time. In a few short years, a small swarm can expand to a colony of 60,000 or more termites. Mature colonies have been known to reach a volume of millions with a sufficient food source. A full-sized colony is able to devour at minimum a foot of wooden 2×4’s every six months. This amount of trouble can cause serious issues for the integrity of a post and pier foundation. The uneven distribution of weight associated with post and piers causes sagging in any location where post integrity is lost. Foundation weakness can eventually progress to collapsed floors if hungry termites are left unchecked.
Full House of Damage
Foundation damage to termites isn’t limited to compromised floors. The loss of foundation support can cause weaknesses to develop in walls, windows, and ceilings. Unattractive cracks can travel from baseboard to ceiling as floor supports grow weaker. Additionally, balance lost in a weakened foundation can compress door and window frames. Remember that termite damage to one part of your foundation is quick to spread across the entire household.
Get to the bottom of your termite issues by working with a foundation professional. Contact Structured Foundation Repairs today for information on how you can prevent and address foundation risks. Call us at 972-484-1200 today.