3 Termite Treatments That Can Protect Your Holiday Home

Termites are every homeowner's worst nightmare, and these voracious, wood-devouring insects aren't just a threat to your regular residence. If you own a holiday home, it may be even more vulnerable to termite infestations than your main home.

Why Can Holiday Homes Be More Vulnerable To Termites?

The first problem with keeping termites out of holiday homes is the lack of oversight. Because you probably only spend a few weeks or months in your holiday home every year, termite infestations can go unnoticed for a long time.

Like most insects, termites also try to steer clear of humans are much as possible, and are less likely to infest areas that are constantly inhabited. A holiday home sitting empty for most of the year presents an inviting, undisturbed target for any termite colony. This can be less of a problem if you rent out your holiday home when you aren't using it, but any significant gaps between tenancies will still leave your property vulnerable.

Keeping subterranean termites away from your holiday home can be particularly problematic. These termites are most active during periods of wet, cool weather — exactly when you are least likely to be on holiday.

3 Ways To Keep Termites Away From Your Holiday Home

Fortunately, termite treatment services offer a number of solutions that can protect your holiday home year-round, even when you are hundreds of miles away.

Regular Inspections

It is always a good idea to schedule regular, professional termite inspections, whether or not you are currently staying there. You can give a trusted termite inspection service remote access to your holiday home, or put them in touch with the agent or property management service that oversees your property.

Termite control specialists will use their skills and experience to find the most likely termite access points in your holiday home and will check all timber fixtures and structures for signs of damage. Many services use heat-sensitive infrared cameras, which can detect termites through walls and floors without creating a disturbance.

Effective Treatments

If termites are detected in your holiday home, your service will act quickly to deploy termite-killing treatments, limiting damage as much as possible. If your holiday home is currently uninhabited, they can use powerful insecticides or whole-home fumigation, which will quickly eradicate entire termite colonies.

If termites are travelling to your holiday home from a nearby colony, your service can deploy bait stations. These stations contain wooden baits that are impregnated with a powerful, slow-acting poison. Worker termites will carry this tainted timber back to their colonies, feeding it to other termites (including larvae and, most importantly, termite queens).

The poison then takes effect, rapidly killing any termite that has come into contact with the bait. These stations are highly effective at killing termite queens. This will prevent colonies from reproducing, and provide long-term protection against future infestations.

Termite Barriers

If your termite control service determines that your holiday home needs more protection against termites, they may recommend installing a termite barrier.

Termite barriers come in two forms. Physical barriers are made of mesh or tough plastic sheeting and are installed to surround the perimeter of your home and block access points. Termites cannot burrow through these durable barriers.

Chemical barriers are created by treating the soil surrounding your property with long-lasting termiticides. Any termite that burrows through the soil to access your home is swiftly killed. These barriers are especially useful if your holiday home is threatened by subterranean termites.

If your holiday home is relatively new, it may already have a physical termite barrier installed, but older properties are more likely to be unprotected. Even if your holiday home already has physical barriers, installing chemical barriers can provide an extra layer of protection and keep termites away from any hidden gaps in the physical barrier.

Contact a local company to learn more about termite solutions.