You Have Termites. How Long Before Your Home Collapses?

As winter ends and spring starts to set in, you may start to notice odd signs of damage around your home. Small tunnels of dirt are stretching up the side of your foundation and plumbing pipes. Vertical trails of wallpaper appear to be sunken in. Your roof begins to sag, and a door frame is loose on its hinges. Uniformly sized tiny pellets of wood or drywall are accumulating on the floor. Congratulations: chances are you have termites, whose swarms are known to reproduce during late winter or early spring. However, you may notice an infestation at any time of year.

The most common form of this pest in the United States is the native subterranean termite, especially prevalent in California and the southern block of states from Texas to Florida. Termites will seldom actually emerge from the places where they're tunneling and thus may be causing dangerous damage to your house for years before an infection is apparent. But this begs the question: is there a timeline for when your house might collapse due to the damage?

In short, it's highly unlikely a structure will collapse due to termite damage alone, and there are ways to bring a building back up to code even after years of sustained termite activity. Yet it's imperative to be vigilant and take the time to treat any infections as soon as possible, not only because this damage can impact your property values, but because termites affect the structural integrity of your home and leave you more vulnerable to dangerous circumstances.

Wood damage is most commonly associated with subterranean termites; however, a study from the University of Florida showed they can wreak havoc on your insulation, making it upwards of 75% less effective. This means structural failures due to natural disasters, like wildfires and earthquake damage, would become more likely when combined with water damage and rot associated with termites or damaged insulation. This would especially be true in more humid climates like Louisiana. Those concerns are particularly dangerous given there is no set time in which one can expect a collapse to happen, so it's important to nip termite issues in the bud. It's a good idea to call in the professionals, especially if you're already seeing damage to your insulation or wooden structures.

Once you've taken the time to treat your home for termites using either a protective "barrier" of liquid pesticides under and around the building, or edible insecticide "baits" that termites bring directly into their nests, there are steps you can take to prevent future infections and damage. Maintain proper drainage in any soil near your foundations, which should have all cracks filled with caulk or cement — including any holes around your utility pipes. Don't plant trees and shrubs too close to your house, and firewood (especially oily varieties like eucalyptus firewood) should be stored away from the structure. Also make sure to schedule regular inspections. While it may take years for termites alone to create a structural collapse, if at all, the damage they cause over time is something to be keenly aware of.