When it comes to protecting your home from pests, the best way to combat them is with a strong defense. This means that you’re calling an exterminator to either inspect your home for risks before they become a problem or treating your home with preventative measures to keep pests from entering your home in the first place. At Clearview Environmental Sciences, we can help by offering home inspections for pests that will either bring disease into your home or slowly destroy it. If you’re worried about the latter, ask about a WDI inspection. To help understand when and why you should get an inspection for wood-destroying insects (WDI), read our short guide below.
What is a WDI inspection?
Before we get too deep into when you should call for a WDI inspection, let’s first establish what it is. As we mentioned above, a WDI is a wood-destroying insect. The first types of insects that come to mind are often termites. These are ant-like pests that feast on the cellulose in wood, which is what gives the wood its strength. After years of a termite colony feeding on the wood in the framing of your house, the walls and structure of your home could be greatly compromised. Your inspection will also look for carpenter ants, carpenter bees, wood-boring beetles, and powder post beetles as these insects also destroy wood. A WDI inspection is the best way to verify if you have termites or another creature causing problems in your home.
Your home is about 10 years old
If you start seeing the effects of termites in and around your home, you could already be several years into a termite infestation. While it might seem like a termite problem occurred overnight, it’s taken several years for the problem to become noticeable. A termite infestation can feed on the wood in your home for as long as eight before it’s noticed. Newer homes don’t often have a problem with termites because of this, but a home that’s about 10 years old could be at risk of a termite infestation that got started within a couple of years of being built.
Buying or selling a property
It’s not uncommon for a bank or another mortgage lender to require a WDI inspection when you’re buying or selling a home. This is a form of insurance that they’re not going to be funding the purchase of a house that has severe structural damage as a result of years of termite damage.
Even if an inspection isn’t required by a third party when you’re buying or selling a home, it’s always a good idea to have an inspection performed anyway so you can reassure those who are considering buying your home that there aren’t any issues. Furthermore, you’ll feel more comfortable if the area you’re buying the home is at risk for WDI infestations.
You start seeing signs of damage
Often when you start seeing signs of damage, significant damage has already been done. Although, this doesn’t mean that you can’t prevent the infestation from causing more severe damage to your home. The sooner you identify the problem the sooner you’ll be able to remedy it by getting rid of the insects and having necessary repairs performed.
Schedule a WDI inspection
You don’t have to let a WDI infestation get out of control. Get in touch with our team at Clearview Environmental Sciences to schedule your WDI inspection. We have 20 years of experience eliminating pests and want to help you get your home back. Give us a call at 347-224-2581 or 929-381-9487 for an inspection. You can also send a message via our online contact form with your inquiries.