Can Termites Make You Sick?

Termites infest more than 600,000 homes in America each year. This costs residential homeowners approximately $5 billion annually to exterminate the termites and repair the damaged caused. If your home happens to become infested by termites, you probably have a lot of questions.

One of the first topics of discussion that usually pops up is about the health risk of living with termites in your home.

Can termites cause any health problems? Do termites spread disease? Can termites make you sick? These are all very common questions.

Termites Do Not Want to Bother You

First and foremost, a termite’s goal is not to cause any harm or attack humans. They will not seek you out or swarm you in your home. In fact, their behavior is quite the opposite. Ideally, they would love to remain hidden and unnoticed for years on end eating away at your home, old books and clothes, and cardboard boxes you have stored.

Termite Bites Can Be Painful

In very rare cases, soldier termites can bite people, but it’s highly unlikely and usually won’t happen, even if you provoke them. A termite bite is quite painful and causes itching and swelling of the skin. The bite can also flare up allergies, which might result in a rash.

Termite Droppings Look Like Sawdust

If drywood termites infest your home, you’ll notice one thing they leave behind: piles of feces. Drywood termite feces are called frass.

Unsurprisingly, frass looks almost exactly like sawdust and is the same color as wood. The best places to spot frass are on windowsills, the edges of your floor, and in corners. While frass is not toxic, if you do touch it, there is a chance it could irritate your skin (if you’re especially sensitive to irritants), causing a rash or other allergic reactions.

Finding frass in your home is a clear sign of termite activity, and Budget Brothers Termite & Pest should be called out immediately to investigate.

Termites Attract Mold

A significant cause for concern when termites infest your house is mold. Termites mainly help wood to decompose.

This decomposing wood, along with the heat and humidity within the wood, provides the perfect environment for mold to grow inside the attic, ceiling, and walls of your home.

Having mold growing inside your home should be treated as a primary health concern for you and your family.

The Dangers of DIY

The biggest danger termites present to you and your family isn’t the termites themselves and the damage they cause to your home. The real risk comes when and how you choose to eliminate these pests.

A lot of big-box stores these days are offering extremely dangerous pesticides you can easily buy over the counter for you to unload these toxic chemicals in your home yourself.

We cannot stress to you enough how dangerous this is. DIY options will not only leave you with noxious fumes in your home, but you are most likely only performing a quick fix, or even force the termites into other, uncolonized places inside of your home—creating an even bigger, more expensive problem in the future.

Here are some of the biggest mistakes we see when it comes to DIY termite removal.

Call Budget Brothers Termite & Pest Right Away

Termites don’t necessarily make you sick, however, they can cause some serious problems: to your home, your family, and perhaps your health. Instead of worrying, wondering, and trying to eliminate the issue yourself, call Budget Brothers.

We know exactly what to do to get rid of termites, and we will do it effectively and efficiently. Plus, we even have a warranty on our services!

Call us at 602-253-2495 or contact us today to get your quote eliminate the termites in your home.