Are you noticing faint lines or bubbling on your wall? Do Termites Eat Drywall?
Do termites only eat wood? Why is your drywall damaged? This needs to be checked out.
This article is written for you to find out about termites eating drywall.
Do Termites Eat Drywall?
Yes. Drywall is also referred to as sheetrock. It contains cellulose. That is all termites need or want to devour. Termites do not eat wood. They eat cellulose. This is why drywall is not safe from the wrath of termites.
Both sides of paper board, sheetrock and drywall can be damaged by swarms of termites who take over large areas of drywall and cause major damage by consuming the cellulose within it.
What Do Termites Look Like on Drywall?
If you are looking for termites on drywall, you are trying to inspect faint lines that are dragging across. You might actually see underlying the tunnels through the paper board on the drywall itself.
You can actually map out their tunnels from outside of the wall by watching the tracks that they have created. If you tap on the wall you may hear a hollow sound.
Other instances include bubbling or peeling paint. Once again, here are the factors and signs you should look for when determining that you have termites on your drywall:
- Faints lines
- Hollow sound when tapping on the wall
- Bubbling paint
- Peeling paint
Do Termites Live in The Walls?
Yes. Subterranean termites in particular create tunnels under the ground to make their way into the walls through the foundation of your home. It could occur over months or years without you noticing.
Termites such as drywood termites, will drop their sawdust looking feces in mounds with poked holes through your drywall.
Subterranean termites use their own feces and saliva as part of their building materials to construct tunnels that lead to your while.
If you are noticing shavings, droppings, sawdust or termite feces then you know you are a victim of a termite infestation that is living in your walls.
How Do You Get Rid of Termites in Drywall?
Getting rid of termites in your drywall is a tricky task. You need to treat them with termite pesticide or foam. there are countless types of a termiticide available in the market today. You can purchase one in your local hardware store, supermarket or online.
We highly recommend that you employ the services of a professional extermination company if you wish to get rid of termites in drywall. The most damage is not at the surface of the drywall itself.
It could be much worse as termites can live inside walls and create expansive tunnels that lead to them. This is why we highly recommend that you do not try to get rid of termites by yourself in drywall.
What Is Eating My Drywall?
If you notice faint lines around your drywall or crevices and cracks that are developing, the main culprit behind it is probably termites. Termites will devour sheetrock faster than wood.
Sheetrock or drywall contains cellulose which is the main food source of termites. They can ingest drywall faster than wood. Termites in large colonies are quick to act and will eat away at your drywall before you notice the extent of the damage they have caused.
It is important and imperative for you to employ or even ask for the consultation of a termite removal service if you noticed that your drywall is looking like it has been eaten.
How Do You Know If You Have Termites in Walls?
There are a few obvious signs that you may have termites in your walls. Let’s start with a few factors in dig deeper into them:
- Mud tunnels or tubes
- Power cutting off or short-circuiting
- Floor and ceiling damage
- Flying termites outside
- Shed wings on your doorways or window sills
- Cracked paint or plaster on your walls
Termites are capable of building expansive mod tunnels that lead to your walls. Subterranean termites are the most capable species of these pests who will find their way into your home.
They may end up short-circuiting the power. If you notice flickering lights, floor and ceiling damage or cracked paint, then you are more than certain that there is an invasive species that is most likely termites who have invaded your property.
If you notice many shed wings along the doorways or window sills, this means winged termites have found a new place to establish their new colony.
Why Do Termites Eat Drywall?
Termites love to eat drywall because it’s an easy source of cellulose. Cellulose is in organic material that can be found in:
- trees
- plants
- grasses
- all types of products made of wood
Even though we focus on wood itself, termites do not. This is because they can find cellulose in all kinds of building materials including sheetrock and drywall.
Termites do not care which type of material they are sorting through to find their cellulose. They would be satisfied if they found it in a organic materials such as a trees or through the soil.
Unfortunately, they have found cellulose in your drywall and now they are consuming it. Termites are relentless and will chew through all kinds of drywall or wooden exteriors of homes.
If the exterior of your home is not made of wood, they will dig their way through with incredible tunnel building skills to find the cellulose rich structures containing wood or drywall.
Do Drywood Termites Eat Drywall?
Yes. Drywood termites can infest your home and live inside the walls. They can poke holes through the walls or drywall to expel their excrement.
Subterranean termites are even more popular with their powerful jaws and commonly able to chew through wood faster than any other type of termite species. These subterranean termites are contained within incredibly large colonies that can reach up to the millions. They are incredibly destructive and able to chew through your drywall.
Damp wood termites are not going to infest your occupied home. This type of termite is much more associated with eating cellulose found in moist wood and soil out in nature.
When it comes down to which species of termite is consuming the drywall in your home, we assume that subterranean termites are the culprits.
How Did Termites Get In My Drywall?
Termites were able to access your drywall through multiple entry ways that invited them in. It is up to you or a professional exterminator that can identify these entryways and remove them if possible.
Regular termite inspections with experienced professionals are highly recommended. Look for:
- stacks of firewood
- clogged gutters
- or too much mulch near your home
These become tempting invitations for termites to make their way into your drywall. Firewood near homes or stacked against walls becomes a food source that is too tempting to resist.
Firewood
Make sure to keep these piles of firewood at least 20 ft away. This will help termites stay away from the exterior of your home and prevent them from making their way into your drywall.
Gutters
Clogged gutters are also moist then inviting for termites to inhabit. Some hardworking termites will find their way through these moist areas and into the drywall contained underneath it. It will settle in and begin spreading out by devouring all the cellulose within wood or drywall.
Mulch
Too much mulch around your property can also encourage a colony of termites. Moist soil allows plants to grow actively. This creates a perfect environment where termites can begin searching for cellulose through the mulch in your garden.
Once they have devoured as much as they can around your exterior property, they will begin to find their way through tunnel building skills in order to search for the motherload of cellulose which is contained in the wood or drywall of your home.
Conclusion
By the time termites have damaged the drywall of your home, they have probably infested many more areas. Drywall is very thin and it’s easy to detect that you have termites when you see visible signs such as horizontal lines protruding out of the wall.
You may also find mud tombs or cylindrical columns of dirt from the outside of your house that extends into the wood of your home.Subterranean termites most likely damaged your home if you find these tubes.
Drywood termites don’t necessarily need any kind of building skills. They will come in through winged termites flying in doorways or windowsills, then shedding their wings.
They will find a way through your drywall and begin consuming it. On top of that, you may not notice drywood termites because they can create exits through poking holes in the drywall.
They can push out their frass (droppings) which look like sawdust. The holes are also exits to get themselves out of the scene once they have completed their task of consuming much of the cellulose contained within the drywall.
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