How You Can Prepare Your Home For Termite Tenting

If your home is infested with termites, you know that these tiny bugs can cause huge problems. Each year, termites are responsible for $5 billion in structural property damage.

Depending on the severity of the situation your home may require fumigation, also known as termite tenting.

Wondering how you should prepare? You’ve come to the right place. Here’s a helpful guide to walk you through termite tenting preparations.

Open All Doors

Before leaving your home, you’ll need to ensure that all doors and windows are unlocked and open.

Doing so allows the fumigant to properly spread around the home, including hard to reach areas like baseboards and attics.

Seal Any Perishable Items

As if having to deal with termites wasn’t bad enough already, fumigation preparation requires that homeowners properly store any perishables like food.

Improperly stored food could retain trace amounts of the fumigant, making all affected foodstuffs unsafe to eat.

To make sure your groceries are still safe to eat, seal food in air-tight containers or specialized bags provided by your pest control service.

It’s important to note that this extends to more than just what’s in your cupboard. Refrigerated and frozen foods, as well as medicine, need to be safely stored as well.

Any food that is either canned or unopened should be fine as is.

Remove Certain Household Items

While many household items such as photographs and the like are fine where they are, you will need to remove any living decorations such as plants or small pets like lizards or fish.

You may also need to remove your bedspread and store it in an airtight container, particularly if the bedspread contains plastic.

Plastic has a tendency to absorb the fumigant, reducing its overall effectiveness.

Find A Place To Stay

Perhaps the most inconvenient part about tenting for termites is that it requires residents to leave their home for at least 72 hours.

As a result, it’s important to ensure that you and your family have a safe place to lodge for at least three days or so.

Please note that the timeframe is dependent on a variety of factors such as weather and the severity of the infestation.

Make Sure Your Pest Control Specialists Can Access Your Home

Finally, leave a spare set of keys for your pest control specialists, as they’ll need to access the interior of your home.

If you’re concerned about privacy and security, don’t worry, a senior specialist will be on hand to supervise the entire fumigation process.

Final Thoughts on Termite Tenting Preparation

Preparing for termite tenting can be a rather involved process altogether, but it’s worth the effort. A little bit of preparation now can prevent a whole lot of damage in the future.

If you’re interested in enlisting the services of Tampa’s premier pest control specialists, please don’t hesitate to get in touch – we’d love to help.

Don’t let pests take over your home, contact Chet’s Termite & Pest Management today for a free 57-point inspection.