Mud tubes, discarded wings, a door that sticks: how to tell if termites are in the house

The signs that point to termites

The most reliable signs of termites are pencil-width mud tubes climbing the foundation, winged insects or piles of discarded wings inside the house, and wood that sounds dull or hollow when tapped and has mud packed into its tunnels. Doors and windows that suddenly stick can be another clue. Texas A&M's urban entomology program notes that swarming termites inside the house usually indicate an active infestation in the structure, so if you see swarmers indoors, schedule a licensed inspection rather than waiting to see if they return.

Termites are where my family started. My grandmother Phoebe founded a termite company in 1962, the first woman-owned pest control company in Texas, and it still operates as Miss Phoebe's, the termite division of Eco-Safe Pest Control. This guide covers what each sign looks like, how to tell termites from flying ants and ordinary wood rot, what you can check yourself, and what a professional inspection involves.

Mud tubes: the clearest evidence and the easiest to miss

Subterranean termites live in the soil and need moisture to survive, so they travel between the ground and the wood they eat inside tunnels of soil and saliva. Those shelter tubes are often no wider than a pencil and run straight up the slab, a pier or an interior wall. Texas A&M points out that they can blend in well with soil or concrete, which makes them hard to see, and suggests looking along cracks, in corners and wherever the foundation sits close to ground level.

If you find one, the same Texas A&M guidance says a screwdriver is useful for breaking open a suspected tube to check for live termites. Open only a small section and take a photo first. Small, cream-colored insects inside mean the tube is active. An empty tube is still worth an inspection, because it shows termites reached the house at some point.

Swarmers and wings: termites or flying ants?

Once a colony matures, it sends out winged reproductives to start new colonies. Texas A&M notes that swarming begins as early as January and February in South Texas, while in the Panhandle swarms do not occur until April and May. North Texas sits between the two, so late winter through spring is when it pays to watch windowsills, light fixtures and doorways. Wings left on sills or caught in indoor cobwebs are a clue even if you never saw the swarm.

Flying ants swarm around the same time of year, and Texas A&M stresses that control measures for each differ greatly, so identification matters. Termite swarmers have straight bodies with no pinched waist, straight antennae and two pairs of wings of equal length. Flying ants have a narrow waist, elbowed antennae and front wings longer than the back pair. If you are not sure, put one in a sealed bag or photograph it next to a coin.

Damage you can see inside the house

Termites eat wood from the inside out and leave a thin surface, so damage often hides behind paint or drywall. Wood they have damaged contains mud particles and tunnels that run in irregular patterns. Other signs include damaged or rippled walls, blistered paint or window frames, doors that will not close properly and, in homes with a crawl space, visible damage to the framing below the floor. Texas A&M recommends carefully examining any wood that thuds or sounds dull when struck with a screwdriver or hammer.

Not every soft board is termites. Wood that is spongy, darkened and crumbling with no mud in it is more often rot caused by water, especially around windows, doors and trim. If that is what you have, the guide on soft window sills and wood rot explains the repair. Moisture feeds both problems, so it is worth having both possibilities checked.

What makes a North Texas house easy for termites

Texas A&M states that termites enter buildings through wood in direct contact with the soil, and that moisture is important to them because they have very little resistance to drying out. It names leaky plumbing, roofs, air conditioner condensers and gutters as common moisture sources. Gutters that overflow and dump water at the foundation are among the easiest of these to correct, and water pooling at the foundation from overflowing gutters is worth fixing for that reason alone.

The Texas rules for wood-destroying insect inspections list the same kinds of conducive conditions, including wood-to-ground contact, excessive moisture and wood debris under or around the structure. In practical terms, that means soil or mulch piled above the slab, firewood stacked against a wall, a wooden fence or deck touching the siding, and sprinklers that soak the foundation every morning.

None of these conditions proves you have termites. Each one makes it easier for a colony that is already in the soil to reach the wood in your house and stay there, and each one is cheaper to fix than the damage it invites.

A twenty-minute check you can do this weekend

You do not need special tools to look for the obvious signs. A flashlight, a screwdriver and a phone camera are enough. Go slowly, write down where you look, and photograph anything that seems out of place.

• Walk the full perimeter of the slab and look for mud tubes, especially at corners, cracks, plumbing entries and the garage.
• Check that the soil line sits several inches below the top of the slab, as Texas A&M recommends, and pull mulch back where it does not.
• Look for wood touching soil: fence posts against the house, deck framing, siding that runs to the ground.
• Inside, check windowsills, light fixtures and doorways for wings or swarmers, especially after a warm rain.
• Tap baseboards, door frames and window trim with the screwdriver handle and listen for a dull or hollow sound.
• Note any doors or windows that started sticking for no obvious reason, and any paint that bubbles or ripples.

What a licensed inspection covers, and its limits

Termite control starts with a thorough structural inspection by a licensed professional, and we set a treatment plan only after the termite species is identified and the affected areas are assessed. Texas rules require formal wood-destroying insect inspections to be done by a licensed certified applicator or technician in the termite category, and they list the areas to examine when accessible, including plumbing in baths, kitchens and laundry rooms, window and door openings, walls and ceilings, porches and steps, the outside of the slab, crawl spaces, fireplaces and weep holes.

The same rules are honest about the limits. Areas such as attics, wall cavities and spaces behind appliances or storage are recognized as inaccessible or obstructed, and the rule states that concealed infestations or damage may not be discovered even when every accessible area is examined. Clearing stored items away from walls before an inspection gives the technician more to see.

If you are buying a home and the lender requires an official Wood Destroying Insect Report, tell us at the start. Miss Phoebe's does not currently issue those reports, but we can talk through options for your situation.

Once termites are confirmed, what treatment looks like

The right approach depends on the species, where the activity is and how the house is built. Our termite work covers baiting and monitoring, which can catch activity early and greatly reduce the risk of ongoing damage, and full or spot treatment when an infestation is already established. We can also install systems designed to stop termites and prevent future ones, and we work with builders on pre-construction treatment.

Termites feed on wood and other cellulose, and over time that can weaken a structure. They can also damage carpet, books, clothing and furniture. That is why we do not recommend waiting a season to see what happens. The factors that shape the price of this work are covered in what drives the cost of pest control.

Mistakes that let a termite problem grow

The most common is spraying a swarm with household insecticide and assuming the problem is over. The swarmers you killed were leaving; the colony that produced them is still in the soil and still feeding. The second is scraping off every mud tube before anyone inspects, which removes the evidence a technician uses to judge where termites are entering and whether they are active.

Others are slower. Mulch piled against the slab year after year, firewood stored along the garage wall, a sprinkler head that wets the same corner of the foundation every morning, and a plumbing leak that goes unrepaired all keep the conditions termites need. Store-bought spot treatments rarely reach the colony, so they tend to move the activity rather than end it. And a home that had termites treated years ago still needs an occasional look; a past treatment is not a permanent shield.

What to do if you found something today

Take photos, save a swarmer or a few wings in a sealed bag, and leave the rest of the mud tubes in place. Then request a free inspection. A technician will check the structure inside and out, identify the species, show you what was found and explain your options with a price before anything is done. We serve homeowners across Dallas and the surrounding area.

Once the problem is handled, the work shifts to keeping the house unattractive to termites and other pests. The habits that matter most are in how to keep pests from coming back after a treatment.

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