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Stuart and Jackie Mendelson of Potomac know too well the problems termites can cause.
Last month, Jackie heard a bird pecking at the front door. She opened the shade to take a peek and saw a swarm of insects stuck between the storm window and the regular window.
"They're black bugs with white wings. I was like: 'Oh, my God, are they carpenter ants? Are they termites?' I really wasn't sure what they were. I was praying they weren't termites."
She scooped some into a bag and took them to her exterminator in Rockville, who confirmed her fears. A subsequent inspection found plenty of termites inside the living room walls.
The Mendelsons hired a contractor to tear down the drywall in the living room, then replace all the woodwork, studs and insulation, as well as a 24-foot beam where the flock was nesting.
The couple also hired someone to trim two trees and move the mulch away from the side of the house. The pest management company drilled into the brick and injected insecticide to keep the termites from getting in, Stuart Mendelson said.
The indoor work alone cost $15,000.
"You hear these stories," Stuart Mendelson said. "You never really know what it is till it comes in your house. What a mess for three weeks."
If you spot termites, entomologists recommend, call a professional. "Termites are the big league," said Garling of Penn State.
Young, of Terminix, said his company offers several possibilities, including the installation of dry bait stations outside the perimeter of the home or a state-of-the-art non-repellent liquid. Termites pick up the bait and return to the nest, killing others inside.
Another approach is to drill holes in wood inside the home and inject liquid insecticides.
In certain instances involving dry-wood termites, the exterminators might fumigate with a product called Vikane, Young said. That kind of termite is usually found only in a couple of states and not in this area, according to the National Pest Management Association.
