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Termite Control: A Recent Job & Some Homeowner Tips

Category: Holiday

Published: 01 Sep, 2026

By Kyle Deal, Co-Owner, Deal Pest Control LLC

What I Walked Into

September is a month when I tell homeowners around Surprise and the West Valley to pay a little more attention to termites.

The tricky thing about termites is that most people don't know they're there until they find one of the signs they leave behind.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from a homeowner who had noticed a few thin mud tubes coming up along the foundation near the side of the house.

That's when they decided to give us a call.

When I arrived, the home looked well maintained. There wasn't damaged wood everywhere or anything that would make you immediately think there was a termite problem.

That's pretty normal.

Termites can be active around a home for quite a while without making themselves obvious.

I started around the exterior where the homeowner had noticed the tubes, and it didn't take long to confirm that we needed to take a closer look.

The Problem

The mud tubes were the first clue.

Subterranean termites build these tubes to travel between the soil and the structure while staying protected from the dry air and heat.

Once I found those, I started checking the rest of the property.

There were a few more areas along the foundation that the homeowner hadn't noticed yet. They weren't large, but they showed me the activity wasn't limited to the first spot they had found.

That's one of the reasons termite inspections matter.

A homeowner might notice one tube and assume that's where the whole problem is. In reality, there can be activity in several places that aren't easy to see.

The homeowner's biggest concern was damage.

They wanted to know how long the termites had been there and whether they had already caused a serious problem inside the home.

I understand why people worry about that.

With ants or spiders, you usually see the pest itself. Termites are different. Most of their activity happens where you can't see it, so there's always that question of what's going on behind the surface.

The good news in this case was that the homeowner noticed the signs early enough to do something about it before there were obvious signs of extensive damage.

The Process

The first thing I did was complete a thorough termite inspection.

I checked around the foundation, garage, exterior walls, plumbing areas, and other places where termite activity can develop or enter the structure.

I also looked closely at areas where soil or moisture conditions could make the property more attractive to termites.

Once I had a good picture of what was happening, I walked the homeowner through what I'd found.

I showed them the mud tubes, explained what they meant, and talked through the treatment instead of just telling them they had termites and needed to take care of it.

The goal of a professional termite treatment isn't just to spray the places where you can see activity. The treatment needs to address termites moving between the soil and the structure so the colony itself is affected.

That's an important difference.

If you simply knock down a mud tube, you've removed the sign of the problem, not the problem itself.

Once the treatment was completed, I also went over a few conditions around the property that the homeowner could keep an eye on moving forward.

The Outcome

The biggest change for the homeowner was knowing exactly what they were dealing with.

Before the inspection, they had found something strange along the foundation and had no idea whether it was minor or something they should be worried about.

Afterward, they understood where the termite activity was, how we treated it, and what signs they should watch for in the future.

When we followed up, there wasn't new activity showing up in the areas where they had originally found the mud tubes.

They also told me they had started checking around the foundation every so often instead of waiting until something obvious appeared.

That's something I always like to hear.

Instead of wondering whether the termites were still working somewhere out of sight, they knew the problem had been properly addressed and they had protection behind the work.

DIY Advice

There are a few simple things I recommend homeowners around Surprise and the West Valley keep an eye on when it comes to termites.

1. Walk around the foundation occasionally and look for narrow mud tubes running from the soil toward the structure.

2. Keep firewood, scrap lumber, cardboard, and other cellulose materials away from the foundation instead of storing them directly against the house.

3. Pay attention to moisture around plumbing, irrigation lines, and other areas close to the structure. Fix leaks and avoid keeping the soil unnecessarily wet against the foundation.

4. Avoid allowing soil, mulch, or landscaping materials to build up in a way that hides areas where termites could enter the home.

5. If you find a suspicious mud tube, don't just knock it down and forget about it. Take a picture and keep an eye on the area because termites may rebuild it.

6. Pay attention to wood that suddenly looks damaged, sounds hollow when tapped, or seems unusually soft.

None of these things replace a termite inspection, but they can help you notice activity earlier.

"It's brighter than before!"

— Megan

Professional Insight

Termites are one pest where I don't recommend guessing.

The problem is that so much of their activity happens underground or inside areas of the structure that homeowners can't easily inspect.

That's also why we offer free termite inspections.

If something looks suspicious, I'd rather have a homeowner know what they're dealing with than spend months wondering whether termites are causing damage somewhere they can't see.

When treatment is necessary, we use Termidor HE and back our termite treatment with a 5-year warranty.

Closing Thoughts

This job was a good reminder that termites usually don't announce themselves in a big way.

Sometimes the first warning is nothing more than a small mud tube along the foundation that would be easy to brush away and forget about.

That homeowner noticed it, paid attention when it came back, and caught the problem before there were obvious signs of serious damage.

If you're around Surprise or the West Valley and you notice mud tubes, suspicious wood damage, or anything around your foundation that doesn't look right, it's worth having it checked instead of waiting to see what

happens.

Thanks for reading,