Even when the amount of wood eaten in a day by a termite is multiplied by 1 000 000 termites it may not seem like very much. Most estimates say the average colony can consume one foot of a 2 4 in about six months and a home that is about 2300 square feet has about 17 000 board feet of lumber.
How Do Termites Eat Wood
If more than one colony infests your home chances are the main structure of your house may be compromised.
How fast can termites eat wood. Experts estimate that over a period of about five months a group of around 60 000 termites can eat the equivalent of one foot of a 2x4 beam. How fast do subterranean termites eat wood. A termite colony will roughly have 60k termites in it.
Also termites hide when they attack a home. How fast do termites eat wood. How fast can termites eat a house.
Termite damage to a home depends upon a number of factors that directly or indirectly contribute to the presence of termites and how these factors support the overall health and vitality of termite survival reproduction and associated population size. Based on reasonable assumptions combined with observations of how quickly these pests can destroy wood it would take about 314 years for 100 termites to destroy a 1 000 square foot section of a home. Water leaks near the house structure and unwanted wood piles around your house can invite termites.
The problem is that termites remain hidden when they attack a home. Subterranean termites can over the years easily get into the millions so the difference of how much wood they eat can be huge. Your house structure become vulnerable to termite attacks when you are not maintaining a clean environment.
When a colony of termites infests a building noticeable damage appears between three and eight years depending on the size of the colony. Although the structural integrity of a building is most important thing to protect from termites they can also eat other wooden objects including your furniture. An average colony can eat approximately 2 feet of a 2 4 of wood in a year which may not seem like a lot.
The speed of how termites can eat wood may depend on how large the colony is and how strong or how dense the wood is. Although one termite on its own may be very slow in eating when multiplied by the thousands in a colony it s much quicker. How fast can a termite eat wood.
A 2 by 4 inch piece of lumber can be consumed over a period of about five months. The total amount of wood that this termite can consume in a day is not very much but a colony can have significant damage. With some quick math the shocking answer is that it would take an average colony 8500 years to consume your home.
However they don t take their meals in a neat and orderly fashion. The largest subterranean termite colonies eat about a pound of wood per day. A single termite worker can live for about two years.
The rate at which termites eat wood depends on many factors such as the species of termite size of the colony type of wood climate and location. To make room for the colony the average termite colony can eat a foot of a 2 4 in six months. Single termites colonies can eat up to 6 pounds of wood in a year.
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