Termites don't announce themselves. A colony can work through a door frame, a false ceiling, or a foundation beam for months before anything looks wrong from the outside. By the time damage is visible, it's usually structural, not cosmetic. The good news is that termites do leave signs well before that point. You just have to know where to look.
The four signs that actually matter
- Mud tubes: pencil-width tunnels of mud running along walls, foundations, or wooden beams. Termites build these to travel between their underground colony and a food source while staying protected from open air. Finding one almost always means there's an active colony nearby, not just a past problem.
- Hollow-sounding wood: tap door frames, skirting boards, and furniture with a knuckle. Wood that sounds papery or hollow, or that gives slightly under light pressure, has likely been hollowed out from the inside.
- Discarded wings near windowsills or light fixtures: this is a sign of a swarm, when a mature colony sends out reproductive termites to start new colonies nearby. Finding a small pile of wings is a strong signal that there's an established colony within your property or very close to it.
- Doors and windows that stick without an obvious cause: termite activity inside a frame can warp it just enough to throw off the fit, often before any visible surface damage.
Where to check, and how often
Focus on the foundation line, wooden door and window frames, false ceilings, and any storage areas with cardboard or wood in direct contact with the floor. A quick visual check every 3 to 4 months is a reasonable baseline. If you're on a ground floor unit, live in an older building, or a neighboring unit has had termite activity, check more often; termite colonies don't respect property lines within a shared structure.
What actually works, and what doesn't
DIY sprays kill the termites you can see, but the colony that's feeding your home lives underground or deep inside the wood, out of reach of a surface spray. That's why professional treatment focuses on the colony itself, either through a soil barrier around the foundation or bait stations that worker termites carry back to the nest. Pre-construction treatment (applied to soil before flooring goes down) and post-construction treatment (applied around an existing structure) use different techniques for the same reason: the access points are different.
When to call a professional
If you spot two or more of the signs above, it's worth getting a proper inspection rather than waiting to see if it gets worse; termite damage doesn't reverse on its own, and the cost of repair almost always outpaces the cost of early treatment. A free inspection will tell you whether you're dealing with an active colony, a barrier treatment need, or just an old, inactive mud tube.