Windermere, FL and nearby
Little piles of pellets keep appearing below the trim
Small, hard pellets collecting in one spot under wood — a window sill, a door frame, a cabinet, the attic hatch or a piece of furniture — are the classic sign of drywood termites. UF/IFAS describes the pellets as six-sided in cross-section, pushed out through tiny kick-out holes.
Independent Florida-licensed providers. No obligation for the call.
Why it will not stop on its own
The colony is inside the wood. Drywood termites do not need soil or moisture from the ground. They live in the piece of wood itself and push their waste out of it.
Cleaning up proves it. Sweep the pile away and check in a few days. A new pile in the same place means the colony is active.
Furniture can be the source. UF/IFAS notes the West Indian drywood termite spreads across Florida because whole colonies move inside infested furniture and wood. Antique or second-hand wooden pieces are worth checking.
What the visit involves
Finding every place pellets appear, tapping and probing the wood around them, and checking the attic, window and door frames, and wooden furniture. The answer is either local treatment of the affected wood or, if colonies are in several places, fumigation of the whole house. Drywood termite treatment
What to say when you call
- Where the pellets are and how many separate piles
- Whether they come back after you sweep them up
- Whether any wooden furniture is old or second-hand
- Whether you have seen winged insects indoors
Common questions
Sawdust or pellets? Pellets are hard and uniform, like coarse sand. Fibrous sawdust points to something else, such as carpenter work by ants or beetles.
Is it one colony? Often more than one. That is the question the inspection answers.
Does my termite contract cover it? Only if it covers drywood. Florida contracts must state which termites they cover.
Seeing it right now? Call and describe it — the line can tell you whether a visit is available near your ZIP code today.
(866) 204-1244Check the license before work starts
Florida pest control businesses are licensed by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and each business location must have a certified operator in charge. Any company or individual can be looked up in the department’s public database before a visit is booked.
For this job, the license category to look for is Termite and Other Wood-Destroying Organisms Control, plus Fumigation if the house is tented.
Other things people find
- Winged insects swarming the porch light after sunsettermite treatment
- Thin mud tubes running up the slab or the garage walltermite treatment
- There is an old termite treatment notice by the attic hatchtermite inspection
- Tiny, almost see-through ants at the sinkant control
- The same ant trail comes back after every sprayant control
- Dirt mounds in the lawn, and the ants stingfire ant control
- A big roach on the floor at nightroach control
- Small roaches in the kitchen cabinetsroach control
- Scratching and scurrying in the attic after darkrodent control
- Mosquitoes biting on the lanai in the afternoonmosquito control
- Waking up with new bitesbed bug treatment