Termites In Florida Mobile Homes – An Ultimate Guide

Have you ever thought that subterranean termites can’t attack your mobile home?  

Just because your mobile home is a few inches high on the ground, or there’s a lack of wood, it doesn’t make it safe from termite attacks. 

Can mobile homes get termites infestation? Yes, it can!

The likelihood of termite infestation in your mobile home is as much as a traditional built-in home. 

Homes in the state of Florida have the highest risk of termite infestation.

Based on a study at at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the number of termite infestation cases in Florida homes has gone up by 30% in 2020 over 2015. 

In this post, we’ll reveal all you need to know about termites in Florida mobile homes – from signs of infestation to getting rid of them. We’ll also tell you how you can safeguard your home from termites so that you won’t face termite infestation problem in your mobile home, ever. 

Let’s dive in!

What Is The Most Common Termite In Florida Mobile Homes?

Subterranean termites (including Formosan Termites) are the most common types of termites in Florida mobile homes. 

There’s also a risk of drywood and dampwood termite infestation. Still, most cases of termite infestation in Florida mobile homes are related to subterranean termites. 

How To Know If You Have Termites in Your Mobile Home – Signs Of Termites In Mobile Homes

The worst part about termite infestation in mobile homes is that it’s hard to detect. 

Why?

Because most of the time, the infestation begins from the underbelly of the mobile home. Underbelly is the term used to describe the ground area underneath the subfloor of your mobile home. 

If you want to protect your mobile home from termites, you need to be proactive in spotting termite infestation signs. Unlike in traditional homes, termite infestation shows up when termites have already inflicted significant damage in mobile homes. 

The best way to look for signs of termite infestation in mobile homes is to use a bottom-up approach. 

You start from your mobile home’s underbelly, below the subfloor, and you move up into the living area. 

Here’s how to know if you’ve termites in a mobile home –

• Wear a helmet, take a strong torchlight, and crawl underneath your mobile home. It’s from the underbelly where subterranean termites crawl up and enter your houses to cause damage.  

• Do you see flat mud pies spread across the ground in chunks on the underbelly? If yes, that’s the primary sign of subterranean termite infestation. These pies indicate that termites have dug out from the ground and have made their way inside your home. 

• Mud tunnels rising from the ground on wires, skirtings, cinder blocks, concrete, and hurricane straps are obvious signs of termite infestation. Subterranean termites will make these mud tunnels on anything touching the ground and linking up to the subfloor. 

• Hollow sounds from your wooden furniture when you tap on it. 

• Zigzag mud tunnels rising from the floor on the walls. 

• Piles of mud dust on the gaps between the tiles on a tiled floor.

• Wooden or laminate floor caving in or making a cracking sound when you walk on it. 

• Pages of your books and newspapers turning yellowish with holes and dust on them. Termites also destroy books. 

If you find multiple mud tunnels from the ground to the subfloor, then it should ring your alarm bells. It means that the traffic of termites from the underbelly ground to the subfloor is high. The infestation has spread across your home.  

Why do subterranean termites make mud tunnels?

Subterranean termites make mud tunnels to commute from one place to another. These mud tunnels hold the moisture that subterranean termites need to survive. If termites don’t get enough moisture, then they will dehydrate and die. 

How Do You Get Rid Of Termites In Mobile Homes?

If you’ve termite infestation in your mobile home, then the best way to eliminate them is fumigation. And for that, you need to hire a pest control agency. 

How much a tent treatment or fumigation of a mobile home costs in Florida? The average price is $1500. The cost of treatment depends on the mobile home’s size, and pest controllers calculate it on a per sq foot basis. 

Do DIY termite treatment work?

There are a lot of DIY ways to get rid of termites floating around on the internet. But those DIY ways are not long-term solutions against termites, primarily when the infestation has spread deep. 

Termites and bed bugs are two of the toughest pests to eliminate. And if not treated by a professional, then chances of re-infestation are relatively high. We strongly recommend hiring a professional termite control specialist.  

But there are some precautionary measures that you can take if termite infestation in your mobile home isn’t severe. 

If you’ve been proactive enough to spot the signs of termite infestation, then you can use these three ways to get rid of them –

• Use a termite killing foam on the underbelly ground of your mobile home. Spray the foam on the mud piles and the mud tunnels. You can use these foams both inside and outside of your mobile home. Termiticide foams kill all kinds of termites on contact. 

• Sprinkle diatomaceous earth on the ground below your mobile home. Diatomaceous earth dehydrates the termites that cause them to die.

• Spread some diatomaceous earth on the floor too. But always vacuum clean the floor after a couple of hours. And use food-grade diatomaceous earth. It’s safe for both humans and pets.  

• Use a termite killer granule on the perimeter of your mobile home. You can also sprinkle some of these granules on the underbelly of your mobile. Termite killer granules act as a guard that prevents the entry of termites into your mobile home. 

How To Protect Your Mobile Home From Termites?

The key to protecting your mobile home from subterranean termites is how you stop them from rising from your mobile home’s foundation. 

And the best way to do it is to use ABS Pier Pads. 

You can use these ABS Pier Pads as a base for your pier pads while building a mobile home on your property. 

How do these ABS Pier Pads stop termite infestation?

ABS Pier Pads are made of pressed vinyl and molded plastic that subterranean termites don’t eat. So, these termites can’t make mud tunnels through and around these pads to reach the cinder blocks. 

However, they can drill through these pads. But given the lazy nature of termites, most of them will eventually give up on reaching out to the subfloor. 

Another thing that you can do is concretize the entire foundation or the underbelly area. Termites cannot eat through concrete. 

Termite Season In Florida

The termite season in Florida is from January to December! Yes, it never ends. The weather in Florida is excellent, yearlong, not only for its people living there but also for the termites. 

Is There A Risk Of Drywood Termite Infestation In Your Florida Mobile Home?

Indeed, they can. 

But the risk of subterranean and Formosan termite infestation in Florida homes is higher than drywood termites. 

The risk of drywood termite infestation in your mobile home is significant during May and June. During these months, the termite swarms are most active.

Conclusion

Termites in Florida homes are quite common. The risk of termite infestation in your mobile home is as much as it’s in traditional dwellings, if not less. 

Florida is also tops the list of states with most bugs.

Subterranean termites pose the maximum risk to your mobile home, and they rise from the underbelly straight onto the subfloor to cause heavy damages. 

To protect your mobile home from termites, you must use ABS Pier Pads on the home’s foundation and look for early infestation signs on the underbelly. These are the key to safeguard your home from termite infestation. 

But is your mobile home safe from drywood termites? 

No, it isn’t. 

Do check out our post on how drywood termites enter your home. We’ve explained the entire process of drywood termite infestation. 

Though it’s more directed towards traditional homes, it’s also applicable to mobile homes.