As a maker of house signs it never ceases to amaze me at how few home owners consider the importance of having a decent house sign on their homes. We are told that first impressions are the most important, well consider this, the first thing a new visitor to your home will probably see will be your house sign.
Take a walk down any street and you will see a remarkable variety of house signs and what I can only describe as non house signs. I recently wandered through my village taking note of the house signs adorning the various properties. It is a small fairly prosperous place, the houses for the most part reflect this. They are on average well maintained and most have well cared for gardens showing every sign of having reasonably house proud owners.
However, the number of homes with frankly, tatty house signs is astonishing! I saw house signs made of plywood and written with felt tip, old wooden signs so worn and sad they were unreadable, a house name painted on a concrete building block in a very shaky hand! One cast resin sign had some of its letters missing and one, with the name of a farm written on cardboard! Fully half of the houses in the village have signs that in no way reflects the quality of the properties.
Our village is not unusual. The sad fact is that many home owners just don't consider a house sign as being important. This is poor thinking for many reasons. Let us for the moment put aside the aesthetic reasons and consider the practical downside.
We are all doing more of our shopping on the internet, these goods have to be delivered, your local postman knows his route and will usually deliver to the right address no matter what the state of the house sign but drivers for private delivery firms and even Parcelforce often spend hours every day trying to find badly signed houses in long roads.
This is not only inconvenient, its harming the environment! The extra fuel burned driving up and down and the hot air generated by all the foul language must be punching great holes in the ozone layer!
Also if ever you have the misfortune to call for one of the emergency services you will be less than pleased if the paramedics can't find you with the defibrillator, or the burglar escapes before the police can find your house!
The aesthetic reasons are also pretty compelling, you may have spent thousands on improving and decorating your home, you have maintained the exterior of your property and paid that landscape gardener a small fortune to remodel your estate. Now look at your house sign, does it really reflect the love and hard work you have put into your home? If not it may be time to consider a new house sign.
You do not have to pay vast fortunes for a suitable house sign. The main thing is to choose a design of the house sign that suits the quality and the style of your home.
There are plenty of sites on the internet selling house signs. Try to focus in on the style or material you would prefer for your house sign and narrow the field by doing a focused search on a search engine.
Browsing these sites and taking the time to choose a house sign that will enhance the selling of your house will be time well spent.
As with many unwanted houseguests, there are signs that they will be arriving soon. There's a phone call that warns you of their visit, or perhaps a knock on the door. When it comes to termites, you might not get a phone call, but there are signs that you can identify and seek help for the infestation problem.
Eyewitness - You See Termites In Your Home
If you want a definitive sign that you have termites, just look for the little critters in your house. They can be found in the damp parts of your home close to wood sources and look like small ants. However, ants have bent antennae that are often bent to nearly a right angle, while the termite's antennae are more curved. An ant has a midsection that is narrow, while a termite's is broad. A termite has wings that resemble the size and shape of its body, while an ant will not. Often, these termites are white when they are larvae and are darker in color when they begin to get older. These organisms are often no bigger than a grain of rice and will move away from light sources such as a flashlight.
When it rains, you might notice a swarm of termites flying around your home when the rain stops. If you notice this kind of swarm, you will want to call Terminix immediately. If you're not sure this is what you saw, look for wings that have been shed by the termites. These are often found on windowsills or other foundation areas as termites get into the wood of a home.
Mud Holes For Termites
If you suspect that you have termites, do a little investigating to find out if your suspicions are true. Go to your basement or to a crawl space to get a look at the foundation. If you notice cracks in it, you might want to start looking for small tubes of mud that are about the size of a pencil in diameter. These tubes can be within the masonry itself or free standing on the foundation pieces. Termites will travel through these little tubes to get to new sources of wood and of moisture. These tubes will actually originate in the soil from the outside of your foundation and move all the way into your home as they discover more food sources.
Wood Damage - The Final Straw
Although this sign might be a bit harder to see, wood damage is a sure sign that something is wrong with your foundation. When the wood begins to appear weakened or the wood in your home begins to crack, find a piece that you can break apart. If the wood has been attacked by dry rot, you will notice a fungus that is spreading and eating away at the wood. If you have termites, you will notice little tunnels that are spreading throughout the structure of the wood, weakening it.
In severe cases, the termites will have built walls that are filled with soil to keep their little caverns safe as they travel to new places for wood sources. If you should notice this kind of structure, you might have a larger termite problem than you previously thought.
Possible Solutions
Realizing that you have termites is only the beginning of the solution. Once you notice these little organisms, you might already have a serious problem. This generally means that termites have infested a large portion of your home. Contact Terminix to determine how big the problem is and what course of action needs to be taken.
Terminix will come out to your home and measure the extent of the problem as well as find out where the termites are coming from.
In smaller infestations, it may simply be a matter of fumigating the home to kill off the termites and then replacing a few pieces of wood that may have become weakened. In other cases, complete reconstruction of the damaged parts of your home is required. Following that, make sure the rebuilt sections are far away from new infestations.
Termites cause billions of dollars in damage each year. However, if you keep your eyes open to the possibility of a termite problem, you can often ensure that your home stays safe and secure. This might mean that you need to spend a considerable amount of money to prevent this problem from happening again. Like any other unwanted houseguest, you don't want these pests to return.
Both Steve Walker & Craig Elliott are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Steve Walker has sinced written about articles on various topics from Humour, Crafts and Home Improvement. Steve Walker has been a craftsman in stone and marble for 40 years. In his long career has practised as a stone mason, letter cutter, restoration carver, marble mason, and fireplace designer/manufacturer.He now specialises in engraved stone, granite and s. Steve Walker's top article generates over 3600 views. to your Favourites.
Craig Elliott has sinced written about articles on various topics from Vacation, Bankruptcy Law and Careers and Job Hunting. About Author: Craig Elliott is a writer for Terminix. Terminix is a leading provider of . Craig Elliott's top article generates over 90500 views. to your Favourites.