Termites cost American homeowners billions of dollars in damage every year, and the Gulf Coast is one of the highest-risk regions in the country. Houston's combination of warm soil, heavy moisture, and abundant wood construction creates nearly perfect conditions for subterranean termites. The problem is that they work from the inside out, hidden in walls, floor joists, and the wood framing closest to the soil. Most people never see a termite itself. What they see is the aftermath.
Quick answer
The most common signs are mud tubes running up your foundation or along floor joists, soft or hollow-sounding wood, paint that bubbles like it has water behind it, and the shed wings left behind after a termite swarm. Most homeowners do not find them until well after the damage has started.
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Mud Tubes on Your Foundation or Walls
Subterranean termites cannot survive exposed to open air for long. To travel between the soil and the wood they are eating, they build mud tubes: narrow pencil-width channels made from soil, wood particles, and saliva that run up your foundation walls, along plumbing pipes, or across concrete block.
Look along the exterior base of your foundation, inside crawl spaces, and along the inside of garage walls. A tube that is still active will look moist and earthy. An old abandoned one will crumble dry when you press it. Either one tells you termites have been working the structure.
Wood That Sounds Hollow or Feels Soft
Knock on a baseboard, window frame, or door casing that seems fine from the outside. If it sounds papery or hollow instead of solid, that is a red flag. Termites eat wood from the inside, leaving a thin veneer on the surface while hollowing out the structural material underneath.
Floors that suddenly feel springy, doors that stick in a frame that was fine last year, and baseboards that dent under light pressure can all be signs of termite damage working its way out. These symptoms often get mistaken for normal settling, especially in an older Houston home.
Swarmer Wings Near Windows and Doors
Once a subterranean termite colony matures, it produces winged reproductives called swarmers. In the Houston area, swarms most often happen in spring, usually after a warm rain. Swarmers fly toward light, which means they end up at windows, door frames, and light fixtures.
The swarm itself lasts a short time, but the shed wings linger. Finding a pile of small, uniform wings on a windowsill or scattered across a floor near an exterior wall is one of the most reliable early indicators of an established colony. Do not confuse them with flying ant wings, which are different in size and not a matched pair.
Paint That Bubbles or Peels Without a Water Leak
Termite activity generates moisture inside the wood they are consuming. That trapped humidity can push against painted surfaces, causing bubbling, peeling, or a slightly warped look that resembles water damage. If you trace the bubbling to an area with no plumbing and no roof leak above it, termites are worth putting on the list.
The same moisture shows up as discoloration in drywall, especially along baseboards in finished rooms where framing sits close to the slab or soil.
Why Houston Homes Are Especially Vulnerable
The dominant species here is the eastern subterranean termite, and it thrives in warm, damp soil. Houston's slab-on-grade construction puts wood framing directly above that soil. Storm runoff, poorly graded yards, and foundation irrigation keep the ground around homes moist most of the year. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension notes that subterranean termites are active in the soil even during winter months in the lower Gulf Coast region, which means there is no real off-season here.
Wood-to-soil contact points, mulch piled against siding, and leaky irrigation heads near the foundation all make things easier for a colony. Identifying and correcting those conditions is part of what a professional inspection covers.
What to Do If You Find These Signs
Do not knock out the mud tube and walk away. Eliminating the tube does not eliminate the colony, and it may actually cause the termites to route differently, making them harder to track. The right move is a thorough inspection by a licensed technician who can trace the activity to its source and assess how far into the structure it has reached.
Treatment options range from liquid soil barriers to bait systems like Sentricon. The best match depends on the species, the construction type, and how far the infestation has progressed. Both have strong track records when properly applied.