I Am Waging War

...against TERMITES!

I am fond of collecting anything! Did I mention it here that I clingy to old my old stuff? With that said...there was a time I can proudly say I still have my elementary books and test papers! Yup..yup, I am that kind. My brother used to kid me that my stuff occupied almost half of the house...of course that is an exaggeration...it's not true...not really half...maybe one third. LOL

Two weeks ago...I was looking for some books. That is really me...one day I remember about a book...then I suddenly want it in my hand...and I want it in my hand!

I also know that for the 3 times we have moved...I have lost good collection of books. And I also know that I can't afford to lose any more books.

So I was about to dismantle my room and the entire house when Mom reminded me of the time when I asked them to move some of my old books to the stock room. Arrgghh! I hate going there...BUT what I heard next was more dreadful.

Mom added...well I moved them out of the stock room weeks ago because some were eaten by termites. And she said she told me about it??!

I did not know!!!

She tried to get a list of which books were damaged and lost so we can replace them...but some were just impossible to recognize.

Here are some of the remains...

Horrific!

I have lost so many books due to termites...and just because we did not take any precautionary. I found a site which has good information on termites and I'd like to share here some of the tips I found on how to protect our home from termites.

1. Keep moisture away! When I was doing the garden late last year I remember making the area near the stock room damp.

2. Get rid of wood debris. Hmmm...we had plenty of this late last year too because we were working on some parts of the house and garden.

3. Check your house for cracks.

4. Wood structures near your house should not touch the ground. Now this can be a problem because I am planning of having more lattice and trellis in the garden! But it did say something like, "You need about half a foot free space between the ground and any wood." so I can comply with that.

5. Use woods that are termite-resistant. Actually we are! Also we are having all woods in the perimeter treated for termites.

6. Get professional help! Now we will have the house inspected regularly - at least once a year. We used to have this in our old home since that place is infested with termites...and I guess we just have to do it here from now on. Though when we moved here we had everything checked and seems we never had to worry about termites then.

Any related stories? Care to share?