Termites in Utah?

As a real estate agent, I hear all the time that buyers or sellers didn't know we had termites in Utah. Well, we definitely do and here's the proof!

These were under a piece of old wood in the back of the property and resemble maggots. Termites in Utah are the subterranean variety, which means they always live in the ground. The only time they surface is when there is wood-to-soil contact like this....

 This piece of wood is supporting a floor joist and is in direct contact with the dirt floor of the crawl space below our house! There were several supports like this and several that were on top of a rock. We found no active colonies in the home (no live termites) but there was plenty of evidence that they had been there over the years and had done damage. They prefer the softer wood and will mostly leave the harder wood behind, which creates the "striped" pattern seen here...

These are the tunnels that the termites build along the wood to avoid having to have contact with the outside air or daylight. They travel through these to stay protected.

 another tunnel...

 

Needless to say, we will be eliminating all of the wood-to-soil contact in the crawl space and replacing the wood supports with concrete pillars. We also had a termite company come and treat the soil just to be extra safe.  All of the damaged floor joists have to be replaced and new decking will be put on top next week!