Knowing what to look for can save you thousands in damage — here's your checklist.
Here's the thing about drywood termites — they're quiet. Really quiet. They don't build mud tubes up the side of your foundation like subterranean termites. They don't need soil contact at all. They fly in, find a crack or a gap in your wood, set up shop, and start eating from the inside out. You could have a colony in your attic or behind your walls for years and never know it.
But they do leave clues. If you know what to look for, you can catch them before the damage gets out of hand. So let's walk through the most common signs that drywood termites have moved into your Tampa Bay home.
This is the number one sign, and it's the one we get the most calls about. Frass is termite droppings — tiny, hard, six-sided pellets that pile up below wherever the colony is living. You'll usually find them on windowsills, along baseboards, on countertops, or on the floor near walls.
The color of the frass depends on the type of wood the termites are eating. Light wood means light-colored frass; dark wood means darker frass. Either way, if you see little piles of what looks like fine sawdust or coffee grounds that keep coming back after you clean them up, that's a red flag.
Pro tip: Clean up the frass, mark the spot, and check back in a few days. If new frass appears, that's a strong indicator of an active colony — not just old debris shaking loose.
Termite swarmers are the reproductive members of the colony. When a colony matures (usually after about five years), it sends out swarmers — winged termites that fly out to start new colonies. After they land and pair up, they shed their wings.
So if you're finding tiny, translucent wings piled up on your windowsills, near light fixtures, or around sliding glass doors, that's a big deal. It means a mature colony is nearby — possibly inside your home — and it's actively trying to spread.
A lot of people confuse swarmer wings with flying ant wings. The difference? Termite wings are all the same size and shape. Ant wings have a larger front pair and a smaller back pair. If they're all equal, you're looking at termites.
This one's simple but effective. Take a screwdriver handle or your knuckles and tap on wood surfaces — door frames, window frames, baseboards, trim. Solid wood sounds, well, solid. Wood that's been hollowed out by termites will sound papery or hollow.
Drywood termites eat wood from the inside out, leaving a thin outer shell. So the surface might look totally fine, but behind it there's nothing left but a network of tunnels and chambers. By the time wood sounds hollow to the tap, there's been significant damage already.
As termites eat through wood and create their galleries, they need to get rid of the frass. They do this by boring tiny holes — about the size of a pin head — through the surface of the wood. These are called "kick-out holes" because they literally kick the frass out through them.
These holes are really small and easy to miss, especially on rough or painted surfaces. But if you look closely at areas where you're finding frass, you can sometimes spot them. After the termites push frass out, they often seal the hole back up with a thin layer of debris, which makes them even harder to find.
When drywood termites tunnel just below the surface of painted wood, the moisture they produce and the structural damage to the wood underneath can cause the paint to bubble, peel, or blister. A lot of homeowners assume this is a moisture problem or bad paint job, but it can absolutely be termites.
This is especially common around window frames, door frames, and exterior trim. If you're seeing paint damage that doesn't have an obvious explanation — no water leak, no humidity issue — it's worth having someone take a closer look at what's going on underneath.
One thing that trips people up is that drywood termites don't behave like the subterranean termites you might have heard about. Subterranean termites live in the ground and build mud tubes to reach the wood in your home. If you have subterranean termites, you'll usually see those tubes along your foundation.
Drywood termites don't need soil contact at all. They live entirely inside the wood they eat. They can be in your attic, your window frames, your furniture — anywhere there's wood. That's what makes them so sneaky and so common here in Tampa Bay.
Because they don't need soil, they can infest upper floors, attics, and areas that subterranean termites typically can't reach. And because they live inside the wood, they're harder to detect without a trained eye.
If you're seeing one or more of these signs, don't panic — but don't ignore it either. The sooner you get a professional to take a look, the less damage you'll be dealing with. Drywood termite colonies grow slowly, but they grow steadily. Catching them early means simpler, less expensive treatment.
And honestly? Even if you're not sure, it doesn't hurt to have someone check. We do free inspections because we'd rather look at your house and tell you everything's fine than have you find out a year later that termites have been eating through your roof trusses.
Frass on the windowsill? Wings by the door? Wood that doesn't sound right? Let us come out and take a look — it's completely free, and there's never a sales pitch. Just honest answers from a local team that knows Tampa Bay termites inside and out.
Schedule Your Free InspectionOr call us: (727) 488-5657