You’ve worked for years to own your home, business location, or even place of worship. Despite your blood, sweat, and tears, within a matter of months, any of these can sustain significant damage from one silent threat — termites. But can termites eat away at the structural supports of metal buildings? To answer this question, we need to look at the impact of termite damage and just how these creatures wreak havoc.
What Exactly Do Termites Eat?
More than wood, termites are detritivores — meaning they like to munch on cellulose, one of the most abundant organic compounds in nature. Cellulose composes the structure of plants and a large portion of building materials. Plant-based materials, such as wood, paper, and cotton, are all on the menu for termites. The wood-eating insects have the unique ability to digest the hardest cellulose fibers that other animals are not due to the makeup of the bacteria in the digestive system. What is an inedible piece of wood for most animals is an incredibly nutritious snack for termites.
Termite Damage is Expensive
Each year, somewhere in the neighborhood of 600,000 homes are damaged by termites. United States residents spend somewhere in the ballpark of $2 billion repelling termites each year and a whopping $5 billion repairing the damage left behind by the hungry insects. The average termite repair damage costs once their presence is detected hovers around $3,000. Though rare, there are occasions where a home may need to be demolished due to extensive termite damage.
Building With Inorganic Compounds
While many can treat homes with special agents to prevent termite damage, the main method of preventing termite damage to one’s home is in the choice of construction materials. Some of these materials include distasteful varieties of wood and utterly inedible concrete, masonry, or metal.
Metal Buildings: Impervious to Termite Damage
One of the most favored building materials to prevent termite damage is metal. Metal framing, siding, paneling, and roofing are all impervious to termite damage due to their inorganic composition. Most varieties of metal used in metal building construction have been thoroughly processed and are entirely inedible for termites.
Though the structural supports, panels, and siding are immune to termite damage, termites can still infest and cause damage to organic insulation and other internal components. For this purpose, it is essential to select termite-resistant varieties of insulation and other building materials. Some types of these materials include insulation that has been treated to fend against termites and types inorganic foam insulation.
Resistance against damage from pests is just one reason to consider making metal construction for your next residential or commercial building project. To help you find precisely what you’re looking for at a price you’ll love, the Oklahoma-based metal building construction professionals from Lucas Metal Works can help.